lil help wid standin up

[ncsurfer]

hey guys im new to the forum hope to get some good advice and share some of my surf stories with yall once i get some good ones? 1st question is when should i try standing up on a wave? b4 it breaks while it is breaking or what? also it seems like once i get on the wave i get my feet under me but cant get up also it seems like once i catch the wave and try to stand up i loose speed and i lose the wave and last question is where is the best position on the board when trying to catch a wave? near the front back middle where??

hope to get some good advice

[Thewildething]

This depends on how big the wave is, if you cannot stand then I would recommend not going out of your depth just yet, this means you will be catching white water unless the surf is really small, get a wide floaty board an get standing up in the white water first. To paddle into a wave you need to position yourself on the board so that the nose is about 3 inches out of the water, too far forward and it will nose dive (pearl) and too far back you will never get the board planing. You talk about loosing the wave, i take it you mean stalling out of it, this may be because the board is too small for you and/or the wave dosent have enough power or steepness to propell you along. If you get or hire a nice fat board (like a bic 7ft 9 or something) you should have no problem in paddling this into waves or standing up. When you have mastered this then by all means go out (with someone) to the line up and catch some unbroken waves, this is much more fun and when you learn to steer you can go 'down the line' like you have seen other surfers do. It really helps to go out with someone who is better than yourself, they will help you to progress by telling you what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right, also its good in the way that there is someone there incase anything goes wrong.

Thewildething.

[kieran]

The "pop" is one of the hardest things to get right, (along with everything else in surfing) you can practice at home on he floor. But the best thing to do is what the wild thing said stay in the white wash till you can stand confidently. Your arms will get totally knackered in the wash because its alot easier to pop on the wave face. (something to do with force reactions give you slight weightlessness)

When you do make it out back you must pop as soon as youve caught the wave so you can turn it to go down the line. If you dont you usually go straight down the face and straight under. (ohh the memories of pearling phase coming back)

Basically you have to do what everyone else did. Get up, wobble, fall off just keep at it, one day it will come to you

[pacificasurfgurl]

Hey I am new to surfing as well. That's exactly what I did.... I stayed at the white water to practice my "pop up". Just practice practice practice untill you get in down. It's an amazing feeling once you get out to the line up and able to catch a wave and "pop up". One thing you have to remember do not stand up straight have your knees slightly bent to keep your balance GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!