Dedicated kid's wakesurf board, or not?

[IDBoating]

(Giving this its own thread because it's sort of a new subject.)

Should we get a dedicated "kid's board" for our 8YO, or just accept that the early learning curve will be a bit steeper and start him on a more standard board (currently leaning toward the IS 4Skim Infectious)?

I've seen things like the Phase 5 Scamp which is a dedicated kid's board, but I'm concerned that he'll quickly outgrow it and then it will be ~$200 just sitting around while he uses the larger board(s). On the other hand, I don't want him getting frustrated right at the start by working with a too-large (perhaps too buoyant is a better way to put it) board.

When he was working on getting up on a wakesurf board, we found he had a bit of trouble pulling the board to vertical during the start. If someone was in the water with him and held the board vertical at first, he got up instantly - but he had trouble pressing down hard enough to do it alone. At the time I didn't know enough to notice if the board he was using was more surf style (thicker, more buoyant) or skim style (thinner, less buoyant). If we have an IS Infectious (skim style, so less buoyant), perhaps he will be able to apply enough force to get it vertical. Or maybe he just needs more than one hour's worth of trying. Or, maybe he really does need a dedicated kid's board to develop the muscle memory before moving up.

Basically, I'm presuming we're going to get a skim style and one other board. The second board can either be a kid's board, or a surf-style board to give us better access to air moves. If he doesn't need a kid's board we'd much rather have the surf-style, but not at the expense of him getting frustrated early on.

Opinions?

[Surfdad]

My two cents - I've always had a separate board specifically for James as he grew up. We have snowboarded for about as long as we wakesurfed and I wouldn't think of sticking him on an old 154 cm snowboard when he was 8. It's just too much board and would have caused him difficulty. Wakesurfing may not be as critical length-wise, I've always found that James did better and enjoy the various sports more with appropriately sized equipment.

[tnvolgrad]

Kids Wakesurf

It depends on how serious your kid(s) are about the sport. My daughter got up on Hyperlite 5'4" board - age 11. She is able to free surf and likes the stability of a larger board. She also rides my 4'8" board - point being if your kids just want to surf every once in a while then it is not worth the money.

In fairness it is a bit more difficult for smaller kids to flip a larger surf board up, but since my kids wakeboard it came pretty natural.

[IDBoating]

I've always found that James did better and enjoy the various sports more with appropriately sized equipment.

Agreed 100%. I'm not talking about wild mismatches between my 8YO and the board. But, for example, Inland Surfer's Infectious shows his ~70 pound weight at the very bottom of their recommended range for that board. Technically he's in the acceptable weight range, but is that pushing it too much?

It would be easier if we had a thriving wakesurf community around here and I could buy a used kid's board and then resell it, but (example) even in the peak of summer Craiglist has almost nothing related to wakesurfing listed at all. Wakeboarding yes, but surfing is almost absent.

[IDBoating]

It depends on how serious your kid(s) are about the sport. My daughter got up on Hyperlite 5'4" board - age 11. She is able to free surf and likes the stability of a larger board. She also rides my 4'8" board - point being if your kids just want to surf every once in a while then it is not worth the money.

In the summer we live at the lake place 24/7. We pull someone and something behind the boat virtually every single day. He is very comfortable on his wakeboard, does 180's effortlessly, and is very close to jumping both wakes. That's the big question... will he quickly learn to pop up on a board whose weight range has him right at its lowest extent, or is that asking too much?

In fairness it is a bit more difficult for smaller kids to flip a larger surf board up, but since my kids wakeboard it came pretty natural.

He pops up INSTANTLY on his wakeboard. That's the reason I wonder if he just needs a bit of practice getting the wakesurf board to flip up... he understands how to handle his wakeboard, and picks up on things quickly. He's only tried it one day for 30-60 minutes, and was immediately able to get up and stay up on a Phase 5 Drew Danielo (belonging to a ~170 pound 20-something college student) when someone else held the board vertical at first.

[AdaminMN]

We have a Phase 5 scampered for our kids. Our 9 year old can flip it up and get up with little effort. He still has not got slack yet, but is really close.

He's tried my surfboard, bit could not flip it up. A board with less buoyancy was the trick.

I got it from skimcity.com, they were a lot cheaper than anywhere else I searched online.

[IDBoating]

I thought a long time about the Phase 5 Scamp, but our son weighs 70 pounds already and the board's top end is 80.

I talked to Todd Gaughan of Towanza.com for a LONG time today about wakesurf boards, and at one point we discussed the Scamp. He said they sell that board for kids in the 4YO range. By the time they are the age and weight of my son, they move them into things like the IS Moss or one of Phase 5's larger boards like the Icon. He considers the Scamp to be for very small children, not a "kid's" board.