Pablo explains today: What surfboard is the right one for me to learn to surf?

For how long can I be practicing on a softboard before going over onto a hard board? Why do surfschools and surfcamps use softboards when teaching in stead of fibre glass boards or hard plastic boards?

All of the above are common questions many of you ask yourself when entering the surfing world and start catching different kind of waves.

In the same way that the most common carbon fiberglass boards have been constantly evolving, so have been the softboards that are mostly used for tuition.

Hard plastic boards with hard fins are very dangerous when learning how to surf. Many accidents happen in the first stages when you first try to stand up in a crowded beachbreak. There are other surfers, bathers and certainly the long leash makes the surfboard reach a fair distance when wiping out.

In all of our surfcamps we take safety very serious and are always on the hunt for the best equipment that balances safety but also progress within our guests.

There are so many different types of softboards out there ranging from 80 euros all the way to 400 euros, and related to that price there is quality. Different shapes and materials are to be taken into consideration.

When we think about teaching in our surfcamps, where all of our customers stay for at least a week we need to think about their progress. Standing up on a foamy wave is not the aim of surfing in our surfcamps. We hope that all of our clients come back and pursue surfing. Surfing green waves and doing turns is something we want everyone to experience and we work hard in order to achieve bringing this feeling across.

Many people think that softboards are only made for the first few days of tuition, and that used to be the case. Though with the evolution of equipment and strong critique from buying customers like us, the surfcamps, we are seeing better and better softboards on the market and tailor made to our requirements.

When we think about developing the skills of standing on a board and balance, we need to make sure that the board has the right volume according to our weight. This does not mean that the surfboard has to be very long and heavy. We need to make sure that the overall volume of the board is just right. For this we can even have a shorter board which is wider and a little thicker.

This might help for instance in green waves in order to turn the board. Does it have to be a hard board, made of plastic or fiber glass? Not at all. It just needs to have certain characteristics that are generally important when surfing green waves, and most of these we can acquire on well made softboards in order to start practicing these manouvers, before taking these to a next level.

Just think about the confidence a soft board brings you when placed into a challenging environment of bigger waves and crowds. Knowing that your equipment wont harm you is already a big weight of your shoulders and certainly a motivation booster to improve.

What are we looking for as a surfcamp: We want the board to be stable. We want the board to have a rocker. We want the board to be light to carry. We want the board to have a handel to help smaller guests to carry it better. We want the board to have certain sharp edges in order to perform when turning on green waves. We want surfboards to be safe for everyone in order to start learning how to do most of the possible manoeuvers within a beginners as well as intermediate surfers range. So on So on…

And here we are trying to increase the quality of your experience and progress in all of our camps with new boards each year. Your feedback is always a help to improve.

For those who think that you cant do crazy moves on a softboard, please have a look at the video ;)

Looking forward for some softboard action this summer with all of you,

Pablo :)