board selection problems

[moya]

Hey guys,

I need some advice.
I have had a bad run with boards lately.
I have grown up riding off the rack shorties and pretty well let the guys at the shop select my board for me.
I have since grown up and am now selecting my own boards.

Now- now that I have invested much more time and thought into shapes and shapers and conditions and materials and rockers and rollers and pins and blah blah blah, I feel i am getting a bit lost in the process and also still havent found that board I want.

For example, a couple of boards ago i bought an lsd
6'2" x 18 2/8/ x 2 2/8 round tail

Now this board goes great on long walls like lennox but suffers a bit down here in beachy short fat reefy land. It is also a little thin so that when you hit a decent lip, it kind of collapse's a little, so if you havent timed it and placed it to perfection, like nearly doing just a turn under the lip instead of banging it, you get pushed around.

And then the next thing I buy is a JS with bit more fatness and width thinking it will take care of most of the above problems, plus I used to own one, made by JS, years ago which went AWESOME.
So this is a
6'4 x 19" x 2 3/8 and a square tail

NOW - problem! I have been riding round tails for the past couple of years while before that it was all square tails.
And it has become apparent that my style has changed quite considerably since riding square tails and now, they just dont feel so good. ( is this more then just the tail? Is it maybe too much thickness and width in the JS as the lsd is much thinner etc)

Q - How many and how often do you change before finding a good one?
Q - Do you make big leaps like
6' 2 x 18 / 2/8 x 2 2/8 to
6' 4 x 19 x 2 3/8
keeping in mind they are for a standard shorty for the same standard
sydney breaks.
or should i be making finer adjustments like maybe going from 6'2x182/8/x2/2/8 to
6'2x18 1/2 x2/ 2/8
and sticking with the same roundtails until i find the board im after, and then expand back into square tails?

How do you guys select a new board and how drastically do you change your dimensions when tweaking?
Sorry about the length and I hope you can quell my confusion.
Thanks any and all

[mad]

The fortunate thing about boards is ya can ditch 'em and get a better one a whole lot cheaper and less complicated than the missus.

Sounds like you've ID'd elements of boards you like (e.g. roundtails-very noice and 6'2" to 4"). Keep doing that and you'll build a better picture.

You should also work out what planshape, especially rocker and rails suit you. No matter what fruit you put in a board, if this isn't right to what suits it just won't perform. Keep concaves and vees subtle, KIS, keep it simple and then build up. Occy rode flat bottoms for ages apparently.

Fins can make a big difference as well, if you've got fcs try some G3 or YU to loosen it up but remember to change 'em over when the surf picks up, unlike me this morning

What really helped me was going surfing with my shaper who was a mate and he could pick up nuances in my surfing which he put into my shapes, alongside me telling him what problems I was having with my boards and surfing. Much bullshitting over many beers, but talking with shapers is something I've always done and its probably helped the most.

Good luck and enjoy the ride

[Cpt.Caveman]

I think its a long personal process to find a board that works for you. Everyones surfing style is different, not to mention their body composition as well.

I got about 7 boards (3 of them were customs) before I had a good idea of what I liked riding.

Currently for sydney waves I ride 2 different boards. I'm 5'11" and 83kg.

- 6' x 19 1/2" x 2 1/2" Yorky swallowtail fish. This is for when its really small and hard to get any speed or float out of the wave. This is great because it means I can surf vurtually anytime, even when its full and crap.

- 6'3" x 18 5/8" x 2 1/2" Goeff Horner rounded square, single to double, low boxy rails, allrounder. This board has gone great in anything from 3ft up to 8ft so far and is my main board. I'm prettty heavy so I like a little bit more volume. I also like them a little bit wider than normal, again because I'm heavy but also because theres more surface area of the board and goes a little faster for sydney waves. I picked 6'3" because its just around the range for the size waves we get here but will still handle a few bigger days better than say a 6'1".

It sounds like you're getting closer to finding what demensions work for you which is good. Theres a lot that goes into picking good dimensions. You have to figure out what dimensions are going to float you in most waves if its going to be your only board. The shorter the board, the sharper and whippier it will turn but the less control you might have in the more powerful stuff. A bigger board won't fit into some tight pockets of smaller waves but will go great when it gets a litte bigger. A wider board will sit on top of the wave, go pretty quick over flatter spots and take a bit more leaning to turn it. A narrower board will turn much easier but won't be quite as fast as a wider counter-part. A thicker board floats you better but might feel corky in bigger surf and harder to get the rail in, etc. etc. These are all factors that you slowly have to tune and find what works for you most.

Next, pick a shaper that you're going to develope a long-term surfer-shaper relationship with. Take the dimensions you have in mind to him and have a good chat to him about your skill level, style and most frequented breaks. If you picked a good shaper, his first board usually won't be a dud but there might be little things that you don't like about it. Some things you get used to, others don't match.

Next, read up about what different shapes do to a boards performance. Once you have a little knowledge, think about what is going wrong when you're surfing. Does it feel a little too stiff? Does it feel too long for small waves? Does it float you properly? Maybe the rocker is too curvy and you loose a bit of precious speed? At least pin-point what you don't like about it even if you don't know exactly whats going on under your feet causing it.

Now, you can either sell the beast if you really can't surf with it and go back to the shaper with your little constructive criticisms in mind. Or just surf it until it snaps and maybe once you get used to it, it will have worked out great.

I fell into the trap of trying to make a board change the way I surf for the first couple of customs, where my technique was the problem.

Hope that helps.

[bro]

The best thing to do Moya is not ask plonkers like us, surfing and boards are so subject, guys of the same size and weight can ride vastly different dimensions in boards so it doesn't always work looking at what a guy your size rides, trust me been there done that and don't listen to the "board buyer' guides in surf mags they think everyone rides a 6'0 x 18 x 2 1/8

Go to a good shaper and we are blessed to be able to walk in off the street and talk to some of the best shapers in the world, be honest about your ability show what you are riding and tell him what you like and what you don't and you will get something right which you can the improve on and then one day you will get the magic one, good luck and let us know how you go

[Jamoe]

Go down to the Insight showroom on Darley St in Mona Vale, they have a Sh!tload of test boards you can take out