Surfing Waves

I have been noticing lately mostly because I never did them on small waves till recently that my frontside snap off the lips on small waves are different from bigger waves. When I do one on an overhead high wave I mostly rely on the power of the wave to push me back down the wave and it seems to be one smooth turn. When I do one on less than head high waves from my bottom turn I start to torque my upper body to the position I want it in after the turn and when I hit the lip and snap the board back down I push really hard with my legs because there isn't enough power in the wave and there is a moment where my hips are not back under me yet and I have to turn the board back under me again before my hip drops to below my shoulder in my normal stance. Maybe I am just noticing this because when my fat belly pops out of the way it is really noticeable. Anyone else notice this?