Surfing Waves

hey alright i suck on shortboard i have been trying to surf on my 5'11 board but i cant seem to stand up either i get up and then nose dive or when i pop up i stick my feet together and my back foot misses my pad by like 3 inches.....do u think i am not far enough back on my board? because when i tried sitting further back i would go too slow and not be able to catch the wave....oo and another question do any of you wax ur pad?

Thanks for any of your help

If you nose dive on take off you need to try again an inch further back - maybe only a half inch would do on a board that short, just keep going back until you don't nose dive.
As soon as you're up then adjust the weighting of your feet to make the board do what you want. Be patient cos it will take time - but thats not really a biggie cos you're having fun anyway .

No don't wax the pad - no need.

Your board position may be okay.
You may need to place your hands further back when popping-up or arch your back more. Placing your back foot first and then your front foot may help. You may just need to get up faster...

going from a 7'9" to a 6'4" i found that on the short board my feet had to be a lot farther apart on the board in order to stay on the wave. when my feet were closer together, wave went right under me. also, paddling harder and popping up faster may help as well - as someone already mentioned.

i had a problem with my stance right after popup for a while as well. get a cardboard cut out, old board, or ducktape the outline of your board to the floor in your room and just keep on doing popups, making your feet go exactly where you want them. i like to start off doing like 2 sets of 15, 2 sets of 20, and keep working it up. good luck.


tommy

Take your pad off the board. You dont need that until you figure out where your back foot needs to be on that board.

alright thanks for all the help guys i am deffinatly going to do the cardboard idea and i am going to try to inch back and forth to find the right spot, i was thinking about puting my hands further back on my board so i am going to be a lot more aware of where my hands are on the board oo and i am deffinatly having a blast even tho i am horrible so i am lovin it and thankyou guys for all of your help i really appreciate it

Im telling you man, take the pad off until you figure the board out. But yeah, practicing on an outline should help you out too, but you need to ride the board a while without the pad just to see where your back foot works out best.