When you’re learning, you don’t have the best balance and paddle strength, so most beginners are going to ride a longboard. A longboard paddles easily because it’s wide and stable, which helps you get on your feet and catch a ride.
After you’ve built up some strength and skill, you can start transitioning to a wide shortboard. Width through the nose, thick and beefy, paddles well to let you start doing easy turns through slow, softer waves.
Try something with a more narrow nose and tail. This board will have a more performance-oriented outline, and still have more foam to help with paddling.
After you’ve gotten more experience, you can progress to an even more narrow nose and a rocker shape. A curve helps the board turn faster. The board may be epoxy, which is a light, high-performance material.
Boards designed for big waves are called a “gun.” This is not necessarily the next step after “Advanced,”. No matter what your ability, a board designed for bigger waves will help you get into the wave easier and maintain composure and hopefully make it to the end of that wave.
Jon Pyzel owns Pyzel Surfboards on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii. His boards are often the ride of choice for Ambassadors John John Florence and Mark Healey.
