Useful Board Info

Deck

This is where you place your body,on the top of the board.

Bottom

This is the area of the board that has a smooth or slick material such as Surlyn or HDPE.

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.

HDPE- High Density Polyethylene looks and feels very similar to Surlyn, but it's not as flexible as Surlyn.Used on lower end boards, you lose performance but gain durability.

Tail

This is where you hips sit while lying on the board, the back end of the board. There are a few different tails, most common is the crescent. This is the boomerang shaped tail for more control. The other is the bat tail. Which resembles the wingspan of a bat, this tail makes the board very loose for ease of tricks such as a 360 spin.

Crescent Tail

This is a tail that holds you on the wave well. 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 board and holds you on the wave face very well. 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.

Bat Tail

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 centre of the tail. Bat tails are generally loose, and provide lots of manoeuvrability. If you like doing lots of manoeuvres tight in the pocket and prone ride a lot, go for a bat tail.

Nose

This is where you hold on with your (directional) hand, front of the board. (Directional hand is the hand that leads you along the wave. This hand would be your right if you where going right, and your left if you where going left).

Nose Bulbs

Small bulbs on the underside of the nose of the board that enhance grip and control. Nose bulbs have become very popular with almost all prone riders in the last few years.

Rail

This is where you hold on with your (stabilising) hand, the side of the board. Most boards offer a 60/40 or 50/50 rail combination. The theory is that a 60/40 offers more control and a 50/50 rail is faster. Most companies make their boards with 60/40 as the standard ratio. Most bodyboarders find it hard to notice the difference between the two as both work very well on any board. (Stabilising hand is generally placed around the middle of the rail. This hand will help you with your hold on the face of the wave.)

Channels

These are gouged out on the bottom tail end of the board. They help to channel the water to enhance performance and give you a much better hold onto the waves face. They also enhance speed and control but can decrease manoeuvrability, ALTHOUGH when combined with certain tail designs and templates can work perfectly and be very manoeuvrable. Especially effective in this respect with bat tails.

Stringer

It's basically a straight rod inserted into the board to maintain the stiffness and recoil. They also lengthen the life of the core. Can be made of many different materials but generally of carbon graphite.

Mesh

A chicken wire-like plastic material sandwiched into the core of a board to enhance projection and durability.

Template

This just means the basic shape of the board (ie: narrow nose, wide nose, etc.)

Core

The core comprises the majority of the bodyboard - the 'body'. Cores can be made from a number of different materials, the most popular are listed below.

The newest wave of core material. Polypro is light, springy, and strong. Like every core though, it's not uncreaseable 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 board. 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 / Polyethylene (PE)

Used to make bodyboards for 30 years, it's still the industry standard core. 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.
HDPE- 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 board down.

These cores have been purpose built core for bodyboarders and aim to combine the best features of the traditional PE and PP cores. The result is a durable, lightweight, one-piece core with enhanced memory, flex, recoil and projection properties. Hybrid cores are generally combined with a tri-stringer system.

These core feature various sandwich lamination combinations, each specifically engineered to give the boards different flex response targeted for specific wave and water conditions. PP layers are laminated to a PE layers via a cross-linked energy transfer intermediate layer. The core of the future - combining the best attributes of PE and PP bodyboards.