The Beginner’s Guide to Surfboard Volume
Keiller · September 28, 2026
Quick answers
- What volume surfboard should I ride?
- Starting volume is your weight in kilograms times a Guild Factor. At 160 lb (72.6 kg), surfers in the absolute beginner band start at 58–72.5 liters, before wave, frequency, age, and board adjustments.
- How much volume does a beginner need?
- Absolute beginner surfers use Guild Factor 0.8–1, which is 58–72.5 liters at 160 lb (72.6 kg). Improver surfers use Guild Factor 0.5–0.65, which is 36.5–47 liters at the same weight.
When I first started surfing, I had no idea what surfboard volume even meant. The first board I got on was the classic. A nice, well-used Costco Wavestorm. I rented it from the Excursion Club at UCSB, zipped up my back-zip wetsuit right in the front, and biked the half mile to the beach. A good two weeks of not catching any waves ensued, in which I figured I needed a longer board, since I still hadn’t managed to catch a wave yet. (Really the problem was probably that I needed to scoot up on the board a bit.) Luckily, as most of you probably know, big 8 foot soft-tops like Wavestorms are pretty forgiving. And so, a couple weeks later, I stood up in the whitewash on a solid 4 to 6 foot day (according to Surfline, so who knows what it actually looked like, I just know it felt huge at the time) and felt that feeling that gets so many of us hooked. Pure bliss. Fast forward a year or so, and I figured since I could usually catch a wave that came to me, it was time to start shortboarding and really rip it up. As usual, I was wrong. Trying to make the jump to a shortboard when I really only surfed a couple times a month was way too much of a volume decrease and definitely too drastic of a length difference as well. The real jump to a shortboard didn’t happen until a couple more years, post UCSB, when I decided surfing wasn’t something I was willing to give up. But that’s a story for another time. The answer for me, when I was surfing so infrequently at that time, was definitely to stick with the higher volume, more forgiving board.
Looking back, I didn’t need to know much more than this: volume is how much foam is in your board, it’s measured in liters, and the more of it you have, the more the board floats you. More float means easier paddling, more stability when you pop up, and usually more waves. And as I’ve said before, more waves = more fun.
How much volume does a beginner need?
The rule of thumb most shapers use is called the Guild Factor. You take your weight in kilograms and multiply it by a number based on how good you are. If you’ve never stood up, or you’re still riding whitewater on a soft-top, that number is somewhere between 0.8 and 1.0. So basically, your board should have close to as many liters as you weigh in kilos. Once you’re standing up and starting to turn, it drops to somewhere between 0.5 and 0.65. For reference, I’m 5’5 and 160 lbs, and my Hypto Krypto is 31 liters, which works out to about 0.43. It took me a long time to get there, and if I’d tried to learn on that board back at UCSB, I’d probably still be waiting on my first wave.
Beginner surfboard volume chart
Here’s what that looks like by weight. These are the starting ranges the Setwave calculator uses before it adjusts for the waves you surf, how often you get out, and your age. Full chart for every ability level
| Weight | Never stood up / whitewater | Standing and starting to turn |
|---|---|---|
| 100 lbs (45 kg) | 36.5–45.5 L | 22.5–29.5 L |
| 120 lbs (54 kg) | 43.5–54.5 L | 27–35.5 L |
| 140 lbs (64 kg) | 51–63.5 L | 32–41.5 L |
| 160 lbs (73 kg) | 58–72.5 L | 36.5–47 L |
| 180 lbs (82 kg) | 65.5–81.5 L | 41–53 L |
| 200 lbs (91 kg) | 72.5–90.5 L | 45.5–59 L |
| 220 lbs (100 kg) | 80–100 L | 50–65 L |
| 240 lbs (109 kg) | 87–109 L | 54.5–71 L |
| 260 lbs (118 kg) | 94.5–118 L | 59–76.5 L |
If you land between two rows, just split the difference.
Don’t rush to a smaller board
It’s tempting to size down as fast as possible, especially when the homies are bragging about how little volume they’re riding. I learned that one the hard way. Jumping from a big soft-top straight to a shortboard when you’re only getting out a couple times a month is a great way to spend your sessions paddling for waves you’re never going to catch. The gap between those two columns is big, so take it in steps. Even now, going from 31 liters on the Hypto Krypto to 39 liters on the Dwart makes a real difference in how many waves I get. And volume isn’t the only thing that matters. Where you sit and which waves you go for matter just as much, which I wrote about in Why more volume isn’t always the answer.
If you want a number that’s actually built for you, put your weight, how often you surf, and the waves you ride into the Setwave calculator. It’ll give you a range and show you every adjustment it made along the way.
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