Pop-up Help

[UTAH]

I am a beginner and I am having trouble popping straight up onto my feet and keeping my balance. I have been surfing for about 10 months and usually make it out for 1 or 2 sessions a week.

If I go to one knee and stand up slowly I can get a line and once I am up I can steer somewhat. However in larger steeper surf I need to get onto my feet more quickly. Usually I either don't make it up quickly enough and get trashed or I stand up straight legged loose my balance and fall immediately. I think I might be putting too much weight on my back foot which causes me to go straight up and fall backwards.

Physically speaking I am not a big guy and I am quite athletic, strong and flexible. I am not sure what my problem is I guess I probably just need more practice. If anyone has any ideas as to how I can pop directly onto my feet and keep my balance I'd appreciate the advice.

Thanks

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Please stay off your knees. Bad form, bad habit, bad for the deck of your board, and probably bad for your knees as well. Are you ever able to pop straight to your feet without falling? If so, analyze what was different? Did you take off early? What part of the wave did you take off on? Were the conditions cleaner?

When you crouch you are closer to your board, lowering your center of gravity, which can be a more stable position than standing straight up. Your legs should be bent at the knees. You should not be bending at the hip with your butt sticking out because this is a very unstable position and you will fall off your board. If you're falling off the back of the board it sounds like the board is catching the wave but you aren't really matching the speed and momentum of the wave when you're paddling. I could be completely wrong also since I can't see what you're actually doing. The best surfing advice I got was from people who actually saw me surf and could see what I needed improvement on.

Don't get discouraged. Every surfer has eaten it on take offs. The more you surf, the easier it will get to take off...and then you can challenge yourself more and surf bigger, steeper waves.