Still in poo stance?

[pmcaero]

Here is an idea. Change your popup stance so that your back foot is perpendicular to the stringer and your front foot is angled just slightly off alignment with the stringer.

I have been practicing this on land but I think I am not doing it in the water... too much going on at that very moment maybe?

[pmcaero]

I dont think which foot lands first is relevant to your issue. Your problem is you are hinging at the hips, both forwards (away from your butt) and sort of backwards (away from the nose of the board).

So maybe work on straightening up right after pop-up, after I am established down the line?

[CARBr6]

Sorry to hi-jack this post, but this is a quick shot of me last week in Cornwall.
What I am doing here is the incorrect stance right? Now is this largely because I am in the whitewater and as such the board is less balanced? Or is it my inexperience? Should I just try to focus on changing my stance, will the board balance and move better?

[Big H]

I got a quick question for the two of you.....what happens to that poo stance when you move forward or back on those big boards? My guess is that you aren't moving forward or back yet......you kind of need to in order for those larger boards to work well; can't hold a static frozen position, poo or otherwise. I am not an instructor; anyone who knows better feel free to strike this down.....I would venture that you both need to loosen up a little, feel and respond to the wave more and move your feet even a little forward and back in response to what is going on with you, the board and the wave......I would also venture that once you start to loosen up and move forward and back, taking control of the board and responding to the wave better, that your poo stances will fade as well since that stance is great for a frozen deer in the headlights posture, but not condusive to flowing surfing which you will be one step closer to once you learn to take that one or two steps forward and backward when needed.

[dtc]

Its hard to tell from a photo because that is just that instant. for example, you are looking down almost at the nose of the board, but that might be a quick check for something or it might be a bad habit. If you are just going straight I venture to say your front arm should be a bit higher, which will also lift your head/shoulders to be straighter - but again, it might just be that instant. I will say your feet do seem too far apart, as Big H says, hard to see how you can move around on the board when you are starting off with such a wide stance

Obviously you have the wrong foot at the front of the board...

[pmcaero]

S
What I am doing here is the incorrect stance right? Now is this largely because I am in the whitewater and as such the board is less balanced? Or is it my inexperience? Should I just try to focus on changing my stance, will the board balance and move better?

wow you could be my poo-brother

[pmcaero]

I got a quick question for the two of you.....what happens to that poo stance when you move forward or back on those big boards?

On my longest board, the 7'9" Mini-mal, I didn't step around too much . I used to step forward towards the end of a ride in knee-deep white water , to extend it a bit. But that was just kooky

[CARBr6]

dtc, I'll ignore the front-foot comment I do have a terrible habit of staring at the front of the board which is something I deliberatly worked on during this trip and found that my trimming was a lot tighter with my head up (if I looked over my right shoulder I would turn to the right etc) so I'm hoping that this is a habit I am almost done with!! But yes, this shot was taken at the start of the wave so I am just up. Sadly I did have quite a few videos to post which would've helped greatly however my GoPro is now floating around the North Atlantic (either that or it's washed up somewhere and hasn't been handed in to authorities)

Big-H, I did make progress on this particular trip and began to move forward and back on the board to adjust for wave power/speed. I may not be doing this right, but I would find the nose would dip so I would angle my weight backwards and bring my feet a little closer together once I was up and moving on the wave, I can trim left and right as necessary (haven't managed any actual "turns" yet) then as the wave got closer to the shore and the power would drop I would find that if I moved forward on the board it would sort of level out and pick up a bit of speed again. There was one particular wave on my third session where I did this about 3-4 times as the wave changed throughout it's path to the beach.

But thanks for the advice, I'm focusing on my fitness at the moment so that I have the strength and stamina to make it out to the greener waves. At the moment I get quite knackered just getting out there then I don't have the strength to paddle fast enough to catch anything. I tend to get out there, catch one, have a blast then spend the rest of the time just pushing off in the white water.

[drowningbitbybit]

I wouldn't worry too much about stance on that wave - you're not on the wave, you're in front of the wave (mostly because there isn't really a wave to start with...). All your weight is on your front foot in an attempt to drive forward, but that doesn't really help when the board is flat and your foot is in the middle of the board.

If you'd caught a green wave, you'd probably find that - to some extent - your stance would have self-corrected. You would have instinctively crouched down and had some weight on the back foot, and then you'd have been in the perfect position (but, yes, keep your eyes on where you're going, and use your leading arm to drive forward, not waggle about).

So my advice (and this goes for pmcaero too), would be to stop worrying about the details at this stage, but concentrate on getting into a clean face nice and early, and then - as BigH said - loosen up a bit and ride with the wave rather than just standing on it.

[pmcaero]

So my advice (and this goes for pmcaero too), would be to stop worrying about the details at this stage, but concentrate on getting into a clean face nice and early.

yeah white water is not conducive to a good posture. Yesterday, after getting tired trying to catch waves in strong winds and always getting my board's nose lifted out, I stayed inside and tried to stand up straight , and it makes the board a lot slower and unbalanced in white water. Bit of a revelation.

[Big H]

I got a quick question for the two of you.....what happens to that poo stance when you move forward or back on those big boards?

On my longest board, the 7'9" Mini-mal, I didn't step around too much . I used to step forward towards the end of a ride in knee-deep white water , to extend it a bit. But that was just kooky

I move my feet on my 6'4" fishy shortboard if needed....I reckon a 7'9" you should do as well. (My 7'8" I'm pretty active....don't make a ride without moving in that one).

[waikikikichan]

I stayed inside and tried to stand up straight , and it makes the board a lot slower and unbalanced

Stop trying to Stand up straight, trying to Bend down lower, trying to lean more Forward, trying to lean more Back, trying to pump ( bounce ), Etc. You need to just be like wave, ever changing.

Sometimes the things you're try to do to keep from falling ( or pearling ), actually causes you to fall. What works or doesn't work at one place or time on the wave, may or may not work at another place in time.

[pmcaero]

but I think it's good to try new things on the wave, just to get experience. Otherwise I'll never know what works and what doesn't.
I think I used to be stuck so to speak in one position, and now I'm getting unstuck by changing how I surf, sure, clunky at first, but the important thing is getting out of the rut.

[dtc]

These are the four main types of learning styles: Visual (learn through seeing) Auditory (learn through hearing) Tactile (learn through touch) Kinesthetic (learn through doing and moving)

So learning through 'just feeling the wave' works for some people (kinesthetic) but doesn't work for visual people. Some people like breaking down movements, analysing them and putting them back together; some people just go out and whack the golf ball.

Of course, you can go too far one way or the other - the classic focusing on the golf grip or placement of left knee instead of actually focusing on the outcome. Similarly with surfing, focusing on just a knee or a shoulder or whatever. Particularly for surfing because there is no right answer for every situation and every second of a wave there is a new situation. But whatever way of learning works for you is the way that works for you.

Anyway....for pmcaero - you keep dropping your back shoulder - I'm thinking that is a sign of the hip hinge - if you hip hinge and move your front shoulder around to the left (to open up your chest, which is fine), your back shoulder has to drop. But if you don't hinge, then your shoulders stay even. Maybe see whether thinking of keeping your shoulders even help?

[waikikikichan]

but I think it's good to try new things on the wave, just to get experience. Otherwise I'll never know what works and what doesn't.
I think I used to be stuck so to speak in one position, and now I'm getting unstuck by changing how I surf, sure, clunky at first, but the important thing is getting out of the rut.

Yes, yes. Try different actions and timing ( boards too ), but don't get stuck on forms. So if you say " If I stand up straight that makes the board slower and unbalanced ", then does that mean by Bending Down, the board will speed up and become more stable ? No, you need to be going thru many many forms in just a few seconds. There may be time you NEED to stand up very straight and other times to bend down and grab the rail. I feel you need to stop "trying" and just do nothing and simple stand there and ride the wave. Be calm and relaxed.

[pmcaero]

Anyway....for pmcaero - you keep dropping your back shoulder - I'm thinking that is a sign of the hip hinge - if you hip hinge and move your front shoulder around to the left (to open up your chest, which is fine), your back shoulder has to drop. But if you don't hinge, then your shoulders stay even. Maybe see whether thinking of keeping your shoulders even help?

I think I'm hinging (I assume by this you mean bending) in order to undo perceived board tilting. Maybe even overcompensating, which should make the board even more unstable - this happened to me during my first solo flight, ended up porpoising the airplane for a bit. Probably because I was so nervous.
Like waikikikichan, I need to relax more ... in general