New to Surfing

Flanders536

Hey all,
I was up in Donegal this weekend(im from Waterford) for a festival and a friend of mine brought his 2 boards.
We went out to a place called bundoran in /close to BallyShannon

I have never surfed befor and I am now sitting here wanting to go again.
Got the basics in which was great and caught a few good waves on my knees.

I read the beginner guide and I saw people didnt aggree with/ had different opinions on the boards for beginers section and want some opinions on the below please

1:Im 6'1 heavier then average, what size board should I be looking at ect?

2: I have a problem with my left knee. I brok my knee cap in 3, about 7 months ago and my left knee a little tender, when I was trying to ''pop up'' at the weekend I found I was hitting my left knee off the board which was making me hesitate in ''popping'' up properly due to the pain.
Am I popping up wrong that my knee is hitting the board?

Ill update this thread when I get in touch with my mate as I do not know what board he gave me to use(lenght/make) ect as I felt very comfortable on it but ut seemed a little short on bouancy for my weight I think

Thanks in advance
Flanders536

colinsavage

Flanders if i was you id go for a mini mal. I'm surfing about 6 months me and the mates go surfing in bundoran every 2nd weekend or so. I bought a 8ft cortez mini malibu on the troggs.com website check it out i think they have some good deals at the minute. The mini malibu are an all round good board for beginners. I was in bundoran the same weekend as yourself was down on tullan strand caught a few waves on my board so cant see why you cant am 5'9 and 13 stone. Also if your in bundoran check out the surf world shop or their website surfworld .ie got some nice boards too. Them and troggs are about the cheapest unless you want to buy a second hand board on done deal or adverts.ie.

killedsirius

i'd go 8ft plus on some durable board like NSP, BIC or something epoxy, these sell reasonably well second hand if you get bored of it again or do your knee in.

This might not even pertain to you and I might be totally out there suggesting this so more experienced people can suggest alternatives, but if you're a goofy foot( right foot forward on the board) i wouldn't be strapping a leash to your left leg as a strong wave pulling on the board and as a consequence your leg could really hurt. I'd go with working on being a regular foot.

Otherwise maybe your knee was hitting the board because you weren't pushing yourself up high enough to have enough space under you torso to whip your legs in. But this is very hard to get right and takes a while.

rodento

Get yourself a knee support

Flanders536

@colinsavage: Thanks for the info, friends have just booked another trip up to Bundoran on the 3/4 july about 10/12 of us going. I'll checck out those sites so i can buy when I go up if I see something I like

@killedsirius:''i wouldn't be strapping a leash to your left leg'' I did not think of this(could have hurt myself at the weekend) thanks very much, I will be strapping to my right ankle from now on!
''I'd go with working on being a regular foot.'' I will try this, I know I have to find a comfortable way for me to surf. Was just thinking there might be something completly obvious that I was doing that could be causing my knee to hit the board

@rodento:, I do have a knee support but would rather my knee not hit the board on every wave I try get on as even thought my knee is healish it is still tender.

killedsirius

hope this might help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4EuL5mfqB0

if you are relatively strong and agile you could skip the first two knee step, as you can see his left leg never touches the board but his right leg does on the second step. Ideally you'll get the swing of it and be popping straight to your feet soon
This is for the regular foot stance, which I would advise you adopt even if it's uncomfortable because i've felt my leash knee yank on occasion but my knees are good

ted1

haha loooks like we had a boardsie meet up without known it. i was out in Tulllan on saturday and Sunday morning.

i'm 5 11 and about 95kg and genreally use a 7'9" board, if you a complete beginner i'd recomend going for something bigger. you'll get going much easily. ideally something light that'll be easy to paddle.

spaceHopper

Have a look around in the surf shop in tramore and talk to the surf club. You should think about getting a lesson or two and tell them about your knee they will be in a much better position to advise you in the flesh.

The waves in tramore aren't that consistent yet it produces some good surfers that because there is a good club there.

Starting out your are hard on boards, beginners tend to ding them easily so most are advised to get a plastic / epoxy pop out that's big and stable and will float them well or a second hand fibre glass board, something like an old min-mal or long board. If you go about the 8ft range you will get a feel for weather you want to go shorter or longer. But if you are on the heavy side and with a bad knee I'd go long 9ft + say 9'2 or 9'6 with lots of float about 3 inches tick. You'll get more waves and have fun you can always get the basic and go shorter if you want to but will end up keeping the long board for smaller days any way. You don't have to go shorter I longboard as do most of my friend.

Moonfruit

Hey Flanders.

A friend just took his '8'4" Bic board' into SurfWorld in Bundoran to sell on.They provide this service that when you buy a new board from them, they'll sell your old one commission free.

I think this board is ideal for you. It's in like new condition with bag and leash for €285.

You'd be best call SurfWorld to see if it's still there. 071 98 41223

I also took my Bic 7'9" in there for €200 if anyone reading this is interested.??

Fracture

spaceHopper wrote: »

Have a look around in the surf shop in tramore and talk to the surf club. You should think about getting a lesson or two and tell them about your knee they will be in a much better position to advise you in the flesh.

The waves in tramore aren't that consistent yet it produces some good surfers that because there is a good club there.

Sorry for going off topic lads, but im from donegal, im surfing around 2-3 months now and im in wexford for the weekend, gonna head down to tramore on sunday, just wondering if you know if the waves are gonna be good? i see there is a 10 ft swell coming in. I have no problem getting up
on the board etc, just wondering if the conditions are gonna be good.
Another thing, is the beach at blackhall in wexford any good?

spaceHopper

Fracture wrote: »

Sorry for going off topic lads, but im from donegal, im surfing around 2-3 months now and im in wexford for the weekend, gonna head down to tramore on sunday, just wondering if you know if the waves are gonna be good? i see there is a 10 ft swell coming in. I have no problem getting up
on the board etc, just wondering if the conditions are gonna be good.
Another thing, is the beach at blackhall in wexford any good?

It's going to be blowing a sh1t storm aswell

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=47761

Fracture

spaceHopper wrote: »

It's going to be blowing a sh1t storm aswell

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=47761

Is it all offshore winds? i might not bother goin down if its gonna be rough.

rodento

For your knee I recommend something like this, used one of these for around 6mths when I popped my knee surfing

Can wear them inside or outside the wetsuit

scotty_irish

everyone here seems to be recommending v long boards. i think you should go with something a bit shorter(less than 7'6") but wide for its length to give you the buoyancy required (circle one have some shorter wider boards), throw yourself in the deep end a bit. that way you'll improve much quicker, it might be slightly more difficult at first but those massive bic boards and the like are crap (bic make good pens, bad razors and worse boards). the only good thing about a bic board in my opinion, is that they're inde-fukcing-structible.

and buy second hand, so many people buy boards only use them a few times so some great deals out there!

and most importantly, enjoy yourself!

rodento

Wouldn't touch a shorter board if you have a dodgy knee and learning

Flanders536

@ rodento: thats what I do have.

So you can advise better here is my knee

6 Months Ago


2 Weeks AGO

scotty_irish

Flanders536 wrote: »

@ rodento: thats what I do have.

So you can advise better here is my knee

6 Months Ago


2 Weeks AGO

fawk!

rodento

Get you physio to make the call, wouldn't/couldn't advise you to surf seen that

spaceHopper

scotty_irish wrote: »

everyone here seems to be recommending v long boards. i think you should go with something a bit shorter(less than 7'6") but wide for its length to give you the buoyancy required (circle one have some shorter wider boards), throw yourself in the deep end a bit. that way you'll improve much quicker, it might be slightly more difficult at first but those massive bic boards and the like are crap (bic make good pens, bad razors and worse boards). the only good thing about a bic board in my opinion, is that they're inde-fukcing-structible.

and buy second hand, so many people buy boards only use them a few times so some great deals out there!

and most importantly, enjoy yourself!

Their 9 ft longboard is quite good had one on holidays once .

Flanders536

rodento wrote: »

Get you physio to make the call, wouldn't/couldn't advise you to surf seen that

The hospital advised me I did not need a phyiso. I enquired with another doc who said the same that after my first 6-8weeks my kneee was healing perfectly and that mobility would come back natuarlly. I wear the knee brace and I hate sitting around doing nothing
Play loads of sports surfing is the leaste demanding on my knee

killedsirius

rodento wrote: »

Wouldn't touch a shorter board if you have a dodgy knee and learning

totally agree, i listened to snobbery about bics and NSPs when i was starting, held me back for ages. Eventually on ben bennet's adivce i whipped out the auld 7'6 NSP, now i can ride green waves and turn pretty well and ride consistently.
so if i were the guy with the fecked up knee i'd go 8ft plus maybe even 9 and delicately make my way up the board

lamai

I am surfing nearly a year now. I started out using a mates 8ft BIC whilst he was out of the country for 3 months. He came back so I got a few goes on my other friends 8ft NSP. I found a big difference straight between the NSP & BIC, the NSP was alot easier to turn, A few weeks later I bought a BIC 7"6, I was told this board was fine for my weight and height. I find it easy to turn on. Not 100% sure about your knee I am only new to this sport. But I think the NSP's are alot better than the BICs having used both now. The BIC is like a brick compared to the NSP

scotty_irish

killedsirius wrote: »

totally agree, i listened to snobbery about bics and NSPs when i was starting, held me back for ages. Eventually on ben bennet's adivce i whipped out the auld 7'6 NSP, now i can ride green waves and turn pretty well and ride consistently.
so if i were the guy with the fecked up knee i'd go 8ft plus maybe even 9 and delicately make my way up the board

it's not snobbery - they're crap. have used them.

when i originally advised going shorter i didn't realise how bad the knee was. but if it's not bothering you, i still stand by my advice.

lamai

lamai wrote: »

I am surfing nearly a year now. I started out using a mates 8ft BIC whilst he was out of the country for 3 months. He came back so I got a few goes on my other friends 8ft NSP. I found a big difference straight between the NSP & BIC, the NSP was alot easier to turn, A few weeks later I bought a NSP 7"6, I was told this board was fine for my weight and height. I find it easy to turn on. Not 100% sure about your knee I am only new to this sport. But I think the NSP's are alot better than the BICs having used both now. The BIC is like a brick compared to the NSP

mean't to say NSP 7"6 not BIC 7"6

rodento

The only reason I would go to a physio is that they can take a look at you leg/knee muscles and tell you if they are healing correctly or if there is a muscle imbalance starting near the joints

This is simple where you have one or more muscles/ligiment/tendons that isn't doing what its ment to and others take up the slack. This in turn leads to those muscles/ligiment/tendon's over developing and will lead to alsorts of complications like tendonitis.

The fact that you need a support tells me that the knee muscles are not back to full strength, which is another reason to head to physio to strength training excercises

Not saying anymore more, its your knee:D

dermo909

Jeez those photos of your knee look sore! Maybe you should rent out a few different types of boards and see which one is best for you. You might think a certain length is right but then you get on it and its completely wrong.

Fracture: Did you go to Tramore on sunday? I was out there at 11am and had a ball. It was tough going though, I had to get out of the water after an hour and have a small rest! I find the best way to fogure if Tramore is going to be working is to watch magicseaweed and keep an eye on the webcam.