Surfing Waves

Hi,

A few weeks ago I learned how to surf on Waikiki beach. It was awesome! I obviously began with a long board that was about 10 feet long. I had no problems getting up on this board. After alot of practice with this size board I decided to try something smaller. I rented a board that was about 7 1/2 feet long. I encountered a problem here. I am 6'3'' therefore when paddling my feet were off the back of the board. So when popping up I could no longer use my feet to help push me up. What should I do to be successful here?

Thank you.

move forward on the board. the general rule of thumb is to have just your toes off the back, so that when you bring your feet 'up', like towards your shins, your toes are just touching the tail. then when you pop up, you can put your toes on the tail, and use that as the leverage point

orlando_green wrote: I am 6'3'' therefore when paddling my feet were off the back of the board.

That's normal.
On a 7'6, you should be able to move forward a bit more so that you can have your toes on the tail of the board. However, having your feet in the water is perfectly normal for anyone on a shortboard and it doesnt hinder their pop up at all.
After a few lessons on a 10' board, you're not going to be able to pop up properly yet so practise practise practise and the practise some more.

A good pop-up doesnt need the feet on the board. You pop, up, doing almost all the work with your arms and swing your feet underneath you in one swift movement.

it can take quite sometime before your pop-up is controlled and smooth. You may surf fine but its repetition that gets things smoothed out.

practise is the death of all woes regarding surfing. Even bad habbits will smooth out eventually of course it helps to spot them earlier but even if you didnt it will work out after enough time

Lol I have the same problem cause my board is about a foot taller than me. Instead of making a new topic I was just wondering so if I have my feet in the water, would I have to use my knees to get to my feet and then stand up?

I also have the same problem... can pop up no problems if I can spring off my toes... now on a 6' 2" and my toes are over the end... struggling to popup with just my arms. Have tried bring my back foot up onto the tail grip but I find when I put pressure on my back foot the nose of the board pops forward. As per the post above , do you pop off your knees

Same problem again... went from big big board for a couple of lessons and but am now trying my luck with a 7'0". Finding pop-up pretty difficult like the people above, especially cos I can't use my toes. I seem to catch my knees underneath me if that makes sense. Any ideas or should I just keep at it and let it sort itself out?

When you pop up try placing your hands further down each rail, so that your hands are under your chest. I place my hands so my palm is on the deck with my fingers on the rail, some people put their hands flat on the deck. Each to their own. If your hands are too far forward you won't be able to use them to pivot which is possibly why you're trying to use your feet to pop up. Try it on your loungeroom floor...

asktheaxis wrote: I seem to catch my knees underneath me if that makes sense.

If you're catching the wave at the right moment, you should be able to shunt the board forward and down, which gives you much more room to snap your knees underneath. And remember to put your hands in a position so you only push UP and not with your arms at an angle.

asktheaxis wrote:Any ideas or should I just keep at it and let it sort itself out?

Yup, keep at it.

Av got to add to this, I have been using my short bord for some time now and i dont know how i pop up? its like 50/50 weather i can get to my feet or not, on a mini mal no problem poping up at all, serched the net U tube etc for the perfect pop but all the techniques seam to be the back foot first onto the tail pad then pop up from there, tryed this and it dont work for for me, tryed poping up on the floor but always seam to pop off my knees,
any one got a step by step drawing instructions or video?

Paddle fast in the right spot on the wave, on a shorter board your board will slow down quicker (when you stop paddling) so you need to pop up quicker before your board loses momentum.
Also due to this you need to get good at positioning and picking the right place to pop up.

Assuming you have done all of this correctly-
1)take an extra stroke or two in some cases, especially if wind is strong offshore or the tides making the waves full/fat/weak.
2)place hands directly below your shoulders on each rail,
3)push up, elbows out sideways extending straight up.
4) *swing to your feet, some like to put back foot down first some like front foot down first.
It really depends on the wave. A)If its a late takeoff and your not speeding into it, you need to lower the nose of your board with your front foot to get past the lip.
Or b) If your not late, it looks like you are going to drop in too quick or you might out run the best (tube) part of the wave, you can use your back foot to slow the board down as your dropping in.
SOME surfers use the popup *swing to give the board speed into the wave or even do a highline
drive down the line BEFORE the first bottom turn. This is an advanced move.
5) if its sucky its good to lean your body into the direction you want to go.
This lean in of your body "angles in" your board also reducing the chance of nosediving.
You will need to get used to the amount of back foot and front foot pressure to use aswell as getting use to leaning forward and settling back as the drop in enfolds.
If you aim to get slotted you should practice this in shoreys or wherever you get a chance.. Even One foot shoreys are good practice for this.

Surfing is hard. You need to surf a LOT to get good.

I have an interest in getting this sorted out. On tuesday night at the end of a surf session i went for the explosive pop up on my 7'6 minimal, caught my trailing foot on the end of the board and broke my big toe in three places! So no surf for a few weeks Anyway, i am really struggling on popping up without the use of feet cos they hang over the end of the board. Should I be able to pop up with upper body strength alone? Do the legs put ANY downward pressure on the board at the shins/knees to help get your backside in the air and swing legs through, or it is ONLY the upperbody doing this?

Practice 'the pop up' on the floor at home loads – you can use your knee to clamber to your feet too.

I was the other way round with my feet - learnt on a shortboad. First time on a long board though I went for a wave and paddled AND kicked like a madman !

OW !

All the surfers in the water looked at me stoopid ! The noise of flesh and bone furiously impacting fibreglass and foam was one I shall never forget (some long boarders were laughing in a knowing way !)