Board size - quick and dirty assessment

A lot of folks ask what size board they need and others question if the board they have is too small or large. Most of the high performance manufacturers (I'm no longer going to call them small) can guide you on the size. Shops like Walzer and the WP can semi or custom fit you. Shred Stixx has the ability also.

Most hybrids os surfstyle boards have a rail that adds performance when turning. The Walzer, SS, WP, IS, etc all have shaped rails that work BEST when just the RIGHT amount of rail is in the water.

This picture is of Judy on a 4.5 Comp X. Amazingingly enough the board is too large for her. Most of the time when she is riding the rails are out of the water. You'll also notice the telltale sign of the spray coming off the inside rail...there is virtually none when Judy rides this board.

The more common situation for folks is that the board is too small. You can still RIDE a too small board, but it will feel sluggish and slow.

This is Dennis on a 4'11" JaMako. Dennis is a big guy at 250+ pounds. He is able to ride just about anything he can get his hands on, but as you can see it's basically underwater. Note the teeltale sign of a TOO SMALL board, the spray coming off the inside rail is waist high.

Now the just right board. The folks at Walzer set this board up for James. 51" long and 19.75" wide. The inside rail is in the water, but not the outside rail. This is a high performance board and has very sharp rails, so there is a spray eminating from the inside rails, above the ankle and below the knee - mid calf is about right.

Not an exact science, but it's a quick and dirty way to see if your board is sized appropriately. Caveats - you have to have a decent size wake for this to really work. Also, having a board that fits might still be a problem for newbies just getting started, larger is better in that situation. ALSO...doesn't apply to longboards

So what you are saying is that the Walker Project Composite X 4.5 is a little small for me at 4'6". LOL

Nice description. I was riding with a couple the other day. The young lady was very light. We switched here from a Broad Cast 5.6 to and IS Yellow, still too big, then we put her on a smaller Trick Boardz Velocity and bingo she was carving away.