Surfboard Design
Choosing the right surfboard is crucial and depends mainly on the factors type of waves / conditions in combination with a surfers height and weight and skill level.
Different Surfboard Designs exist and are continuously evolving for the interplay of those factors. For example there are surfboards designed for small days with weak waves (poor / fat conditions), surfboards that perform best at average conditions and surfboard designs for optimum waves (good / hollow conditions).
If you look at the website of Firewire Surfboards, for each board you can find a performance specification chart, taking into consideration those factors and telling you for which conditions / wave types the board is designed.
As much as it would be nice to have one board that fits all conditions, this is hardly possible and the reason why most surfers build a quiver of multiple boards, suitable for different conditions.
Volume, shape and dimensions of the surfboard are important factors to understand. As you go down in volume, shape and size, boards become harder to paddle, less stable under foot, but therefore more responsive for maneuvers.
As a result, for beginner surfers, a big board with a lot of volume is the best choice, while for intermediate to advanced surfers, usually smaller boards with different shapes (sharper, less rounded) are preferred. But also when surfing in very small or very big waves, a bigger surfboard can make sense again to use even for skilled surfers.
In addition to the skill level, as mentioned at the beginning, also the surfers height and weight play an important role when determining the suitable volume and dimensions of the surfboard.
Different Surfboard Design Types
According to skill level and wave types, there are different types of surfboard designs.
Foamboard / Softboard / Foamie
Foam surfboards are stable, forgiving boards that are great for beginners or surfers looking for a fun, inexpensive board. They are comprised of high density foam with a smooth plastic base.
- A soft surfboard made of foam
- Commonly used by beginners to safely learn to surf during their first few days or weeks
- Plenty of floatation and stability
- Less risk of injury when hitting your surfboard during a wipe-out
- Fins usually softer to prevent injuries
- Not to be confused with soft top surfboards, which are a hard board with a thin layer of foam on the deck.
Longboard
- Typically 8-12 foot long
- Best option for being able to surf year-round
- Make tiny 1-2 feet days much more fun
- Surfed by total beginners to advanced surfers alike
Midlength Board
- Are about 6.5 – 8.5 feet long
- Wide, round shape
- They are the in-between, halfway between the longboard and the fish
- They should be the next step for a beginner surfer who has been practicing enough time on a foamboard or a longboard as a step-up board, if not ready to jump on a fish or a shortboard