HOW TO BUY A BODYBOARD
Always buy the right size board. The top of the board should be within an inch of your belly button when lent on the floor. This means that the board will be floaty enough to hold you up in the water, and catch waves easily. If the board's too small, you'll sink it! If the board's too big it will be difficult to hold the nose comfortably, therefore hard to control and turn.
As a guide the following limits apply:
• 38" Boards - up to 5'4" / 65-85 lbs.
• 40" Boards - up to 5'7" / 110-130 lbs.
• 42" Boards - up to 6'0" / 145-170 lbs.
• 44" Boards - up to 6'4" / 185-210 lbs.
• 46" Boards - over 6'4" / 210-235 lbs.
A single inch in added length can make a big difference in the amount of additional weight a bodyboard will support. You want to get a board that will float you well enough to catch waves early, plane fast and not drag. If the board is too small it will push water and create drag, too big and you will ride too high on top of the water and it will be hard to control on the wave face. Another way to determine the proper length is to check and see if the length of the board is even with your belly button.
The only exception to the rules above is for rapidly growing teenagers, who can go 2 inches bigger to allow some growing space.
Always buy the best board you can afford! Buying cheap can mean buying twice!! Features such as Channels, Stringers and Polypro Cores may seem a bit over the top for learning, but as your ability level rises, you will start to appreciate why they are there.
Don't buy with your eyes! Fancy graphics, favorite colors and sponsored riders names will not make you a better bodyboarder or enhance the experience. If the best board for you only comes in blue - PLEASE buy a blue board. Remember - when you go to sell it, purple is not everyone’s' favorite color!
Buy a board that suits your style of riding. If you dropknee, then get a board with a narrower nose and wide-point further down the board. If you ride mainly prone, then look for something a bit wider in the shoulder region. Rounder boards are looser but go slower.
Straight boards are less maneuverable but are faster. 60/40 or 70/30 rails hold in better on big bottom turns but 50/50 rails give you trim lines higher up in the face.
DEFINITIONS
• Deck - The top of the bodyboard where you lay.
• Slick bottom - The bottom of the bodyboard that has a smooth or slick material such as Surlyn or HDPE.
• Nose - The front of the bodyboard where you hold on.
• Rail - The side of the bodyboard. Often the rail of a bodyboard is expressed as a ratio such as 50/50 or 60/40, etc. The theory is that a 50/50 rail is faster but a 60/40 offers more control. Most companies now make their bodyboards with 60/40 as the standard ratio. I personally think that there is very little difference between the two and both work very well on any bodyboard. Some bodyboards have single rails and some have double rails. The inner rail piece is referred to as the "pin" on our website. Double rails add more stiffness to the bodyboard.
• Tail - The back end of the bodyboard.
• Channels - Gouged-out areas on the bottom of the bodyboard that help to channel the water to enhance performance. There are MANY channel configurations out there, and basically, they help you hold on the face of the wave better and enhance speed, but can decrease maneuverability, ALTHOUGH when combined with certain tail designs and templates can work perfectly and be very maneuverable. Especially effective in this respect with bat tails. Crescent tail bodyboards don't necessarily need channels, but some people prefer them for that extra bite.
• Stringer - Now offered by most manufacturers, stringers made a brief appearance in the 80's, and are very popular once again. It's basically a straight rod inserted into the bodyboard to maintain the stiffness of the bodyboard. They can be made of many different materials. Lengthens the life of the core.
• Mesh - A chicken wire-like plastic material sandwiched into the core of a bodyboard to enhance projection and durability. This material is only used by a couple manufacturers as an alternative to stringers.
• Template - This term refers to the basic shape or outline of the bodyboard (i.e.. narrow nose, wide nose, etc.).
• Chine - This is the part of the bodyboard's rail that wraps over the side of the bodyboard from the deck. It's usually much smaller than the bottom part of the rail.
• Rocker - Not technically a "part of the bodyboard", the rocker refers to how flat a bodyboard is. Example: if you lay the bodyboard flat on the ground, and it doesn't rise up at all in the tail, it has "flat rocker". Naturally, the nose curve is going to keep the nose off the ground, but the tail on most production model bodyboards should be flat on the ground and the bodyboard shouldn't "rock" more than just a little bit. The more "banana-like" the curve in a bodyboard, the more rocker it has. I personally like about 1" to 1.5" of rocker in my bodyboards because they turn better, and it works well for me for drop knee, but 95% of all bodyboarders prefer flat bodyboards because they provide the maximum speed. With that said, the rocker of a bodyboard will change as it ages because of the different materials that are used on the deck vs. the bottom. Deck skins tend to expand faster with age, and therefore will cause a flat bodyboard to end up with a touch of reverse rocker in many cases. Heat accelerates this process, so keeping your bodyboard in a cool place when not in the water is the best defense for this problem.
TAILS
• Bat Tail - A tail shape that slightly resembles the wingspan of a bat. There are many varieties of bat tail, but basically, there are points at either end of the tail, with some form of rounded or pointed area in the center of the tail. Bat tails are generally loose, and provide lots of maneuverability. These tails are preferred by most prone riders. If you like doing lots of maneuvers tight in the pocket and prone ride a lot, go for a bat tail. There are many marketing names for bat tails including "wing" tails, etc., but they are all varieties of the bat tail.
• Crescent Tail - First introduced by Morey in 1982, this is a tail that holds you well on the wave. The design has square "pegs" on either side of the tail, and a "U" shape connecting the pegs. The crescent holds your body on the bodyboard and holds you on the wave face very well. If you don't like channels, this is a good tail design. The crescent is the call for full-time DK riders or prone riders that are interested mainly in tube-riding and carves, and not quite as much about spinning moves tight in the pocket. It provides maximum hold, but doesn't release quite as easily as a bat tail if you like to spin.
CORES, FOAM TYPES and BOTTOM SKIN TYPES
• Crosslink - A type of foam characterized by it's denser, more compact feel, and unwillingness to absorb water. Very durable deck and rail foam material. It is known by other names that companies use to make it sound exciting (i.e.: Green Cell, Dura Deck, etc.).
• Arcel - Developed for bodyboards in the mid-80's, this is a light, strong foam used for bodyboard cores. It's properties included maintaining it's stiffness even in warm waters. The downside was the ease with which it dented when you squeezed it. The manufacturer of Arcel, Arco Chemical, has stopped producing it due to lack of demand. It's pretty much been replaced by Polypro (see below).
• Polypropylene - The newest wave of core material. Polypro is light, springy, and strong. Like every core though, it's not increasable and it is the most expensive of all cores. Many companies use their own names for it. In most cases, it's just polypro.
It comes in two types. Extruded polypro is made from strands of polypropylene and offers very good projection and durability in the bodyboard. Beaded polypro is a step up and is extremely lightweight, durable, water-resistant, and as a result, expensive, but you get what you pay for.
Dow or Polyethylene - Used to make bodyboards since the 70's, it's still the standard foam. It's compact and comes in different densities, and has excellent projection and super performance, but isn't as long-lasting as polypro unless combined with some kind of internal stiffener like mesh or a stringer, and is also a bit heavier than Polypro. It's used on the deck and rails of most bodyboards as well.
• Surlyn - Invented by chemical giant DuPont, it's the stuff golf balls are covered in, and many bodyboards have on the bottom. It's slick and durable, has great speed and projection.
• H.D.P.E. - High Density Polyethylene looks and feels very similar to Surlyn, but it's not as flexible as Surlyn. It performs very well, but keeps the cost of the bodyboard down. Most bodyboarders wouldn't be able to tell the difference.