When you start surfing, its impeccable that you choose a board that is not only going to help progress your skills at a barreling rate, but also one that is suited to you, personally. Girls are different to boys, and it’s seldom we can just wonder into a shop, choose a board the seedy shop ass suggests and leave a happy customer. Oh no, there are far more factors to take into consideration for us pretty lasses when it comes down to making our first purchase. So follow these easy self evaluation tips and guidelines, and make sure you’re armed with at least a tiny bit of info before blindly wondering into a shop with your man’s credit card and images of Sofia Mulanovich charging in your head.

First up, what kind of person are you, and be honest with yourself?

For 98% of girls that pick up this sport, it’s not about being the best, it’s more about enjoying yourself and becoming part of the lifestyle. So unless you have plans to get onto the tour in the next few months, take a chill pill, and try and figure out what you want to get out of surfing. Do you want to learn how to stand and ride small foaming waves, do you want to learn how to paddle into waves or do you want to learn how to paddle into waves, stand, ride them and also, get under them when paddling back out. Are you susceptible to giving up after taking a few beatings (if you are, there is a way to lessen the beatings), or are you happy to get thrown around in the sea for hours on end. Are you known for endurance, or will you tire after 30 minutes of paddling your board around? All of these questions might seem stupid right now, but look at it like this. If you know you are the kind of person that gets scared easily, and haven’t grown up in the sea (thus feel slightly foreign when in it), then don’t get a board that’s going to be hard to ride, or one designed for massive waves and high performance. If you’re simply picking up the sport to have some fun, get an all round tan and spend time in the ocean, buy yourself a cruisy long board, one that you’ll never be required to take out in 7ft surf, one that, unless you are focussed and determined, won’t allow for you to learn things like cutbacks and big turns.

Similarly, if you grew up doing as many sports at school as possible, and were a part of more teams than anyone else you knew, you are more than likely a rather capable and sporty person, as well as slightly competitive. When I say competitive, I don’t mean surfing in contests competitive, I mean, competitive against yourself to improve. If you have grown up playing sports, naturally your body will be stronger, as will your mind, and thus your take on surfing will be a little more aggressive than that of someone learning on a longboard. So, buying into the idea of doing cartwheels on a mini mal will never be an option for you, and starting out on a bulky short board will suit your style far more, plus help you to progress at a faster rate.

As you can see, all factors need to be taken into consideration before buying a board to start out on. Do you want to learn how to do moves, get barreled and keep up with the boys, or are you happy walking out over shallow sand banks and riding smaller, mellow waves? Neither are right and neither are wrong, but both require different boards, and thus you need to do an honest self evaluation on yourself and your abilities before heading to the local shaper.

Tags: Surfboard, Surfing