How To Choose The Right Surfboard? Volume, Shape, Length w/ EXPERTS

How to choose the right surfboard is a question that I get asked almost every single day. Whether you're beginner, intermediate or advanced we all need new boards. Volume, Shape, Length !? We need experts! We interviewed Jon Pyzel, who shapes for world champion John John Florence, also Rob Kelly ( Pro Surfer) & local shaper Brian Wynn along with Kevmo & Matt Keenen. My whole surfing life I've always just rode what I want when I wanted and never thought about anything else. However there's so much that goes into someone ending up on the right piece of floating foam. Today we're here in investigate how deep this rabbit hole goes & if everyone enjoys this I'm looking forward to going deeper into fins, rocker, design & more. Thanks for watching FOR THE DREAM!!! - Ben

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Music:

That's the Spirit
By OTE

Ready to Go Big
By The New Fools

LOVE (Instrumental Version)
By Rain Jewels

Somnambulation
By Sixteen Wheelers

On the Hunt
By Alexandra Woodward

Shitty Train (Instrumental Version)
By Of Men And Wolves

The Grim Reaper (Instrumental Version)
By Roof

Continental Breakfast
By Rune Dale

Last Letter Sent
By Rune Dale

Chant for Quisqueya
By Ambre Jaune

Twist and Turn
By L.M. Styles

Shifting Angles
By Experia

[jmfu]

"It depends" - Every shaper's favorite answer

[BenGravyy]

Hope everyone enjoys today’s video! If you want to see more surfboard deep dives let us know below! FOR THE DREAM

[himebaughchris]

A 7' 2'" fun board can be utilized in so many ways.

[floggingmurphy]

As a Jersey surfer in the purgatory space between beginner and intermediate this video was awesome to watch

[colincavanaugh]

Stoked on this Ben, one of my favorite videos you've created. Learned so much from these guys because of your great questions. Would love to see more of these surf education videos as there not a lot of good stuff out there for that! Good luck with the recovery hope to see you back in the water soon 🤙

[Carloscf]

I was about to buy another board that i don't need and this video made me understand that i have to do the opposite and get rid o a couple of boards and just keep 2 or 3 that i already have and are exactly what the experts on the video recommend. I just need to learn to surf better with those board that i already have and stop thinking other board is going to change the way i surf. Excellent video, really helpful

[Rlinn]

The thing about surfing that’s beautiful is that everyone is different. I don’t think a tube shooter is for me, or what you guys are calling a groveler. I’m aging, life gets hectic, whatever the reason I’m not in the water as much as I wanna be. Long story short is I love float (volume) so a perfect 3 board quiver for me is a fish a retro single fin and a longboard. Nice work Ben. I know not being in the water must be frustrating for you but you’re keeping your stoke up and the stoke of all of us as well!! Cheers

[Windds]

I’m from Michigan so my go to board is a secret weapon from Infinity, it’s a chunkier board and it’s an 8’0 mid length. I can still do snaps, cut backs and big bottom turns. On Memorial Day I got a couple rides that were the best turns I’ve ever done.

[joeblow]

I’m 68 and I like 40 plus on my short board . I weigh 187 but I’m not a great paddler due to spine inflexibility. I am intermediate and workout all the time. So many variables to consider.

[floating-in]

Great vid Ben, I've been surfing and choosing boards for 50 years and own 30+ boards. The ingredients are outline, rails, thickness bottom and nose then tail, bottom rocker, foam type and glassing techniques. Tail designs are mostly a method to achieve a different outline and rail line. The recipe is how each works with each other which is alchemy. Most of the world's best shapers have no idea how their design mix works, but after 1000's of boards they've narrowed it down in a general sense, pro surfers have taken years and years and hundreds of boards to figure it out and it's a endless journey. Hydrodynamics and hull design concepts are impossibly complex as the ocean constantly changes, boards slow and speed up so science is only marginally useful and they play it by feel. Do demos as much as possible. When you buy a board off the racks you are getting 80% there which is usually enough and you get a sense of what you like and how a board feels under your arm over time. Some of my best boards came off the rack (I loathe to admit that) but back in the day all boards were custom even the ones on the rack. Key point: If you don't catch waves you are getting nowhere, it's the holy Grail. Proper eggs (not mid lengths those are late 60's transition single fin hulls aka longboard then mid length, so don't propagate that term) are a gift to surfing and everyone should own one, just look at Devon Howard. Peace.

[MSBorges]

Brand new to surfing. Took a lesson over a decade ago and want to try it again. This video was super informative, thank you!!

[niniksulikah]

This was classic ... watched it twice... so many opinions and to many options, , im a Ozzie from Margaret River originally.. but live in Indonesia.. I get by with a 2 board quiver these days. A BSB 6'6 abra kadabra short board rounded pin for the big days, , and a BSB short long 610' mid length for the beach breaks out front when I can't be bothered doing a boat trip.. watching your vids Ben convinced me to try a midlength, , best thing I've done for my surfing personally..

[matiasgibbs]

Being a 6'3 200 lbs weekend warrior I find very exciting that nowadays mid lengths have come such a long way in terms of performance versus 15 years ago. I got on a two Lost boards (Crowd Killer and Glydra) and i couldn't believe how well they performed for their sizes (I rode 6'8 and 7'2 sizes) compared to a 6'8 Bruce Hansel I bought in 2012. Mid lengths now are really giving bigger guys the opportunity to do more stuff on waves. I also rode a 6'4 quiver killer in bigger waves and was amazed at how well it kept me afloat.

[ilyaonthefly]

I started surfing at age 14 (22 now) but could only surf a few times a year on east coast waves when my fam went on vacations. Usually would be late spring/summer so I never got to see super gnarly conditions, although I have stood up on chest & shoulder high waves. Mostly learned on typical east coast wind mush in South Carolina and Northeast Florida. Now I only live 3 hours from the coast in NC and surf more regularly. As anyone else I mainly learned on longboards and longer mid-lengths (think 7.5ft all the way to 9ft). Just got back from a trip where I finally was able to surf a Torq 6'10' board, volume of 46 I believe, width of 21 and 3/4, Fish style tail. It was a rental like all the other boards I've surfed, but after feeling how easy I was able to stand up on it and even start learning basic turns, I think it will be the first board I actually purchase for myself. I have tried to surf some shorter mid-lengths like that in the past, but never had success probably because of their volume. This one that I just surfed, however, was literally the perfect in-between of a short board and a mid-length. Paddling it felt like what I would imagine paddling a shortboard would feel like. Standing up on it was obviously harder than what I'm normally comfortable with (about 7'5") but it was just easy enough for me to pick up within a few tries but a good enough challenge because I couldn't stand up on it right away like the 7'5". Also for reference I am 155 pounds at 5'10" height. Hopefully this can help someone out who's more on the beginner/intermediate side looking for a perfect in-between of a shortboard and midlength with enough volume. I was so happy to finally find a board that's short enough to be a challenge but easy enough to stand up on and have fun. The waves were probably around 2-4ft and clean.

[rsktransport]

Guys, I recently bought the best board (Machado Two fish)for me ever and it has made me much, much, better over night. My dad always surfed so I grew up doing it but focused more of my time playing baseball/football as I was really good at those sports. Moved away from coast at 26 and stopped surfing for about 10 yrs. When I moved back I got super hooked back in, but was about 50 lbs heavier than when I stoped.

The extra weight made me feel like learning all over again. My mind wanted to do things that my body couldnt and I was having hard time figuring out the kind of surfer I needed to be. The boards were a lot of it. After loosing about 25 lbs I was a sturdy 193 lbs. I had been riding the Super Brand Fling in 5'11 and was fairly happy but inconsistent in my surfing. Great board but my next buy blew me away.

2 months ago I picked up a Machado Seaside (Two Fish) which is a twin fin. Had never ridden one before but a local ripper had been coaxing me to give one a try. I was blown away on my first wave! Had never experienced such drive while turning up face of the wave. Felt like I was actually accelerating. The other thing that has been a game changer is my new ability to blow past white water sections . Where I used to get hung up in the foam, I now race past to cleaner areas of the wave with little effort. The other aspect I like is the buttery smooth looseness of the board. Im not an overly snappy surfer, but have good balance, so this aspect of the board takes away my weekness of getting too stationary. Instead of being fast and strait, Im now fast and rather carvy. The cool thing is how many compliments I am now getting on my surfing. Feels good to come home to the wife feeling like Kelly Slater. Not really, but feels like it.

I live in south tx, yes we have surf; and typically have knee to chest wind swells. However, we have had an amazing spring with plenty of over head surf and the board has held up well in that too. Take in mind Im talking about 7 ft and 7 sec type swells, so can be very bumpy. The keel fins really help wjth that. If you are a bigger, experienced surfer you really will love this board. Give it a try!

[bluewhitebus]

😂😂That ending was classic!! Really informative stuff. I grew up in the late eighties and little blades were everyone HAD to have. I had more energy back then but as I got older I realized how much energy I was wasting paddling to catch a wave. I started getting thicker and thicker boards and love how much easier it is to catch waves so you can use more energy surfing than paddling!!

[eugorov]

Yeah Brian Wynn! Made my sick ass hell mid length and I’ve been scoring on it with multiple fin set ups! Yewww what a great video !

[PURPLETOPZ]

New to surfing. Just got settled in Tampa, Florida on the gulf. Ready to see what happens this spring slash summer.

[JoeyDunphy]

Super helpful video! I feel like every surfer has made mistakes when it comes to buying surfboards and developing a quiver. I know I personally started surfing a lot better and progressing more quickly once I finally bought a Fish. I spent 2 years coming in from surfing a performance groveler and saying "That would have been fun if I had a fish." I feel like 4 boards is my minimum quiver. A longboard for the truly gutless, a fish, a hybrid / versatile 5 fin shortboard to fill in the gaps between small and pumping, and step up / tube shooter for the day of days. (please no one tell my girlfriend that I only need 4 boards! Buying surfboards make me happy!)

[lifeisgood]

Thanks for making this Ben. You are a man who knows what the audience wants 🤙