Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

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kevin
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by kevin » Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:56 pm

Thanks, guys, for all the advice.

Matticus- the TC Pro looks great, I checked out the site. I like the fact you can use FCS fins. What is the difference between the TC Pro and the TC Softech? Unfortunately I don't live in Oz but may well look out for one next time I visit Sydney.

Alakaboo/Matticus- yeah, reckon you are right, I have had him try some lighter-glassed boards than are not as heavy duty as the McCoys... here is the funny thing, you guys will laugh, he clocked another one on the head and managed to ding that board too... maybe boxing is the right sport for him!

Legion- was not aware about cork. That's an interesting idea. I might try it out.

To be honest, watching lots of young kids surf, I reckon as long as you don't have a pointy-nosed board and have softer fins, that already makes a huge difference for safety. Then at some point they'll have to make the transition themselves and be aware. Can't have them on foamies forever.

Beanpole
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Beanpole » Sun Feb 10, 2013 3:36 pm

Resist pressure to get a high performance board as a first board. Went through that with my son and saw it happen with his friends as well. It really sets them back unless they are truely superlight and agile. Even then it can ingrain some bad habits I reckon.

We ended up finding a nice eggy shape up on the central coast. It was lucky the extra width, more foam trend was starting so getting a higher volume board was not seen as super uncool. Should be pretty easy these days to get something that will give them a leg up rather than resticting their wave catching potential as they move from foamie to fibreglass.

Hes actually been out on his egg the last two days even though its beat up now and hes taller than I am these days.
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:08 am

So is the El Nino range still the go?

My kids are 8 and 7, strong swimmers and are just starting to ride waves to the sand after being pushed onto them on my wife's 7'4".
Kids are about 140cm and a bit over 30kg.

Do I go the 6'0" range and get them paddling in themselves?
Or stick with something longer?

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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Trev » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:15 am

NA. There's a new range about to come out.
La Nina.
It'll be all the rage this season.
Beanpole
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:18 am

I've heard it's a bit weak.

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steve shearer
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by steve shearer » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:26 am

I think soft boards are outrageously over priced. Get them second hand on gumtree or buy swap and sell sites. Or look at second hand pawn shops or the dump.
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Beanpole » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:29 am

Throw out days. We've snared a couple of okay ones. My sons got a Mullet he likes. They aren't cheap but he bought it on sale. I used to have a MacT that was great but used to become waterlogged.
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:47 pm

As tempting as it was to drive an hour to the coast and wait in loofy's front yard for the hard rubbish days, or spend a few weekends at the Ballina dump, I decided to just buy some instead.
Ended up with Softlite boards. They'll double as the beaters that go on camping trips and surf a couple of closeout novelty waves I don't want to keep trashing my glass boards in.

El Nino looked like crappy foam and had fin plugs all over the deck. The Fanning boards looked bloated but had better fin clusters, and were hella expensive.
The other brands just looked shithole, except for an O&E fish, but it had some in-store damage.

Got a 5'6" fish stick
Image
And a 6'0" pop stick
Image

I paid wholesale, not retail.

They're overpriced for popouts, but compared to bodyboards (which they basically are) they are not that bad. EPS core, heat-fused rails with a stringer and reasonably firm plastic fins, and boxes that can take FCS 1 fins.

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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Beerfan » Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:00 pm

The ocean and earth ones the surf schools use aren't cheap but they feel super durable and high quality. I reckon all our family could use the 7'0".

Got a cheapo one from target for my daughter. It's ok for the price, it's more for her to learn paddling onto waves. Once she gets that the wife's epoxy minimal ( we've had it for months and it hasn't got wet yet lol ) will be her next step. She's probably ready now I suppose

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PeepeelaPew
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by PeepeelaPew » Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:05 pm

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Last edited by PeepeelaPew on Sun Feb 25, 2018 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

alakaboo
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:48 pm

Was interesting to see Bic surfboards in the store too.
Haven't seen any new ones for 15 years, didn't think they still made them.

Decent v and chined rails. Rails didn't look quite as sharp as the originals. Shapes looked decent.
A 7'6" was $430.

I know Steve's a fan.

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steve shearer
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by steve shearer » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:49 am

I am. They are heavy and thin and glide through the water really nicely.

As well as being indestructible.

But I only like the 9'0" with the chined rail and double concave. Run with a proper single fin.
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Beanpole » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:10 am

Rooster shaped the plugs for those I think. An old Kingscliff Boy. Can't run them in the flags though.
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Sun Dec 03, 2017 11:20 am

The new midlength ones were from a plug by some Frenchie from Hossegor. Didn't look at the 9'0".

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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by Beanpole » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:33 pm

Rooster did the Nat Young Model I think.
Put your big boy pants on
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ajohnsen
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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by ajohnsen » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:07 pm

My kids started getting into the 6' Grommy softboard I bought them last year. They were just riding on their stomachs. My daughter was doing fine, but my son couldn't not nose dive. I tried many techniques with him, but there's only so far back on a board you can lie before it's a tombstone. It has virtually no rocker. Any tips?

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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:19 pm

Hanging your feet in the water like a rudder just as the wave picks you up makes you stall and go down the face with the nose raised.

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Re: Best softboard to use to teach kids ???

Post by alakaboo » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:26 pm

Forgot to post an update.

After a couple of days of the kids being incredibly frustrated with going from being able to stand on a 9'0" to totally kooking on the shortboards, the kids figured out how to stand up within about 3 hours, and within a week were paddling into broken waves and riding to the sand on their own.
It helped that they realised after a couple of days of trying and failing to surf regular that they were both goofy. Once they got that sorted they stood up next wave.

The 5'6" quad is a dog to surf (for someone adult sized), the absence of any rail makes it impossible to pump around sections.
The 6' thruster is actually pretty fun, if you lower your expectations.

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