I’m a newbie and only have had about 6 sessions doing flatwater w/ a foil drive (fair amount of surf/snowboard experience so I’m pretty comfortable on a board). I am currently riding a 33 liter F-One Rocket Surf foil board. I know it’s not recommended to start with a small board but I had some budget restrictions so that is what I landed on. I am able to get up and on the board no problem and I am just starting to learn to pump and glide a bit. I do ffind the board to feel pretty squirmy and unstable. I am wondering how much different boards help with stability once your are up on foil or if this is just a learning curve I need to get through before it feels more natural. My thought would be that board stability/size is primarily for getting up on the foil and once you are up, a smaller board would actually feel better and be easier to control? Is there any truth to that or am I off base? My goal is eventually do prone and downwind and wasn’t sure how much a different board would help w/ progression even though I can get up on 33 Liter without issue.
Also, I would love people’s thoughts on riding w/ booties vs. barefoot. I like the idea of using booties to protect my feet (I am also in Northern California and my feet don’t like the cold too much 
), but I find that when I wear them, I have a really hard time shifting my feet around because they are so grippy with the board. When I tried to go without booties it felt a little slippery and like I didnt have a strong connection with the board but I wasn’t sure if that would improve as I got more comfortable on the board.
I am absolute loving it so far and really appreciate any thoughts/advice/wisdom folks could pass on.