How To Choose Your First Surfboard

Your first surfboard can make the difference between you loving the sport, and hating it, so before you let a fast talking salesman sell you the latest and greatest (and most expensive) model, you need to learn how to choose your first surfboard. Surfboards come in a wide variety of styles that you can choose from, from short and skinny to long and fat.  The different sizes and shapes of the surfboard will give you a different feel while you are on the wave, and require different skills to ride them. Picking the correct one when you choose your first surfboard is very important, since a beginner can injure themselves if they try to ride a surfboard meant for experts.

1. Buy a used surfboard. If you are a millionaire, you can skip this step. For the rest of us, you are only going to be using this first surfboard for a few months, or less if you surf every day, before you need to upgrade to a more advanced board design. By choosing a used surfboard, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars and not lose too much surfboard quality. It  will also be subjected to a good deal of wear and tear while you get used to riding it, so there is no point in putting all that wear on an expensive surfboard.
2. Choose a thick surfboard. The thicker that the surfboard is, the easier it will be for you to float on it. Find a surfboard that is about 2-1/2 inches thick in the center.
3. Choose a wide surfboard. You first surfboard should be about 19 or 20 inches wide. The wider the surfboard, the easier it will be for you to stand up or sit on. The extra stability will not only let you surf better, but it can also help with your confidence, since you are less likely to fall off.
4. Find a long surfboard. The exact length that you want will depend on how tall you are, but try to find a board that is almost two feet longer than you are tall. A longer board will stay afloat and make it easier for you to paddle back out between runs.
5. Choose your first surfboard with a round tail, or a round square tail. Avoid pointed tails as these boards will be difficult for a beginner to steer and stay upright on.