Performance VS Hybrids

[Tazza]

Hey guys, new member here!

Anyways I've been surfing for around a year, on the Gold Coast of Australia. I feel im at a pretty good level. (confidence, etc) Anyways I would like your thoughts on performance boards VS the hybrid/performance boards that shapers/brands release. Im surfing a hybrid fish, 6'0 19 7/8 2 1/2 (sideways "rat")

Because im surfing a Hybrid fish style board, i love having flow down my lines and just riding the wave, but the other part of me wants to charge down the line and go for that long as floater or even the odd air, pull the big cut backs and basically out of the water snaps.

Since I started, I was always told bigger, wider, thicker for learning, and well i think now im confident enough to maybe move to something, smaller, and thinner by a bit. I like to have width in my board but yeah im sure i could adjust to most.

Looking at boards, such as Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto and the DMS crumpet catch my attention a lot.
but then you have your standard looking performance short boards which also are sweet.

So what im basically asking is what type of board do you ride, why do you ride it, and if you could have any other board what would that be and why?

Cheers Guys!

17yr grom

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[PeepeelaPew]

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[Nick Carroll]

hey grom,

got any mates surfing with you? borrow or swap boards with people who have a variety of shapes. It will confuse the absolute shit out of you at first but it might pay off.

You want to be surfing every day if you're gonna go down the slightly higher performance route, otherwise you won't learn enough quickly enough to make good use of it down the track.

I'm not suggesting you ignore the HSC or whatever but surfing's a bloody good stress reliever for a high school kid, the more of it you do, the less you'll try to avoid studying in other ways (ie getting pissed)

So yeah, swap boards and surf every day even when it is Shit.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Wider boards and hybrids are obviouisly more stable than your performance counterpart, so when I was learning many years ago I started with a performacne board a bit bigger and wider than normal (6'6" x 20", more of a big guys shortboard where I'm 5'11"), and every board I would buy every 1-2 years would decrease in length and width until I was down to around 6'2" x 18 1/2" x 2 1/2" (I was about 79kg then).

There was always a getting used to process with each board because the narrowness would require a more sensitive, more evenly balanced type of surfing, but it would help my surfing after I would get used to it.

This was not surfing every day, I always lived a little way from the beach and would only be able to surf 1-2 times a week, and then almost every day in the holidays. It seemed to work well for me.

Recently I've started surfing all sorts of dimensions, hybrids and performance boards and because I learned with narrower boards, its easy to chop and change without getting bad habits.

[Davros]

The flatter boards are a ton of fun but will restrict your surfing as you get better, try to hang onto both if your budget allows because you'll miss that hybrid in summer or when your in a slump (it happens) and you need ol faithful to jump back onto to feel like you can surf again. Also you don't need to get the latest JS Parko model etc...that is super refined you can get chunkier shorties with slightly wider nose and more rocker than hybrids and your surfing will improve out of sight and you'll get as critical on turns as you want for a few years at least I think. Seen mates over the years who needed that middle step board, wasted a year or 2 on HPS's and then either went to long or went to chunky fishes and surfed flat forever, if thats ya thing all great it not can be frustrating when its 4 ft plus.

[JaM71]

Hey tazza, as you live on the goldie go down to firewire and demo a few different types of board. It's free & will allow you to narrow down what you like. The crumpet & hypto are two different boards (I have both) suited to different waves but both a ton of fun. The crumpet is a modernised single fin template suited to smaller waves, the hypto a fish template with a pulled in tail allowing it to handle larger waves better.

Dan is a great guy & will shape you a solid board, you might like the crumpet nose template with a fat cat tail?????? The choice is yours & it's all fun!

[Tazza]

Hey tazza, as you live on the goldie go down to firewire and demo a few different types of board. It's free & will allow you to narrow down what you like.

Okay thanks man! Is that the Firewire place down in Currumbin? Well yeah that board im riding now I can surf well in some solid 4ft+ (at a point break) and what not.

For wingnut2443 wondering about my height and weight, 184cm /6ft tall and 73kg, and my skill is well probably intermediate.

I rode my mates old hot buttered board and its like 20" wide and 5'10 and it was some solid 3ft and wow this "egg" was so fun!

[JaM71]

Yep, head inland from throwers bridge and its on your right just before the servo and pacific highway....DMS is almost directly opposite.

If you go on a Friday or Saturday you can have a FW demo for the weekend.

Dan is usually available on Saturday mornings if you want to order a custom down the track or can help u pick one off the rack