I get questions every day from skaters asking for recommendations and advice. Most I can answer quickly, but occasionally I get one that needs a long explanation. An inquiry today asking about boards good for surfing, I thought would make a good blog post, the information could be used by others out there. Please use the comments below to add more information or other products.

Question: "I was wondering if you could recommend any boards to help improve surfing skills" There are three areas skateboarding can helping surfing skills. Fitness, strength and coordination.

Coordination

Most people looking for a surf style skateboard want something that mimics the action of surfing. One aspect is the pure enjoyment of cruising around, slash a bank, carving tightly, scaring pensioners and generally surfing around on the land because there is no surf on the beach. There are a few types of brands that specialize in this type of surf skating. What makes these boards special is the trucks. You can buy a complete or just the trucks to convert a normal skateboard or longboard. The main truck brands are and Gullwing and Carver. There are other brands out there like Seismic, Revenge and Original. Seismic and Original trucks use springs to create a surf skate motion. Gullwing's surf skate truck is called the Sidewinder and is used by Sector 9 in their surf skate Sidewinder series of longboards. The truck was developed for Sector 9 by Carver. Carver are one of the original surf skate brands. Their technology and innovations are the products most brands compare themselves to. The Carver truck uses another kingpin to create another rotating axis, thus emulating surf thrusting. The great thing about Carver is they make completes, which means you don't have to assemble them, you can buy a longboard ready to surf skate straight out of the box. We have a good range of Carver completes on the main website.. Boards of a medium size - say 32 inch to 36 inch, are a good entry level all round solution. Skating them, your body gets to mimic the surf action. Help you create some flexibility and practice bending knees and leaning into a carve. With surfing and skating the important thing is being relaxed. Tighten the body, restrict the flow. Robots don't make good surfers. These completes are in the medium length range. Means they will be easy to carry, plenty of foot room on the deck, will make big sweeping carvings, cut backs when you need. The Sector 9 Shoots is 33.5 inches long - so somewhere between a longboard and a standard skateboard. Bamboo, drop through, surf graphic that makes you want to go on holidays!! Sector Nine does the full range of boards, including awesome small longboard skateboards, which are easier to stash in the car boot. Almost every shape is there. Our favourites are shown here, but the range is in our Sector 9 complete section on the website. The S9 Wavepark is a deck you can skate anywhere. Plenty of room for your feet, single kick which means you can move that front foot forward a bit for a wider stance. The Striker is designed for urban surf skating.  

Fitness

Surfing is hard work. Lot of upper body strength needed but there is also aerobic fitness. No use in getting out there and then not having enough breath to catch the perfect wave barreling in. These boards again are using the Sidewinder truck and they are longer boards in the 36 inch to 42 inch range. The Sentinel is 37.5 inches long and a perfect surf skate board. Big enough to do long skates but compact enough to slash and carve the boardwalk. Looks good, carves like a dream. A longer board is good for long skates, cruising the boardwalk, long skate to the beach, push along a bike track. All these activities are going to build up your aerobic fitness, plus the boards all have the surf truck, so you can bang out a tight thrust or carve when you want. There is even room to chop the wood or cross step to impress the bikinis!    

Strength

When you get back into skating or starting to learn, you find muscles you never thought existed!  The act of skating and carving, you are strengthening muscles. Ankles and knees are two places that skaters build strength in. Both these apply to helping you become a better surfer. If you want strength training, buy a smaller board. They are more nimble, do tighter carves and you get a real workout when you pump, carve and slash. These boards are so portable, you can carry them on the train, in a shopping mall or stash them in the car so the wife doesn't find out what you get up to in your lunch hour (and sick days cough cough). Perfect board for a quick shop run, skate to the train or work, or going to check the surf or goofing around a carpark waiting for your kids to finish sport. This board is also small enough to convince your wife it is really for the kids and not more expensive surf gear! The Sector 9 Barra Soap blurs the lines between skateboard and surf skate. This is a comfortable double kick with surf skate trucks. If you have a local skatepark with bowls or banks this board will make you tear up concrete. Pumping and carving around a big bowl will give your legs and stomach a work out. Hope this info helps. This is not an exhaustive list, please feel free to add more info and brands in the comments section below.