Are Minimals for Beginnners?

The learner board as it's kind of thought of, gets unreasonably bad press, it immediately conjures up images of surf schools and out of control tourists dropping in on your face. Being a mini version of a 'Mal' which is short for Malibu, or Longboard as they are more widely known, is a safe buy, but make sure you get the correct variety.

Being an old surfing romantic I prefer to think of these pioneer boards as transitional pieces of equipment. They are on the front line, being ridden by all sorts of people, being abused, run into the beach, snapped and dinged. Yet these were the boards that we all (apart from John John) started on. The boards that captivated us, that first gave us that feeling that we now do and would pursue blindly and forever. As a ‘thank you’ we (the surfing community) repay it with ‘beginner board’ label.

Saying that, these types of boards are perfect for beginners.  Their length, width and volume capacities can be tailored to combine the wave catching ability of the longboard, but without the cumbersome weight and the extra length, compared to the more manoeuvrable shortboard, can give you more rocker (which means less nose dives).

As with all types of surfboard in the current climate there is a huge spectrum of boards shapes that fall withing the type ‘Minimal’. Just because it has this label don't assume it is a user friendly board. From Single fins to Quads, from Bonzers to Fish tails, everyone is trying something different so my advice would be to stick to something that is simple and you know works for you first board.

If you are looking for a beginner board I will refer you to a previous article written by our ‘in house’ surf doctor here.

If not and you just love Minimals for the right reasons like I do, then check out Beau Young ripping on a Minimal. I will say it again, Minimals are not just for beginners.