Short boards have been on my mind a lot lately. Many years ago, I surfed on a short board a few times and it just felt right. While I know you’re supposed to transition from a long board to a short board over time as you get better, I just really wanted to try a short board again. Today was the first day I re-tried to surf on a short board and I was fortunate enough to get a chance to ride a 6’6″ Firewire Dominator.

I got it last night and when I looked at it I thought there was no way I would even be able to paddle this board, but I also had hope since the dimensions were what I wanted – as wide and as thick as my 9′ long board. I had researched the new Firewire Dominator, which is a beginner short board meant for a variety of conditions and wave sizes. I went on the web and looked up some tutorials and videos on how to surf a short board, and they all seemed to make sense to me. The difference in the paddling, pop-up and riding seemed to be things that I could possibly do – that gave me the stoke for the next day.

As I got to the beach the next day I was running all the techniques I’d seen and read the night before through my head over and over. As it turned out the paddling was rather easy compared to what I thought it would be like. It seemed a bit slower than my 8.0 Super Fish but not that bad.

The next challenge was catching a wave. To my surprise this wasn’t as hard as I thought the night before. In two sessions today I caught 4 waves, however, I didn’t get to a completely stand position on any of the waves.

This takes us to the final task of riding a short board – standing up and riding it. Well this is were I failed. I got to one knee one time, and then got one ride where I got my foot on the traction pad, but fell off the back of the wave. It seem like I need a wave with more power, so I’m heading to the outside tomorrow morning.

I’ve got one more day with the Firewire and will try to make it count. So far I’m loving the short board! Also, sitting on and turning the board into the wave is a breeze.

Aloha

#54 – #55 / #12 – #13 – 2010 / 2:00 pm

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