Surf to Sup to part time surf

[Rider]

And you can duck dive it.  Huge asset in heavy surf.

[surfcowboy]

I like the Firewires but I do also have to vote for the Takayama or August Suftech's as well.

As to moving from SUP to surfing, I did it and I have to say, my friends who surfed their whole lives were surprised by my progress and it's the wave count as Pono said. I surfed more waves in my first 4 years of SUS than they did in 10 years of prone.

I will say that when it's big and the waves are good, I've become a proner. Just too much gear to manage and too much board.  This may change if I ever get around to making another board and get out of production SUPs but I honestly need to come to Maui and see how you guys handle overhead waves with a 25lb board and a paddle and don't get killed.

As to standing being the most natural entry into a wave, I guess so? But a well executed pop up feels amazing and looks pretty stylish too as well.

I know a day might come when I can't paddle and pop up on a prone board, when it does, I'll adapt, but while I can, I'm with you, and split my time. Wave count, at a busy lineup, if you're not being a jerk, lol, is about the same for me. But I do find that I can make more of a weird break on a SUP.

SUP surfing gave me a great leg up on surfing, but getting a longboard and lying down a while made me a far more stylish surfer. Keep it in your curriculum as long as you can.

[kliss99]

Bean - thanks for the information.  Boards look nice and being able to demo is such a plus!  I'll definitely check it out.

Surfcowboy- well said.

[PonoBill]

...snippity...

I think people have a better chance of being a good surfer if they start on a SUP and then pick up a longboard instead of the other way around. Though there's no shortage of great SUP surfers who were surfers first.

Hmmm...me thinks you have it bass ackwards in the first sentence, amigo...but, ya gots it right in the sentencia segundo...;-)

BTW, lots of great surfers have never picked up a longboard or a SUP...YMMV...;-)

I think my comment is about five years premature--the sport is too young to see a John John emerge. The current crop of great young SUP surfers certainly started as surfers, but there's a bunch of young kids in the pipeline who started on a SUP. My point really was that wave count is important to learning. When every wave is precious, most people are kind of restrained in what they try. When you're getting a hundred per session you'll try anything. Being young and invulnerable helps a lot too.

Cowboy, for me the main thing that makes bigger waves possible is forgiving reef breaks. Most of the places I surf, if you get yardsale-ed on a big wave you get pushed into a calm lagoon. That's magic for confidence. Of course, then there's the occasional lineup cleaner that shatters that confidence, but I have such a short memory that my delusions of competence return in just minutes.

[SUP Sports ®]

Since you said "good surfer" not great surfer...there's a better chance of that happening in the future...but, surfing is surfing...and, the only way to get good ...let alone great, is to surf...every chance you can...train...train...train...surf...surf...surf...so, pretty much a snowball's chance in hell of somebody who has only SUP surfed, becoming a great surfer...;-)

In these days of wave inflation...the only way to get enough waves to get really good...great...is to have the means to travel...every chance you can...few places have uncrowded year-round surf to excel at that upper crust level...good surfers get their waves, regardless...but, it helps tremendously to have abundant wave resource...

There have been a few European windsurfers with no surfing experience who turned into really good wave sailors over time...but, you can see in their style that they never surfed growing up...but, they did put in the time pursuing wave experience by traveling and making choices to prioritize surfing...over a normal career and relationships...etc...either by purely groveling...or, by trust funds and sponsorship's...etc...that enabled them to achieve that level...

Who knows what the future holds...there could be a genetically modified kid in Lemoore, California...hours from the coast...where Kelly Slater has a wave pool...that becomes a surfing champion some day...;-)

[NorthJerzSurfer]

Hey K99, check out Davey Skye down in Manasquan NJ.

http://m.daveyskysurfboards.com/index.html

For NJ, beach break waves, guys like you and I (mid 50's and 200lbs) do well on groveler style short boards up to shoulder high.  Dave's Reviver is a board you should consider.  The Reviver is a board that you could ride in the 5'10" range (at almost 23" wide and mid 40's volume).

Ken-

ahhh- i feel like this post was just for me:)

I have  6'10 firewire addvance you can come grab anytime to try.  its bombproof- but like someone said- the extra volume it hides- while a great transition from sup does get corky on the wave.

its still my go to prone board but it feel like i 'surf' differently now that I sup 1/2 the time.  fits the transition perfect.

I also second Bean.  I had a 9'3 AL Merrick perf. longboard for 15 years. A guy in the lineup out of nowhere offered me $200 more than i paid for it in 2002.  SOLD!

I went straight to Dave at Davey Sky and had him shape me a 9'4 Rythm longboard.  its absolutely perfect.  everything i wanted. Spent 2 hours designing it with him at his shop in Squan and found it was the first thing i grabbed all summer.  Even surfed with Dave- i think he got tired of me  gushing about it last swell.

i'd shy away from transitioning to a fish...you know our waves in MOCO. I have realized living here the past 2 years only traditional shapes work with the power and the speed .

[kliss99]

Hey Mike,  wow so glad I started this thread!  I'll contact you to try the addvance, I really appreciate it!  Good to hear your feedback on Daveysky as well.

[covesurfer]

 

I started regular surfing in California when I was 18. I went probably 10 times a year after I got older, but, living in Oregon, that doesn't translate to getting good waves very often.
 
When I discovered SUP, that's all I wanted to do - downwinders, flat water hammering/racing, and surfing. Especially going at the Oregon Coast, where the water is freezing and you have to deal with a lot of short period junk on the paddle outs, SUS is awesome. Even when we moved where the water was warm and the waves a lot more consistent, I kept SUP surfing pretty much all the time until a couple years ago. I loved the wave count aspect, I got more waves in a few years on SUS than I had in my lifetime regular surfing.

At first, I just started proning again for an alternative in small waves. But, as time went by, I found myself getting more and more hooked on regular surfing again. As was mentioned by someone else on this thread, that moment when you catch a drop, the board accelerates and you get to your feet and race across a wave, there's no other feeling like it.

Then there is turning, it's a whole different beast on standup, where you can brace and pivot around the paddle. But going hands-free on a narrow board is also an incredible feeling for me. For the past year, I've only stand up surfed maybe 5 times, and every time, I've had a blast. But, I don't even take a SUS board anymore if the waves are good. I just prefer the smaller boards and the elegance of prone surfing. I also fear/suspect that as I'm just getting to be 60, my days of popping up are likely numbered. So, I am going to get it while I can.

I'm mostly riding my 7-2x20.5 mini mal. I still enjoy SUS, but honestly, the boards feel ungainly large to me after riding surfboards and the paddle outs in anything bigger than about shoulder high spook me. I love being able to push my board under breaking waves - even though the mini mal is a bit too floaty to do a true duck dive, you can still push it down and get under white water much of the time. Lots less anxiety getting out when conditions are on the bigger side of things. Nowadays, my wave count regular surfing is much higher than in the past, mostly because I get to go in decent conditions and also because you just get better the more you do something.

It's been months since I've gone SUS but I'm looking forward to doing it again, but there are places and conditions where taking the SUS is a really good choice. It's an interesting perspective that you get going back and forth between regular surfing and SUS. I feel really lucky to get to enjoy both sports.

[Old School 213]

I match up with just about everyone else on thread in terms of surf history and still proning with a little SUP. For 1-2 years was entirely SUP but now rotated back to more prone. I sold off all of my shortboards recently including a Firewire Dominator and picked up a Von Sol Shadow. I'm liking the Shadow. It get's into waves well and is fairly speedy. I'm riding it with the stock fins as a quad with a guitar pick. I have not ridden it as a thruster yet. I'm also keeping a Takayama noserider for longboard fun.

[surfshaver]

Kliss, I have a board I think you'd like.  It's a surftech Gordon and Smith super fish.  8'0 by about 22 wide and if I had to guess its about 50 liters.  It's a tri-fin, has low rocker in the nose.  It is super light and buoyant from the epoxy construction.  It paddles like a longboard but surfs like it's about 1 foot shorter than it is.  It is fast in small stuff and holds surprisingly well in overhead surf.

Right now I'm riding an L41 popdart sup at 7'10" as my primary board, but if I needed a 1-board quiver for prone surfing, this would be it. 

Not sure if they still make these, but you should check it out.

[dietlin]

Kliss99, I have one of these in 7'4 x 22"x 2 3/4":
http://www.griffinsurfboards.com/shop/surfboards/rocket/
Works in knee high New England mush, OH Nicaragua beach break, OH North Shore reefs.  Super easy to duck dive.  Surfs like it's a 6'4".

[kliss99]

Thanks for the info on the various boards.  I really think I need to demo a few before making a decision.  Plus, it seems like no one is interested in my 9'2 Flow so if that doesn't sell everything is on hold.

Back to surf vs sup.  Sup surfing is now the number one activity for me but there are times when wave size gets borderline using the sup.  No channels where I surf. Nothing is more frustrating then not being able to make it outside when the waves are going off.  So I will sup most of the time but want to be able to jump on a surfboard and be comfortable once on my feet.  I was really surprised my old board at 8'6 x 21 1/2 x 2 3/4 just didn't feel like enough board.