Every model page on this site carries the same six-line spec block. If you have never had a board made for you, some of those words do nothing for you at all. Here is what each one is actually telling you.
Rocker
The curve along the bottom of the board from nose to tail, looked at side-on.
More rocker fits a steeper, curvier wave face and stops the nose catching on a late drop. It also ploughs — a high-rocker board is slower to get going. Less rocker is faster in a straight line and easier to paddle, and it will catch a rail on a hollow wave.
You will see it split into entry and exit. "Low entry" means a flatter nose that paddles into things early. "Aggressive tail" means the last stretch curls up hard, so the board turns off the back foot in a shorter arc.
Concave
What the bottom of the board is doing across its width, and it is mostly about where the water goes.
A single concave channels water down the middle and gives you lift and speed. A double concave splits that flow either side of the stringer, which softens the transition rail to rail — the board feels less like it wants to go straight. Vee is the opposite of concave: a slight ridge down the centre that makes a board fall onto its rail more easily, which is why it shows up on wider boards and mid-lengths.
Most Stoodys are some combination, because different parts of the board want different things. Single under the front foot for drive, double between the feet for control, vee out the tail so it rolls onto a rail at speed.
Channels
Cut into the tail, and you either want them or you don't.
Channels grip. They hold a line at speed and give you more drive out of a bottom turn. What you trade is looseness — a channelled tail is less willing to break free and slide. Two channels is a nudge in that direction. Four is a commitment.
Volume
The one number that matters most, and the one people get wrong most often.
Volume is how many litres of foam are in the board. It decides whether you catch waves. Too little and you are late to everything and exhausted; too much and the board will not sink a rail when you ask it to. Length and width are consequences of volume, not the other way around.
Work yours out on the volume guide before you look at anything else.
Glassing
How many layers of fibreglass cloth go on, and how heavy each one is.
"4 x 4 x 4" means two 4oz layers on the deck and one on the bottom. Lighter glassing is livelier and more responsive; heavier glassing lasts longer, holds its flex better over time, and survives being thrown around Indonesia in a board bag. A tail patch is an extra layer where your back foot lands, because that is where a deck caves in first.
If you surf a lot and travel with your boards, go heavier than you think.
Fin setup
How many fins, and in what system.
A thruster (three) is the default for a reason — drive, control, and it turns from the back foot. A twin is faster and looser with less hold; it trades the tail's grip for speed down the line. A quad keeps drive through a barrel. Five-fin boxes just mean you can run it as a thruster or a quad depending on the day.
FCS II and Futures are the two box systems. They are not interchangeable, so pick the one you already own fins for.
Skill level and wave size
Read these as what the board is for, not as a gate.
"Intermediate to advanced, 3–6ft" is telling you the design assumes you can already get to your feet and that it will feel dead in a one-foot beachbreak. It is not telling you not to buy it.
If a board page still leaves you unsure, that is what the custom order notes field is for. Say where you surf and what you ride now, and Luke will tell you what he would shape you.