Ive been surfing for a year now, currently riding a 6'2'' webber afterburner, and usually surf about 4-5ft waves, and im having a hard time gaining enough speed to do anything. any tips?

try changing to a smaller board

l have not ridden one of those boards but it it should be fine. Your problem could be you are not pumping it enough, or you are dropping straight down and riding low on the face. Try turning higher and then pumping for speed. If you do drop low, throw your weight into your turn immediately to get back up into the face quickly.

try a smaller board and a lighter board. and pump down on the waves, to build up speed. dont get to away from the wave though, keep up on the face, not at the bottom. try coming up to the lip, pump down and make sure you stay around teh middle of the face, that should give you some burts of speed.

l use to surf but l moved so l can not surf that good in a lake. l went surfing in Santa Cruz California. Paddle before you stand up or just sit to get a hang of it.

How tall r you? If u r between 5'9 & 5'11 then a 6'2 is just fine. Generally, u shortboard should be between 3''-5'' taller than you, preferrably 3. If u r on the heavy side, than u should get a board 5'' taller, depending on ur weight. The afterburner board looks fun so l would not recommend another one. If u r in the height range l mentioned then the issue u have is with ur weaving (pumping). This is how u generate ur speed, the higher on the wave, the more momentum u can generate. Here is how l learned to get better:

- Learn how to skate board & tapping is esentially the same as pumping on a surfboard.

- Try it in ur home without a board, when nobody is looking of course. - This does help!

- Watch other people via videos or in the water.