As a surfer one of the things that doesn’t get talked about enough is tail design all the time I hear shop members talk about the length, width, or liters that a board is but few talk about the tail of a surfboard and how it affects the ride and style in which the board preforms. As surfers it is key to have a proper board suited to the conditions in which your are surfing or you won’t catch as many waves and when you do you won’t be able to get all you can get out of the wave either.
We will only focus on four tail designs. some of the tail designs are not considered short boards and if you’d would like to know please email me and i can give you some more details on them and the types of boards they are considered and the best kinds of waves for those those kinds of boards and tail designs.
Design- refers to the art of hand shaping a surfboard from foam blanks or a piece of wood and making into a vehicle for riding waves. Most short boards are between 5-6’6’’ feet long depending on your size and how you ride. The finished design is a dramatic transformation from the crude materials a surfboard starts out as before it becomes the thing you buy and sell in stores. An since surfboards are ridden all over the world it is up to the shaper to design a board that will work well in specific conditions.
In order to make the best boards, shapers must spend countless hours practicing and honing their craft to create almost flawless boards for people to ride and use. And in the process becoming a better builder the more they make them. Luckily for us, their passion and commitment result in surfboards that will enhance our skills and increase enjoyment in the water.
Now choosing the right size board for you is critical so that you can surf your best and gain experience so that you are also becoming a better surfer. Basically when getting a short board start about six inches bigger than you so you can get use to the feel and how they perform and then once you have start figuring out the best short board for you and your style of riding that you do the most of.
Four most Popular tails for short boards are Fish, Square, Squash, and Rounded tail designs
A fish tail is usually wider, shorter, and flatter than a normal short board. These boards however are very good in small mushy waves that you find a lot of on the east coast. There is not much curve in the rocker of a fish, which makes it paddle very well and carry speed through flat sections of the wave.
The square tail is the earliest surfboard tail design and the parent of all other tail designs. The square tail adds stability to a board. The lack of curves on the tail increases the ability to pivot in turns.
The squash tail which is the most common among short boards. This is a variation of a square tail and shares many of the same qualities but the biggest difference is that the squash tail is an all around board you can use in many different kinds of surf.
A round tail surf board this is a take off of the pin tail surfboard but is bigger to allow more surface area so the the board can lift and take off easy but is used for relatively big and fast waces
Surfers Digest 