Surfing Waves

...and no I haven't been drinking...

Just started surfing after wanting to move on from bodyboarding.....

I'm 6' and weigh about 160lbs.....got an NSP 7'6 funboard....yeah I know stand out like a beginner as soon as you pull it out of the boardbag!!!....however it seems a good board to learn and progress on....

I'm quite fit and can pop up on land like a pro no problem.

My issue is when in the water I seem to struggle to pop up as easily.....admittingly I've only been 3 times so far, nowhere near enough......is it normal for the pop up to be trickier in the water? Hard to describe whats going on as everything happens so quick, but feels like a combination of wobbling board, forward momentum of the board, weight of the whitewaer on top of me and maybe extra weight of the wetsuit?

What I'm trying to avoid is getting to my knees first...first time I went I did this got to my feet and perhaps had about a 5 second ride.....

I've been on the outside as well last time, managed topaddle and duck dive through the incomng waves with not too many problems.....however there doesn't seem too much point in being there if I can't ge to the standing position yet..

Spend some time in the shallows with the white water and nail that pop up. I'm still a newbie, but have progressed to green waves and when i was at the stage you are, its all practice and not a lot else. It just comes, simple as that - no shortcuts, just time in the water - not too far down the road you'll look back and wonder what the fuss was all about.

Ok nice one....thanks for the reassurance....! Its not just me thinking I might be a kook for the rest of my life!

jasedrummer wrote:is it normal for the pop up to be trickier in the water?

COURSE IT IS!!!!!

Living room floors are nice stable things with very little to distract you. The ocean on the other hand tends to be quite a wobbly and busy place.

3 sessions is nothing. Takes some people months to be able to stand up at all. Skinny little lightweight kids generally find it easy, but the 6 footers amongst us can find it a bit of a struggle at first. Patience and practise. Lots of it.

Every wave is different, and you have to get your timing and paddling just right, and position on the board just right, to pop up on a real wave.

All that doesnt affect you on land...

My tip? Paddlue like a madman, but smoothly, to catch the wave and start poping up (smoothly!) before you think you should.

As said above, stable living room floor is way different than water.

I still suck at this sport but not about to give up.

Practice, practice, practice, and then more practice.

Thanks for this one.I'm a newbie but i totally love surfing.It rocks.

Hi. I had the same problem. I found that I was using the toes as support in the first phase of the pop up. In the water my toes were overhanging the board so it did not work.

try skateboarding or other boardsports, so that being on your feet seems natural. about 5 years from now when u have your local spot wired, are riding a channel islands and ripping, you realize, wow, getting about the waves is so much easier...and honestly, the first year or 2 of your surfing, is really just understanding wave physics, paddle techniques, and pop ups becoming second nature, like riding a bike. For me, once i see the wave coming and i start gearing-up, it all just becomes instinct. When i look down that line and im about to drop in it is literally like automatic. I dont think about what is going on until i kick out. Then you remember all your sick moves and so comes the "stoke factor", perhaps one of the single greatest feelings in surfing...you just want to scream. haha.

The biggest mistake by newbs is to charge the lineup when trying to learn. Start in the whitewash, about chest high at most. Wait for a nice wall of whitewater and throw yourself towards the shore and onto your board and pop up, don't plop on your board either, get some speed. Ride it a little, not too shallow, then repeat repeat repeat.

Forget paddling, if you arent' poping up correctly you aren't catching waves, so concentrate on that in the beggining. Do 20 popups in the shallows every time you go out, then go to the lineup. You'll get better at standing up which will improve the rest...

It took my 4-5 sessions before I was properly standing up. Its all about honing the correct way to do it. Forget going out on the big waves, no-ones going to blame you if you practice on the small surf in shore, that's the best place to practice. I still like to go back there when I'm trying a new board, just get the feeling for it. Once you get the stand-up everything just follows. Keep trying brother