Surfing Waves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca-4WEfZfyo

On this video clip I am doing the pop up that my surf trainer has showed me. It is some different from what you see else where. Especially the fact that the front foot is landing quite a bit in front of the hand position. This is supposed to give the best speed.

Until now I have been doing pop up and ended standing to far aft on the board, with the tip of the board sticking up in the air. That is a speed killer, I can guarantee.

I thought I would show this because I was unaware of this type of pop up.
Any comments??

Best regards Torben

What are you riding? a longboard?
I dont ride a longboard.. but
to paddle on a longboard you have to move up a bit anyways.. until the nose is almost flat with the water.. i think
Ive tried to longboard once so my advice mightn ot be right, but when i popped up on it i was already in the middle of the board and actually had to move back to try and turn. Maybe you are paddling too far back on your board...
the pop up doesnt look that special... does the same thing...

^ yeah, when i'm on my log i'm pretty far forward on it paddling into a wave. i'll have to move back to turn hard, but most of the time on it i'm in the forward 2/3 of the board. if you're on a shortboard, when you pop up, focus on getting your weight over your front foot more. usually i see this happening on lessons with people who are hesitating. get the weight forward more, or else you won't be going anywhere fast. obviously don't over-do it either, they you go pearl diving

Three conclusions - back foot coming forward:

1 you were trying so hard your instructor could only praise you.
2 the instructor knows many secrets (!).
3 the instructor knows you will not be that athletic in the water and your foot would land okay in the surf.

Number three seems to be it as you mention you have been having your foot too far back.

Best of luck with it.

Thank you for the comments.

I started on a 8foot 4 inch Bic. I am 6 feet 4 inch myself. Weight is 205 Pounds
Then I had a 9 feet 6 inch longboard made for me. It is great for catching waves but hard to turn.
I am now back to the Bic. It turns a lot easyer.

I surf North Spain, but only up to 4 feet so far, and then I surf on Mallorca . There are some choppy waves now and again.

Recently I took some surf lessons. That vas a very big help. Progress is slow, maybee because I started surfing at the age of 59 years old.

Torben

Better late than never.

for longboard, generally position your self where your toe can touch the back edge of the board when your ankles are 90 degree, but that's assuming the longboard you're riding is the one for your size...

Hey - post a vid of you surfing - we might be able to give some more pointers !

Thanks for all the good reply.
Here is a video of me surfing a month ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThKP9M8SHm8

torben wrote:Thanks for all the good reply.
Here is a video of me surfing a month ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThKP9M8SHm8

You can surf and your back foot is landing okay. You are also happy to shift your front foot too - all good stuff.

Progress will come as it is alomost impossible to go backwards when starting out !

Keep surfing and look for bigger waves - when they come angle your take off and surf along the wave.

My best to you on your new(ish) quest !

Well done.

Torben,
please make a video of you doing this in the water. That would be fun and interesting to see.

You look like a normal begginer, have fun.

The only suggestion I have is that when you pop up the back foot is supposed to land first to help the back foot move forward. It's only an instant before but it makes it easier to walk your front foot forward than to try to plant both. On the video it even appears that your front foot is going down first, which is WAY harder to do.

Landing the rear foot first seem just right for me. Thanks for the info.
I made a small video and named it Pop up 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgi3AcaIif0

I think my hands should be at the buttom of the rib cage, and not at the middle where I place them.
Torben

Without wanting to sound too sad, popping up is a bit like a golf swing, people can tell you how to do everything, but unless you get that 'feel', it won't work for you.

It's a bit of a cop out, but I think you need to find what works for you; on a small day, try moving forward on the board to see how it feels, then try moving back. If you do this to extremes, ie. right forward or right back, you will see the difference it can make, then you can find your own style. Try your hands in different positions. Not wanting to offend, but at 59 you probably won't pop as fast as a grommet. I certainly don't pop up now in the same way I did when I was 16 and I'm only 34. At the end of the day the object is to get to your feet quickly without losing speed of diving the nose, if the only way you could do this was to go into a handstand, then flip over onto your feet, if it works, who cares!! (That would also look pretty cool!)

A lot of surfing is about feel, and you will find that on some waves you can pop quickly, on others you have more time. You'll get there!