If your body is breaking down and you've transitioned from a longboard to a "gut slider" board, I'm curious as to how its gone.
How do you find it for catching waves, the performance/manouverability and general fun factor?

Thanks Greeney, there's a lot of enthusiasm in that group, will give me something to think about.

Gut sliders are easy on the body and paddle well, so catching waves is simple. They aren't as sharp for turns as a performance board but they are still fun, smooth, and surprisingly maneuverable.

sgo said..
If your body is breaking down and you've transitioned from a longboard to a "gut slider" board, I'm curious as to how its gone.
How do you find it for catching waves, the performance/manouverability and general fun factor?

Can you ride a gut slider with fins ,or are they to long,my prone surfing days are done as well,due to trashed shoulders ,carnt paddle lying down,so my engine is my legs! Tried bodyboarding it was ok but didn't grab me .am currently 2 years into riding a mat .without a doubt the hardest surfing challenge in nearly 60 years in the water,but missing the drive ect from setting a hard rail with fins .I will never give the mat away .to much time/pain invested but I'm curious about the gut sliders.

From my limited knowledge gut sliders are wider, shorter, flatter rocker than standard shortboards tri fin set up is best. I should ask my mate who gets his made.

Last year I spent many hours trying to work out just what the Gut Slider idea was about, and I had some of the most fun times getting to know it !

I got two second hand boards to understand a lower volume board compared to higher volume one.

I went 6'0 x 23 x 2 7/8 and 6'3 x 23 x 3. I'm 104kg and 179cm tall (just under 6 foot).

I also wanted to understand flippers V no flippers and also the difference between a GS and Boogie Board.

Firstly, the Boogie with flippers is a hoot but not on small / fat waves. I found getting onto weak waves hard but on bigger days, a whole heap of fun, resting the arms to kick out the back, dropping into close outs etc etc. I can see why so many love it.

The Gut Slider is IMO the board for when the Boogie isn't the board. It only works in 1-2 foot waves.

I took mine out to Cronulla Point on a 3-4 foot day a got punished so learnt the lesson quick !

It does however turn those small to flat days into a great surfing day as they glide into small waves amazingly and section connect effortlessly.

Flippers and the GS don't play well together. The boards are just that bit too long for the hips to move like they need to in order to kick (unlike a BB), unless you drop back on the board and have it sloped out in front of you but then you are pushing water so really, the ideal scenario is to be standing on a shallow bank without flippers and / or paddle as you would a surfboard - which is where volume comes into it, as under volumed boards require effort and for me, I wanted high float an ease of paddle.

The fins are critical. You don't want to 'slide', you want to grip and hold a line and I've tested some fins in mine at Urbnsurf and I couldn't imagine the GS without fins (this is the difference between a belly board and gut slider I imagine).

I ended up with 2 boards; a 6'5 x 23 x 3 1/4 and 6'2 x 23 x 3 1/4 and l find that I can prone paddle them like a longboard in deeper water and pick up any wave I wish too; most notably, the inside waves no one else wants or can catch !

My 2 custom boards are below and I'll post some other wave riding pics separately.

My time on the Boogie and Gut Sliders was due to some ongoing knee and hip issues. I'm back on SUP and longboards now but always take a GS on small days and BB on bigger days to turn a no surf day into a big smile day.

Surfanimal, great write up and great pics. Has inspired me to get in the water.
Will shape my version of a board and see how it goes

So I've finished my "slider" and it does well.
Max thickness for paddelling, slight concave on deck for comfort, vee on bottom and large twin fins set forward with stabilizer at the back.
Been out in knee high to just over waist high and heaps of speed with good manouverability, good to get wet again.

I think sliders hit the mark exactly. They're not designed for 6 ft barrels.
The bouyancy is there to allow you to paddle onto waves without a very late drop and without the need for flippers.
They are great for surfers with a physical issue that restricts the use of "normal" boards and gets them wet and into waves which is really what surfing is all about.