The Different Types Of Surfboards

There are 6 main different types of surfboards.  These surfboard designs are each geared towards a unique style of surfing and specific types of surf conditions.  For example you will want to use a different type of surfboard when the waves are small as opposed to when its going off!

Lets take a look at these different surfboard designs and surfboard types…….

The Shortboard Design

The shortboard is the most common type of surfboard used by professional surfers around the world for high performance surfing.

Shortboards are usually between 5’11” and 6’5 and usually have a pointed nose and squash tail design.  It is however not uncommon for a shortboard to feature one of the many surfboard tail designs.

The reason professionals love to ride a shortboard is because it allows for easy maneuverability and quick response.  This also allows surfers like Kelly Slater to get tons of speed, perform tight turning arc as well as do aerial maneuvers.

The old school shortboards were design as single fin and twin fin surfboard.  These shortboards were not as easy to maneuver as today’s three fin  shortboards.

Most high performance shortboard designs today come in a tri fin thruster setup with quad and five fins becoming more and more popular.

Beginner shortboard dimensions are usually wider and thicker than a high performance shortboard.

The Gun Design

The Gun is a surfboard designed for big wave ridding.  These types of surfboards are usually anywhere from 7 to 12 feet in length.

Gun surfboard are much narrower than shortboards with greater nose rocker allowing them to go very fast down the face of a very big wave without the nose getting buried.

The gun surfboard features a pin tail shape allowing for great response and sensitivity which is crucial when riding big dangerous waves. Gun surfboards are also much thicker than regular shortboards giving them more volume making them stronger.  This helps prevent these surfboards from breaking in large surf.

The Semi Gun Design

The Semi Gun surfboard is a surfboard type designed for those days when the surf is too big for your shortboard but not large enough for your gun.  These boards are usually between 7 and 8 feet in length.

Semi guns are also narrower and thicker than shortboards but not as narrow and thick as a full size gun.

The Longboard Design

The longboard shape as the name implies is a type of surfboard that is longer than the shortboard outline. Longboard sizes usually range between 9 to 10 feet in surfboard length and usually have single or tri fin setup.

The main differences in performance between a shortboard and a longboard is that longboards are easier to ride.  They are easier to paddle and more stable allowing you to get into waves faster and stand up quicker.  This is why many beginners learn how to surf on a longboard before graduating to a shortboard.

However longboards are heavier and much harder to maneuver than shortboards and are therefore not ideal for radical surfing.  This has led to longboards developing a stigma as the “old man’s choice” of surfboard.

Learn more about the Longboard Surfboard

The Fish Design

The Fish surfboard design is a surfboard template for surfing small waves.  Every serious surfer has at least one fish in his quiver for those days when the waves are too weak for a regular shortboard.

These types of surfboards are usually surfed 2 – 3 inches shorter than a regular shortboard and are usually wider.  This gives this type of surfboard a “rounder” outline allowing you to paddle into waves easier and maneuver the surfboard easier at low speeds.

Fishs also feature less rocker both in the nose and tail creating a flatter surfboard design making the board glide faster and smoother over the surface of the water.

Learn more about the Fish Surfboard

The Fun Board Design

Funboards are a hybrid design of a longboard and shortboard.

These surfboards therefore are longer than the average shortboard but still have a round outline.

This creates a type of surfboard that is easy to paddle yet maneuverable and fun to ride!

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