Surfing Waves

I was out yesterday and my hands slipped three times when trying to pop up, I normally have my hands flat on the deck, I never see the pro's slip.
Maybe I should be trying to get my hands further back, more under my chest so there is more pressure pressing down on the board and not too far forward?
Any other tips? Or is slipping always just going to be one of those things?

Your hands should be down by the bottom of your rib cage, not up high by your shoulders.

And make sure you have a decent wax job.

9/10 I suspect your hands were actually wider than you think, perhaps even gripping the rails

Put simply, if your hands are where there is wax, they won’t slip. If they are slipping then you are putting them where the wax isn’t.

We all (by ‘we’ I mean ‘me’) let our hands drift occasionally and stuff happens. Esp if you (like me obviously) have really massive shoulders that barely fit on the board ...

Thanks guys, I did actually used to grip the grail a bit in the past so maybe an old habit that keeps unconsciously slipping in.
Im going for a surf in a bit so will try to really make sure my hands are closer together and under my rib cage when pressing down for the popup.
Cheers.

Happens to me occasionally,,...usually the reason is being rushed and not in control. I slow things down on the next wave and its all good again.

For me it’s sunscreen and early in my session makes me slip. I probably slip once in 6 months but I do try to wash off my board when I first go in the water

Sometimes if there are other surfers in my field of view I will slip due to being distracted but that isn’t very often because I surf alone generally

There are only two times when I slip.

-Using a rental foamie board that has no grip on them and I'm taking a steep drop.
-After spending 3 hours of the water and popping up too many times. My weaker arm gives out faster than my dominant arm.

mg100: happens to me when there's not enough wax on board. Maybe this is what's happening to you.

Thanks for all the replies, one board could do with a clean and re-wax as it does seem a little slippy when comparing to my other board which I didn't slip on at all yesterday.

Question: Did you happen to apply sunscreen before you paddled out ?

Hey waikikikichan, sometimes, which I try scrub off with a towel before heading out but on this occasion no, which means its just my skill, and bad (melted) wax job I am putting it down to. Probably could wax closer to the rails too, although not on, as I hear this is a no no, although I am still not sure how a bit of wax on your rails can have that much effect on performance, unless you have half a block stuck to the side.

I guess one answer is that you dont wax the rails because you shouldnt be placing your hands or feet on the rails. So its a way of telling you that you have bad habits (actually, if you put your feet on the rails you will notice this bad habit well before you slip!)

I actually wax the rails (and even a bit of the bottom of the board) up nearer the nose at the spot where I grip when I do a turtle roll. But thats my predilection, I dont know how common place it is

If the type of wax is not matched to the water temp, my board would develop bare spots faster and make my hands slip. That and the sunblock.