Sizing our customers up brings a whole new dimension to surfing. Typically, as a beginner surfer you are forced to buy a surfboard with one primary focus, stability. The bummer about this is even though you are able to stand up... once up, you can hardly turn your board. This forces you to buy another board just to progress and move on (just what you wanted to do... buy 2 boards to learn to surf).
A lot of the time when you’re starting out the cheapest solution is often the most sought after, and used surfboards are typically going to be your cheapest option. Unfortunately they can also be the worst choice a new surfer can make. Here’s what we mean...
As a beginner surfer, bigger is almost always better when it comes to surfboard size. The first thing a new surfer needs from their surfboard is stability and buoyancy. As a surfer progresses along their journey in learning how to surf, there will be a number of different reasons they’ll adjust the size of their board to fit a variety of different needs.
When building your surfboard quiver we should all start with your goals in mind. Here at Degree 33 we are always talking to our customers about the progression ladder which means when you start out you go BIG and as you get better, you take another step on the ladder and gradually move to a smaller board with each step.
So one of the most common questions we get here is, "what size of surfboard should I get?" I wish that there was a simple answer to that but unfortunately there really isn't. The answer lies in several questions I need to ask you... "What's your skill level, height, weight, goal, type of wave...?" I think you get the idea.