20 Best Skim Board For Beginner (2023 Updated)

Bought the board and T-shirt together for our grandson who is a fanatical watersports man,as his Christmas present. Well used already ,perfect exercise as they only live five minute for the beach, so no travelling during lockdown.

He may only be almost eleven, he thinks it’s the best present. Thanks Skatepro.

Perfect entry level board!

TranslateShow in original languageFijn en kwalitatief goed skimboard. Goed verpakt en een paar stickers erbij. Verbeterpuntje: levertijd en het volgen van de bestelling.

I would NOT recommend this board due to strap placement! Board itself rides amazing without the front strap but with front strap feels like your doing the splits and it CONSTANTLY nose dives. I weigh 205 pounds and 6’1″ tall and got the 56″ board that is rated for 250 pounds.

I surf a decent amount on alot of different boards and you basically have to put all of your weight on the back foot or else the nose dives EVERYTIME if the front strap is on. I can only describe this like riding a snowboard in 3 feet of powder where your weight is all on your back foot to prevent that nose dive which is NOT ideal for tricks, you are supposed to be balanced.

I contacted phase 5 to see if there is anyway I can drill new holes to adjust front strap where is should be and they said it couldn’t be done without ruining the board then their comment back to me was “everyone has different foot placement and riding style” Well then why not make the straps more adjustable knowing that?? Nobody else on the boat would even try it after they saw me fighting the front so hard and I took the front strap off and move that foot 2-3 inches back and its perfect and rides like it should.

They move about an inch maximum probably less. My buddy has the first strapped board that ever came out not by Phase 5 and it has way more adjustment I’d look into a different brand if your wanting to use straps.

We were behind a 2019 Supra with 4000+ ballasts so wave size and push was not an issue.

Super fast board and my favorite board so far. We have the 2022 Turbo and love both. I would say Turbo is easier to ride starting out but feel like I have more speed and pop off top of wave with the key.

The extra fins on the turbo are better for intermediate rider.

Dude this thing is sick, I was worried about spending another $800 plus on a wake surfboard but man was it worth it. I was finally able to drop the rope for the first time and stay in the pocket. This board is light and fast!!!.

I am an intermediate surfer and pretty new to skim style boards. This thing was super fun. It wasn’t too hard to learn on and had plenty of speed. It was unstable in the most fun way and made me want to start learning tricks.

By the end of the day I was starting to learn 360s. I would definitely recommend if you are trying to get into skimming!.

Great product. Worked with wake makers on chat to get just the right board. This is an advanced board that my kids love and comment that it is slick. Working on 360s and other tricks. Get yourself comfortable in the pocket before trying this one.

This longboard was my first ever longboard and is honestly is worth every dollar. I rode this thing for 2-3 years before upgrading just the wood deck. I still use the metal trucks on my newest board and they have never failed me.

I now ride a boosted board and always think back to this exact board. If you’re going to buy a board buy this one.

Very good stable board, great turning radius. Only one withdraw is; the wheels and bearings need up graded, they are on the slow side. None the less great board specially for a beginner!

Great board for the price. Bearings are quite fast and the ride is smooth and easy to maneuver. Only reason I did not give it a five-star is the grip tape is not secured 100%. There are a couple of corner edges that will not stick down and the workmanship of the grip tape cutting was a little bit poor.

I don’t think you can beat what you get for the price though.

Great for both skim and surf! A great combo of slippery playfulness and surf control. This has quickly become the most popular board on the boat for surfers between 150-200 lbs. Our other boards are starting to collect dust as a result! The all around versatility and ability to stay in the wave is incredible.

Exceeds all expectations and at this price point is a bargain!.

Love this new board! With all three fins installed it is fast and carves hard and sharp. Feels stable and solid but light enough to do tricks with. Great performance for the price. Take the two large fins off and it becomes a skim style board, easy to break loose.

Great for all levels and ages of riders.

Bought the4’7″ for my son who’s 14, 5’10”130lbs. He and his buddies love this board. Got his first 360 today! I started using it as well this weekend. I’m 6′ 170lb. amazing how nimble and fun. A big fan of the art work by skier Benchetler.

It was super fun, my kids love it so much. They went off roaring in it through construction sites and it help up fine. The balance is super good that I tried it on myself. I also like the wireless control for music, you can switch to any music you want when you’re playing.

The battery indicator also tell you when it need to be changed. Great product.

Purchased this for my 13 yr old son for Christmas. Even moved up opening presents to Christmas Eve so he would have tine to ride it before having to go to his fathers. He has been asking for one for 2 years and against my better judgement as i hear they are a waste of money and don’t last long I caved and bought one.

Thinking by spending a bit more money would guarantee it would not give as many issues. We took it out of the box following directions charged for 3 hours as stated in instruction booklet. Recalibrated it several times.

It lights up and beeps but thats it. Does not move at all! Spent all christmas eve messing with it and seeing the disappointment on my sons face going to bed hoping it would work in the am after charging longer.

Well still nothing. Chatted with swagtron directly with them telling me it must be defective and would have to be returned to be fixed and will take approx 2 weeks once its received back. Qvc is out of stock so who knows if he could get a replacement.

Its not exactly lightweight so is going to be a pain to package up and ship. Will be awaiting a response from both qvc and swagtron tomorrow. Was hoping i was just missing a step with setting up. Searched for tips troubleshooting reviews and u tube videos for most of my christmas day trying to get this thing working for my son.

Now his big gift is ruined. Thanks qvc and swagtron for not testing your equipment before selling them.

As far as I’ve seen by searching Walmart and various other sites this one seems to be the best buy for the price. It came really really quick which surprised me. I was told it would take around 7-10 days so was real happy when it showed up about 3 days after I ordered it.

I’m real curious to see if the go cart attachment will work with this. If it will. I might have gotten myself a new toy instead of my son :

I don’t have any previous experience with hoverboards, but this thing is so much fun. It’s a lot heavier than I expected so for moving it around it’s slightly more difficult but the foldable function helps with that and storage.

Our whole family can use it and does. We haven’t tried it outside yet but inside on hardwood floors it works great. The Bluetooth feature is fun to have your music following you around. My 12-year-old son is obsessed with it and it’s been great motivation for getting his homework done to be able to use it.

We get a couple of hours out of it and then recharge for most of the night. I don’t charge it overnight just to be safe. We have had no problem with it holding a charge. If you’re looking for something you could take around with you I highly recommend.

This is a great board for beginners. But I think that experienced riders will have some issues with this complete longboard. Wheels, bearings, bushings, and trucks get the job done but you will likely want to upgrade these to improve the ride.

Carving is a bit stiff and the trucks don’t turn as sharp as they should. This makes for wide turns and hard to corner around tight areas. That said this board is meant for cruising. It can do some downhill and the kicktail allows for some trick versatility.

I have done a few tricks on this board and it seems very durable. Griptape is a bit low budget, it definitely scrapes up from every little thing but not a big deal. If you’re just looking for a casual ride I would definitely recommend this, and if you’re not looking to do tricks I would even recommend the pintail since it’s a bit more casual and looks cooler.

If you want to start learning tricks and get acquainted with longboarding this is a good option. One thing to keep in mind, if you find yourself really liking longboarding you will probably end up replacing the trucks and wheels, or even getting a higher quality complete altogether from a more expensive brand.

This board works perfectly as a street sled pulled by my 4 dogs. The construction, parts and materials are top notch. The board is heavy, but that is exactly what I wanted, a stable platform. It also can respond when the dogs get a sudden urge to go off on an unscheduled excursion and cause me to have to make a quick turn, but super quick response is not a selling point.

I still get tipped off a lot if the dogs break ranks and I don’t react quickly enough. I do not think they make a board that can respond adequately in all cases. This one has decent response time. The essence of skateboarding is freedom from all the rules that folks are always heaping on us.

I don’t like rules, especially ones that seem to be unnecessary. I have had to learn the hard hard way that wearing a helmet is not one of these. Go ahead & include the cost of helmet in the purchase.

And wear it. Even if you complain about it like I do.

I bought this as a replacement for a nearly identical longboard that I purchased a few years ago for ~$200. I was a little worried about stepping down in price but this board has definitely exceeded my expectations.

My kids and I have been riding it a lot the past few days and we all think it’s better than the other board that cost more than twice as much. The board tension is great, grip tape is solid, and I love how it turns like butta’.

The only thing that would make this board better is better bearings. It comes with decent bearings, they’re not bad, but not great either. which is perfectly reasonable at this price point.

Beware!. If you order this dart board as a gift, be sure you have it shipped to a different address! They ship it in it’s original package. no surprises at Christmas! Shame on you Walmart! It remains to be seen how the board functions.

We are still going to wait till Christmas. I called and complained about it being a gift and that it had been seen upon delivery. They did adjust my account by twenty dollars for my ‘inconvenience’. You would think that around the holidays, they would pay a little more attention.

OK, that’s my rant, and we’ll still have a great Christmas!.

Arachnid CricketPro 750. Shipping was fast (3 days). Shipped in original box only and not double boxed like any other thing you would order. Fortunately arrived with no damage at all. Everything was intact and nothing missing.

I have shot on different brand boards, this brand is a superior board with very minimal bounce-outs. It holds your darts. Displays are easy to read and bright. Plenty of games and options for them. The 4 player display is a plus compared to the 2 player display version.

The darts it comes with are below average darts but they work. I personally already have high end darts so that is not a factor. You may consider an upgraded dart for longevity. My unbiased observations of this board are: – darts cover up the board when put in the storage area.

(but don’t you use the darts to play?) :)- when playing cricket and #’s are closed out the LED turns to red and then constantly flashes to let you know that # is closed. A bit getting used to while throwing remaining darts.

IDK if the x/o displays on other model boards do the same. – does not operate on batteries. only AC current. – the plastic cover for the display can be suseptable to cracking/breaking due to bad throws of incoming darts.

– the sound quality could be better, also on high volume can be a bit hard to hear. if you have music or tv playing. However, it does have volume control to adjust and/or turn completely off. There is no heckler option on this board.

– when setting your game of choice, there is no reset or previous game button. You have to scroll all the way thru the games to get back to the beginning, or just turn the board off and back on again.

It would be a nice feature to have. – the mounting screws provided are ok, however I used wall anchors and a bit beefier hardware for peace of mind. Overall, this is a quality board with many features and a definite upgrade.

I am satisfied of my selection and would recommend this board to others. I have listed some things I personally noticed that hopefully help others or things to consider.

Good quality board. Poorly engineered software – example: you cannot hit next player until the sometimes lengthy heckler calls are finished. Included darts are garbage and fins separated and aluminum shaft bent after one bad throw from my beginner son.

Mounting this to the wall was laborious and required homemade shims so that the sides would not rattle against the wall. A couple of included stick on foam pads would have solved that. The A. C. adapter plug location on bottom right going out sideways is awkward and the cord looks ugly against the wall.

A bottom center plug location would have been a better look. Instructions for games were not detailed enough for beginner. A better rule book or online link would have been nice. I bought this because it was well rated and I thought a $200 board would surely be better than the $30 version I had before.

I can tell the difference in quality and the display is easy to see from the throw line so overall I am satisfied but I did want to offer my criticisms. If they sold a board that resolved these annoyances I would have paid more for it.

This Airhead Lake Effect Wakesurf Board is a great bit of fun, but of course has a bit of a learning curve. I’ve been wakeboarding a few times, but I never was much good at it. This past weekend when I took this bad boy out for it’s maiden ride on the lake with my friends boat, and all of a sudden I was actually doing pretty freaking good.

The amount of fun I had was only surpassed by the amount of soreness I had the next day, but even while sore I was able to get back up and shred on this thing again before we packed up and left. This is a confidence inspiring wakesurf board as it has a great balance and good amount of traction.

The board seems very well made and it held up to the abuse of 4 people riding this thing and switching off. Overall, I love this thing as it feels so rewarding to be able to overcome the challenge and reap the benefits of riding.

I highly recommend this board 5/5 stars.

This surfboard is designed for intermediate and advanced surfers. It’s not for beginners! I had no idea when I was getting it for my son, but quickly realized it’s for skilled surfers who are older. That being said, it took my breath away when I took it out of the box.

The quality is absolutely top-notch! The board has diamond grooved Eva pad for traction, progressive rails for responsiveness, and removable fins for better navigation. Its vibrant colors are attractive and fun, inviting you on a new adventure.

I just wish the manufacturer had made it clear that it’s not the best board for those who are just starting out.

I got this board for several in the family who are just learning to wake surf or already know how but aren’t great at it. This board is awesome for learning. It’s wide enough that it makes it stable.

It has good float and pops right back up after falling on it. The rubber for the feet area is plenty “”grippy. “” One of the best things about this board is the removable fins. The side fins are great for stabilizing the board while learning and can be removed to slow down the board for those who want to learn tricks.

This is a great board for intermediate riders as well which covers all ages in my family. We are happy with this and having a lot of fun on it.

When I was first told the name of this board, I had a ear full of water and thought it was called the Flying Batman, and that’s honestly a fitting name. The Flyweight Bat Tail is extremely light and the fastest board I have tried.

I am a newer surfer and found this board harder to get up on and carve with compared to other boards like the Ronix Koal Fish but the speed of the Bat Tail helped me stay in the wake longer than I ever have.

If you’re a beginner I wouldn’t say don’t get this board, you’ll still have a lot of fun, but get ready for a challenge as it is more suited for intermediate-advanced riders.

I learned how to surf on the Koal Fish from Ronix and then moved to this board. This thing is really nimble and an absolute blast to carve around but also kept its speed super well. It might not be the best board to learn on because it’s not the most stable board, but that lack of stability makes the board super playful and fun.

If you are an intermediate to advanced rider, I think you would have a blast on this thing.

Awesome feeling bored with great responsiveness and perfect amount of speed. Awesome for slashing with the quad fin setup, and love the Ronix fins for quick and easy fin setup changes! Highly recommended.

Board is fragile as it is a true surf style with foam core!!.

In short, this is a great longboard and will likely exceed your expectations. For context, I have had this longboard for three months and I have very heavily used it and I will be replacing the trucks and wheels so I figured I would write a review on what you are getting.

The complete is perfect for beginners as it allows a platform for the beginner to explore different types of skating, as you can use its kicktails for freestyle and dance, its large space to comfortably cruise, and it can handle speeds reasonable weel at least 25mph as thats the fastest I have gone with it, though I am not sure of its limits.

The deck itself is the best part. Its very flexible and yet very durable as I have been really not nice to it, yet the deck still holds up with very minimal loss of performance. You will find that the spray on sugar grip wears more quickly than you expect, though it still retains decent grip for me.

Everything else, the trucks, wheels, and bearings are decent in performance and durability even after proper maintenance. For advanced riders I would recommend just ordering the deck and building the rest with components of your liking, however for beginners the complete will satisfy just fine.

If you’re getting the complete as a beginner I would recommend looking into nose guards especially if you are trying to learn freestyle tricks. Also look into some drop through shock pads as well as washers with rubber on the face to replace with the washers it comes with.

All of these I personally have on my board and it has significantly improved the life of the deck. As I said before for advanced riders, just get the deck as it is very very good and hard to find something like it anywhere else.

Overall it is a fantastic first board with tons of life.

I was really eager to get my hands on my new swallowtail board, only to be completely disappointed. The greatest problem I have with bearings. Default bearings are unusable completely. Forget about them.

The wheels can roll for 2-3 seconds at most, and I needed to lose them to get only about 5-6 seconds of rolling freely. No matter how much I lose them, I couldn’t get more of them. And they don’t have some middle point at all, either they wobble so dangerously getting up to 5-6 seconds of free-rolling, or they are too tightened so they don’t wobble but neither rolls.

A horror. I needed to replace the bearings with bones reds and the difference is amazing. Now I have over 60 seconds of rolling without a wobble or other weird noises from the wheels. But still not a great ride.

Curving is not good, and the board is not flexible from my point of view. But that’s my personal opinion, unlike the problem of the bearings. I understand a company can’t install some expensive bearings for the price of this longboard, but if you are selling a complete longboard, please put at least bearings that are able to roll.

On top of that, when I put the board on the plain ground, my top left and bottom right wheels don’t touch the ground but hang in the air instead. I bought a cheap Oxelo drop mini longboard for my kid 2 months ago, and even it is also a cheap board, it is several classes up compared to this longboard, and I have been constantly mocked by my kid for it.

I can only say I regret my purchase.

I am 38 and have been longboarding off and on for 26+ years. My kids got into skateboarding recently so I decided to join them; but a $200 longboard was not in the budget right now. After reading some reviews I decided to take a chance on a Magneto.

Let me tell you, I cannot tell the difference between this board at $80 and those boards. Guess i’ve been overpaying all these years. The board itself looks great and has really nice flex to it; not too much; not too little, you can really carve it up at low or high speeds.

The board is super stable. Yes the trucks are generic, the wheels and bearings are house brand, but ****** if i can tell the difference, they work just as well as any name brand trucks i’ve ever ridden.

I figure it they get soft at some point i’ll just swap in some stiffer bushings (i’m 6’5, 225lbs). The wheels are a nice sticky compound that allow for great carving but will still get up to speed. The Abec-5 bearings are reasonably fast, but slow enough to be confidence inspiring for a new rider or someone returning to the sport.

That’ll probably be my first upgrade. If they won’t spin freely when you get the board, just loosen the nut a half turn or so; they should be pretty fast stock and not stick or bind when spun by hand.

I can’t say enough good things about this board; i cruise everywhere on it and get lots of compliments on the bamboo deck. Will certainly be buying more boards in the years ahead from Magneto!.

The Key is wider than the Matrix from nose to tail, which means a heavier person can use a shorter board. It is also flatter than the Matrix which makes it super stable when landing tricks. I have learnt so many new tricks on this board.

Highly recommended.

I am an upper intermediate 165 lb rider and I was stuck between liking the additional stability of a larger board (53″-56″) but liking the agility of a smaller board (51-52″). The answer is that the “Hammerhead 50” being “cut off” on both ends gives you the surface area of a longer board with length and agility of a smaller board.

The 50′ Hammerhead is 2″ shorter than anything that seem to support my weight correctly and so very quick and agile. Love it. Cant say enough nice things. I’m surprise there is not a lot of copy cat boards out there, but I’m guessing there will be.

This board is excellent product. Every one have good time on it. I had 2 other smaller skim boards , but only my kids manage to get proper speed on small boards. This surf board is blast, every one can get on board and even first timers stay on board.

If play with fins configuration, board is super playful ( 1 fin). For stability and speed I do 3 fins configuration. Strong material, hard to destroy this board. For reference: I run 2015 Nautique230 with pro ballast.

I am about 200lb. Just for fun my kids manage to run tandem on this board. I run this board non stop for 5 miles, no effort to run, just enjoy ride. Board good for some tricks as well, but sure for 360 you will need skim board.

Ridden in these twice already. One day under 20 degrees and one day around 30. Pants were plenty warm with a pair of thermals underneath, and plenty cool with the vents open. They are a great fit too.

A nice somewhat fitted look without coming close to being hipster tight. I love them so far. Would recommend. I’m 6′ tall, 170lbs and kinda leggy. I generally wear a 32/32 in jeans. I got the size large and the length is perfect.

The waist is a little big but, the elastic and velcro straps work perfect to snug them up without a belt.

The most fun long wakesurf board I’ve ridden. Easy to learn on and hard to stop riding. Want to do a handstand? Sit down? Take a nap? Hang five or ten? Do it all on this board and have a blast doing it.

Couldn’t believe how agile it was for this size of board as others in this categories just feel boring and locked in. Best of all, this made rough water or choppy sessions a blast and is so durable you could take it river surfing too!.

My friend’s 15 year old son was very pleased to try the board out. Even though it was late December, in the freezing cold of the North sea, he enjoyed the challenge. I’m sure that by the spring, he will be skimming those waves with skill.

This made for an original and entertaining gift. Thank you.

Awesome looking board. Looks very well made and light.

One very happy 11yr old on Christmas Day! Looking forward to using it at the coast sometime in 2021.

I have bought this board for my grand daughters Christmas. It is very high quality, very attractive and light enough for the younger users. I ordered it and received it surprisingly, in days. My grand daughter will be thrilled.

I used this board a few times, worked pretty well and is fun. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone to learn on, but if you’re trying to get into finless surfing or just want a beater board this is an OK option.

One big problem is the FCS II fin boxes. This is a common complaint, but I had a fin fall out while surfing (no impact, just left the water and the fin was gone). So if you’re going to get this thing, I would suggest using at least one screw in each box to keep the fins in.

Note: I am new to paddle boarding. I bought this as it was the only non inflatable board at the time. It is a decent board, a bit difficult to balance standing up. It DEFINTELY sags in the middle as other reviews suggest.

I weigh 170 and I felt the dip in the middle. It glides well in the water and steers easily. I was hoping to take my dog out on it; however, it is not stable enough for that. For the price, it is a decent board and we’ll have fun with it regardless.

I bought this paddleboard after returning an inflatable one that had a tear in it (from Amazon not dicks). I decided on the hard shell to make sure tears in an inflatable wouldn’t be an issue again. I took my new board down the river and it handled great.

Very easy to navigate and very sturdy. I carried it by hand and it was a little heavy since we had a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the river. I’m going to get the carrying straps next time. I would definitely recommend this board and can’t wait to take it put again.

Used for 1 hour and ended up returning it. As other reviews say, the platform bubbles out and steering is poor. Tends to turn a 45 degree angle with 1 or 2 paddle strokes, which is certainly less than optimal.

Also, I am 170 pounds and felt the board buckle under me a few times when the weight limit is supposedly 230 pounds.