Surfing Waves

Hi all,

I'm a beginner having some troubling popping up. I took lessons on these really long boards and was simply told to do that thing where you push up, place the back foot and move the front foot forwards. It worked well for me, I got up regularly.

I have since bought a 7'6'' minimal but because i am 6'6'' myself, the board seems really short. If I move towards the front, I nosedive, if I move towards the back, my feet drag in the water behind the board. It also makes it really hard to pop up as I can't place my back foot without moving to a position where I get really unstable. But I'm sure other people on shorter boards would be in the same situation, even if they aren't as tall themselves.

Any advice, besides buying a new board?

Its not a problem for your feet to be in the water. You just have to practice those pop ups a bit more.

Not sure exactly how much but i reckon my feet must be at least a foot of the end of my board.

Your 6'6" and your board is 7'6" and your just learning. IMHO with your height and your board length you have increased the learning curve big time.

I've found a bit of an answer online:

"When transitioning from a longboard to a shortboard, you may have to modify how you pop up from the prone to standing position. With a longboard you're feet rest nicely on the end of the board, so you can use them to push off as you swing your legs underneath you. But on a shortboard they dangle off the board which makes them utterly useless, so instead, the knees must act as the fulcrum".

So basically, the answer would be to forget about the lessons I took and to find a way to get up quicky (i.e. still pop up) using my knees instead of my feet. Any shortboarder have feelings about this?

Don't try to go knees>feet - really bad habit to get into - you will just get to your knees and fall off.

What they are trying to say is to push up on your knees as you pop, bringing your legs underneath you. It's the best way to do it on a longboard too IMO.

Also, you need to be getting both feet on the deck of the board at the same time, one after the other is another really bad habit to get into.

HTH.

i have a problem with pop ups. i have a habit off getting to my knees, which is ok when catching your first waves but now it gets annoying as by the time i have paddled for the wave, Paddled after the wave to make sure i am on it, found my balance on the wave in prone position ( not nose dive etc...) popped to my knees then placed my feet on the board and found my balance again.. well you can imagine i have lost the wave by then.

popping straight up is the best way of all but takes practice ( i fall off lol) to arch you back and place the back foot on then bring your front foot through is how a lot of people do it aswell. dont practice on your floor as having you feet on the surfboard and off the surfboard completly changes the ease of a pop up. if your feet hang off the end try and practice on your bed or something.(that way you cant use your feet and you bed dosent give you much stability just like a wave) try all the pop ups and find which one works best for you. good luck

whats all this about back foot first? you push your chest up and then swing your legs into position. this way it doesnt matter whether you are longer than the board or not. when you pop up.

I was thinking maybe squat thrusts would be a good way of building flexibility for pop ups for tall people? Im tall and struggle to pop up. Im in the same boat as pezzo - I tend to get up too slowly and get on to my knees then stand up and lose the wave....

its actually easier to do on the face of a wave coz uve got gravity to help swing your feet under.

surferdude_scarborough wrote:its actually easier to do on the face of a wave coz uve got gravity to help swing your feet under.

++

'Pop up' is kinda the wrong term.

Your more like keeping your body at the same height with your arms, as your board drops away, and pivoting your legs under you.

Another bit of advise I have recently had is not to move back too much on the board. Apparently a better way to avoid nosediving is to arch your back as soon as the wave catches you. This keeps you from pearling while allowing you to start getting up...

Thibb wrote:Another bit of advise I have recently had is not to move back too much on the board. Apparently a better way to avoid nosediving is to arch your back as soon as the wave catches you. This keeps you from pearling while allowing you to start getting up...

too far back you will miss the wave - too far forward and over the falls you go generally

My advice is to not analyze it too much that just causes complication. Just surf on a regular basis and the rest will come naturally.

practice popping up to your feet on land so the motion is committed to muscle memory. i spent my first year of surfing doing kamakaze bellyboarding takeoffs since i was taking off late and steepjust keep practicing and maybe try surfing at different breaks. some waves are easier to take off on than others. keep practicing and you WILL get better at takeoffs, no doubt about it. surfing isn't an easy sport, so don't get frustrated or over-analyze. Remember, we surf because it's fun! do NOT go on your knees EVER! bad for the deck of your surfboard, bad for your knees, and looks really, really lame. good for you that you're surfing a 7'6"! you'll learn how to turn a lot sooner than you would on a longboard.

If you want to go all out for a bit of practice take your fins out stick your board on your bed. Stick as many pillows as you can underneath it to replicate a small wave and practice your pop ups.

When I learned on a 7'6" my shins touched the edge of the tail. I used to push off from my shins slightly to make it easier to get my legs up under my arse. Eventually my popups were as RJD says.

But isalute you has hit the nail on the head, don't over analyse it. It will come and the best way to help it is to get practice in the sea.

i know everyone has hit the point exactly and you have all the advice you could need to get up on ya board but here is a little more for you... It is a lot easier to get up on greenwater, you board is travaling faster and the wave lasts longer. it is also a lot smother. someone told me i can surf fine and to stop pissin around in the white wash as all it does is unbalances you. i am not a gd surfer so i cant catch the breaking waves either without getting dumped so i didnt know what to do. fortunatley the next days swell died down to 2 foot and i could reach the front line. my pop ups were perfect and i had the best surf of my life. a 2 foot clean is my wave man. if you are having trouble listen to other surfers and when they say its a flat swell or a small one go for it lol. nobody gets in ya way either.

Unless you have an epoxy board, I DO NOT recommend putting your board anywhere not in the water and practicing pop-ups.

Besides, you don't need the board.

First, you have to get the movement down. Lay on ground, put hands next to shoulders. Pop up. Repeat. Like 100 times.

Then go try and surf. You will wipe out continuously. Your one job is to figure out why the board is shooting out from under you, or which side you are tending to fall off of as soon as you stand up.

Now you can start to pay attention to foot placement. It's good to keep practicing out-of-water popups for the general movement and feel, but you'll never get foot placement down that way. The main reason is that the board is moving in the water, so trying to translate a static fix of where to place your feet exactly into a fluid arena will just frustrate you.

You need to remain conscious of what happened right before you wiped out, versus paying attention to the steps you are taking to pop up. If you're thinking about your pop up, you're taking too much time to pop up and you will wipe out.

All you should be doing is thinking about your last mistake, like;

"put front foot further forward, put front foot further forward..."

or

"not so far to the left, not so far to the left, not so far to the left"

i'm still a noob but what i've found really helps me with popping up has been thinking of shooting my hips up high THEN pulling my legs under me. instead of what I usually read "get into pushup position and then bring your feet under you".

I do..
get into pushup position
throw hips up/away from the board, allowing more room for your legs to get under you
pull feet under you onto the board