Help me find my next surfboard
Hi reddit,
I’m trying to figure out my next surfboard step and would like input from people who’ve gone through a similar progression.
Current situation:
- I transitioned from a soft board to a midlength 6 months ago, (an old Walden mini mega magic 6’10” with 67 liters)
- I’m surfing mostly knee to chest high waves, occasionally head high (wave pool + ocean)
- I’m currently comfortable on midlength style boards
- I’ve recently had good sessions in a wave pool on a rental Torq mod fish 7’2” with 52.7 liters (3ft waves)
- Main current issue: paddle endurance and timing consistency (improving, but still not fully automatic)
- I surf mostly beach breaks, occasionally reef breaks and sometimes when the surf is flat I’ll go to the wave pool
What I’m trying to figure out:
I don’t want to stall progression by staying too big for too long, but I also don’t want to drop volume too early and ruin wave count (which happened when I tried my friends 45 liter board, granted it was before surfing the Torq)
Boards I’m considering:
- An oversized Hypto Krypto 6’10” with 53 liters
- Some sort of random 7’ board with 50 liters
Constraints:
- Waves are mostly waist–chest, occasionally head high as I said.
- I still need paddle help, but not at beginner level anymore.
- Goal is progression toward proper shortboard surfing.
Any structured progression advice (not just “go smaller”) would help.