Surfing Waves

I am fairly new to surfing. I think I have developed a bad habit. Most of the time for whatever reason instead of doing a pop-up I slide my front knee to the middle of the board and stand up from there. Is this a problem? I feel like by the time I get up I am in the foam and am not able to turn and stay kind of in the face of the wave to carve. Any thoughts?

DG

dgarland10 wrote:Is this a problem?

Yes. Don't do it again.

Big problem.

If you are not that fit or not that good, then you need to do a two step popup. You put your hands on your board, on the deck, not the rails. Lift your body up and place your back foot down, then the front one. Not slowly, but for sure in two steps. In slow motion, the hands and the back foot hold you in place while you scoot your front foot up and release your hands. So instead of trying to shove your feet under you you are walking onto your board. It will also correct your knee problem since you are using your feet specifically. Try it

A couple things...

How tall are you? I have a good friend who is about 6'4" and he can't seem to get passed this either. It's funny because I tell him every time I see him out, that before anything he needs to drop this habit.


The other thing is, popping up gets easier as you start to build the muscles for it. This will happen quicker than you think. Put in 3 4 hour sessions in a week, and you'll notice the difference right away.

Also as you start to surf bigger waves it actually gets easier. Popping up on a small wave is you from a flat board to standing position. Popping up on a small wave the board is gliding downward as you pop, giving you a little help with the effort and space required. It's the timing that gets tricky at this point.

Knee = bad.