Why You Should Buy a Quality Surfboard?

Surfing comes in many different forms such as kneeboarding, bodyboarding, surf-skiing, tow-in surfing and of course the traditional stand-up surfing. Some surfers enjoy the sport as recreation, while others surf competitively for national and worldwide titles. Traditional long board surfing consists of paddling out on a surfboard into the ocean and waiting for a breaking wave to come along. Once you see a breaking wave, you have to paddle in the direction of the moving wave and match its speed. Once the wave begins to carry you, you can hop to your foot or knees and maneuver your board on the wave. There are different maneuvers demonstrated by surfers; hanging five, hanging ten, a floater, switch-foot, tube riding, off-the-top turns, snaps, aerial, and stall are a few of the most popular.

If you are a beginner surfer, watch these instructional videos to learn what kind of surfboard to buy. Expert Brian Fields shares his knowledge of surfboards with you to help make sure that you buy the right type of surfboard for you and the waves you'll be surfing. He explains the pros and cons of various types of surfboards, including fun boards, fish boards, long boards and short boards. He talks about the pros and cons of fiberglass boards versus epoxy boards, and offer tips of how to take care of your surfboard, including waxing advice and why it's essential to keep your surf board out of the sun. He also offers a few tips of surfing etiquette and safety so that you'll be sure to have a great experience while you're out there learning how to surf!

"BRIAN FIELDS: Hey, how's it going? I'm Brian Fields here at Aussie Island in Wilmington, North Carolina. We're here on behalf of Expert Village, here to talk to you about picking out a surfboard and what you can do to help take care of it in the meantime. First thing I need to talk you about is picking out a board for you. A lot of it has to do with if you're a beginner or if you're an experienced surfer. If you're a beginner, first thing, it's going to depend on the size. If you're a younger kid or a grown adult. Some people start when they, they first walk and some people start when they're 20 to 30 years old. The main thing is you want to get a surfboard that's going to float you. A lot of that comes in how much volume. Volume is how much foam is in that board. The more foam, the better it's going to float you. The better it floats you, the easier it's going to be easy it's going to be for you to paddle into a wave. In order to get into a wave, you have to match the speed of it by paddling so, less floatation means slower paddling. So, anytime somebody comes in the shop and they're new to the sport, we try to put them on something that we know is going to float them very well. A lot of how much the board floats you will depend on how wide and thick the board is, not just how long it is. A lot of people who don't know a lot about surfing think just length, but the width and thickness is a very, very important. So oftentimes, if it's a young kid--a young kid just because they're more flexible, lighter, we can put them on a bigger range of boards. You could start them on maybe a larger short board or maybe a fish, to a fun board. Somebody older, an adult, we're going to start on something bigger. We usually recommend a fun board or a long board, just because of the volume in the board, like I say, it makes a world of difference. Most people once--if you put them on a short board to start off with, they're going to struggle because a short board doesn't give you a lot of floatation or stability once you pop up on the board. So fun board or long boards, usually the way to go starting out with an adult. A kid, like I say, just making sure it's going to float them, that's your key right there."