Ride what board works best for you

By Dave Dalkiewicz Contributing Writer

(May 12, 2023) “So, what kind of surfboard should I ride?”

This is a question that budding surfers and experienced ones alike are bound to ask at least once and probably many times in their surfing careers.

Typically, a beginner would do well to choose a board with substantial length, width and thickness, something that would paddle and catch waves with a certain amount of ease.

Stability also comes into play and a board with the aforementioned characteristics would generally provide a good amount of this much desired stability.

Surfing, and especially learning to surf, can be tough to do at times. A board that basically “over floats” the beginner is a good way to go.

And how about the more experienced surfer?

Granted, there are different degrees of experience but most anyone who has surfed for a while will have a pretty good idea of what type of board they would like to ride.

A lot of variables can come into play, influencing a good decision, and frequently a more experience surfer will have more than one board.

This notion of having more than one board will have much to do with the wave conditions of the day or the locale of where the surfing is being done.

The North Side of Indian River Inlet will differ from the waves of Ocean City, Maryland, and so too with the waves of Assateague Island.

When a surfer starts to acquire two or more boards it’s generally referred to as a quiver – as in a quiver of arrows.

This is kind of like a golfer with a bag of different golf clubs for different shots on different sections of a golf course – like having the right tool for the particular job at hand.

All of these factors can have a bearing on choosing the “right” board.

To make it even more confusing, none of this discussion can be set in stone although certain parameters and measurements will generally be accepted.

Most shapers will have developed templates and measurements that have proven to work well in the water.

This will come about over a period of time and does not happen out of thin air.