Board for my daughter

[gibber]

I am look for a first board for my 8yr old daughter.
Anyone with any idea as to what I should get her? any shapers out there with groms and know what dimensions she should have in a board?
I pushed her into a few waves last summer when she was 7 and she stood up first wave and trimmed along it and rode it through to the sand (bout 30m) then proceeded to repeat this wave after wave so i reckon she won't have a prob progressing to paddling into waves on her own.
Any help in directing to a suitable shaper or ideas will be greatly appreciated

[K10]

I have a 10yr old that has tried a few boards
I got her a 5'6" foamy - no good - too floaty - fat in the rails and a bit squirrelly
Then tried a wider thinner 6' one - same

Last attempt was on a 8' mini mal and she did ok - same as yours riding it to the sand
With the bigger heavier board she could paddle thru the white wash where on the foamy she was bucked off onthe way out
Also she kept nose diving the foamy or going sideways and getting chucked off

After a talk to a few people they suggested picking up a small < 6' crap old glass board to learn on then get a "right sized' kids board after she can confidently paddle out and paddle into the wave and stand up etc

I havent gone down the track of working out sizes / suppiers yet as we have only just started getting back into the beach

Have a talk to Wayne from Line Up at DY (if you are in the area) - he has 2 daughters - also runs a kids program in school hols i think

[gibber]

Cheers thanks m8
DY is a tad out of reach as I'm in Qld
huie has sent me some pics and info too which I'm going through at the moment. Just got to work out whether I just het her usd to riding one of my old boards first then get one her size or spend the cash on one now.
Descisions descisions...
I'm just stoked that she doesn't want to try boogie boarding!!
She said that they were for losers... Oh the joy!

[oldman]

I got a little one for my 12 year old son from huie. Beautiful little board. May as well get them learning on something real.

And the 9 year old daughter can take it off his hands when he is too big for it.

[jimmy]

I got a little one for my 12 year old son from huie. Beautiful little board. May as well get them learning on something real.

And the 9 year old daughter can take it off his hands when he is too big for it.

Totally agree Olds.. My 1st board as a 12 yr old was a 5'3.. It took a little while to get used to but once I did my surfing improved a lot faster than my mates who were riding 6' plus old boards.. I think youre pretty adaptable at that age..
38 now and about to get my little one a small board too.. She's only 4 though!

[Surfin Turf]

5'11" x 20 1/2

full in the nose for stability and momentum , the swallow provides some extra rail length that also provides some speed which helps the momentum and 'get up and go' aspect ... softer rails through the mid third help it turn flatter which is better for the kids learning ... my daughters love this little board and find it easy to handle yet stable and it gets along in the small fuller waves they surf ... the fins are rubber coated (kelly slater design) for added safety ...

something to think about gibber ...

P6130218 (Medium).JPG

P6130209 (Medium).JPG

surf winter (Medium).jpg

[Shoulder hopper]

I've just seen this thread and hope that I can help out (not too late). I got my now 14yr old daughter her first fiberglass board when she was 8 also and it was 5'6" X 18 1/2" with a bit of area in the nose as they like to ride the white water more and need that bit of area for stability. It was a rounded pin which I think are smoother and more forgiving than square tails for kids learning and I think it was 2" thick. The main thing that they need is paddling ability to get onto waves but don't get a board that is too long as they find that they can't do any turns ( even small turns are good at that age) and will not learn as fast. You don't want to go to a board that is too twitchy as they can't control that either. Teach her to duck dive as soon as possible and get her into some nice gentle waves that she can trim across and watch the smile that lights up her face. That was some of my most enjoyable surfs ever when my daughter got some waves by herself and rode them to the beach then paddled back out going "did you see that one dad? I rode it all the way to the beach!" Pure joy!
Don't push her too much to surf waves that she will be scared in but do encourge her to get out of her comfort zone on occasions as this will improve her and give her more confidence when she makes a wave that was a little harder than she is used to.
I've seen heaps of girls give up surfing because they don't see themselves getting any better because of the equipment that they are riding ie. too long too thick and can't turn.And spend as much time as you can surfing with her as she will love you for it and you will have an excuse for spending more time in the water also ( just taking Coco for a surf,dear back at dark)
Good luck and enjoy surfing with your girl as I know I love surfing with my daughter.

[mustkillmulloway]

my daughter rides a totally beat up geoff horner mini mal or my old single

her friends tease her silly, on there new thrusters with white ( rather than brown ) foam and fancy cute sprays

she surfs better than them thu

on topic...girls seem bruise there hips something cruel when they first get into surfing

so a good , cheap, soft board may be worth considering....as a starter



all good things come as u grow older, u need learn drive b4 u drive a forula one

and kids get wayyyy too much for free these days i reken

[marcus_h]

when your daughter gets a bit older I may be interested in swapping you a board for her.
Any chance of putting down a refundable deposit?

[Trev]

when your daughter gets a bit older I may be interested in swapping you a board for her.
Any chance of putting down a refundable deposit?

Iwas shocked, too.
Then i realised, to be fair, he was only replying to the thread title.

[ledge71]

Ok, this is a good topic with so many right answers.

I agree with all the posts here.
Yes, learn on a foam board, and then move on from there (I see she's got that covered). I feel the trick is (like so many have said) stay away from a long board and get her onto a short board. It's important to get the size down but to keep some volume in it. Once again, as people have said, you don't want to discourage her but you do need to get her out of her comfort zone. Even though she is a girl we all started by getting our fair share of beatings while moving from the bigger boards to the smaller ones. I suppose it's really up to you (dad) to determine if she is ready for the smaller board.
I've just made two boards for kids. One young fella is only 8 but can paddle onto a small wave and ride across it. His board is 5'6. Kids progress VERY quickly at a young age once they get the hang of it all. It's a fine line between something that they can duck dive easily and something they can paddle without to much effort. It's important not to hold their progression into good turns and more advanced moves.

The 2nd board I've done is for an 11 year old girl going from a foam to her first glass board. I've done her a 6'0 board. Thicker through the nose, middle and tail with a bit of extra width. It will do her for a while but if she progress's to quick then even the length and width of it could hold her back. Like I said, a fine line!

It's really up to you. How often is she going to surf? Being 8 I would maybe go for the 6 footer option. Easier to paddle but still tough for an 8 year old to duck dive. Once again, where do we draw that line?

Then there's fins! Quad, thruster? Quads actually work a little more in favour for the young ones. Less resistance from the center fin....we can go on and on with this!

I've attached a copy of the two boards. I live on the sunny coast so PM me if you have any questions.

I surprised Mark hasn't been on to make comment on this one!

SO, now you're even more confused then before!

Sorry!

Mick

[ledge71]

BY THE WAY!

Nice board Surf & Turf!

[gibber]

Oooh sorry guys, i haven't been in this section for a while
Thanks for the posts guys, lots of good info here to wade through..
Its great to get some feedback from guys who have been in the same position as I am and have had some success with getting their kids into surfing.
I picked up a board from a fellow user on here about a month ago and the board is waiting patiently in my board rack, hidden in a bag till xmas day, my daughter thinks she is getting a lump of coal at the moment so I reckon she'll be stoked when she see's what she is really getting.
The stick I went for is 4'11, width around 16-17" and thickness around the 2" mark from memory (haven't looked at it in a while). It felt so small when i picked it up, I was shocked really but when compared with her height and weight it is bigger than a scale down of what i am riding so i reckon she'll be ok. She picked up one of those ripstix things at her uncles place and rode it third time standing on it, so i think her balance and coordination are pretty fine (much better than her old man's any way)
So boxing day will be the test day and I'm sure it'll be an epic day
so once again, thanks guys

[ledge71]

Good onya Gibber,

Hope all goes well mate, Merry Xmas to you and your family...she's gunna love it!