Surfing Waves

Hi, i am a beginner with about 25 days of surfing experience and trying to improve my popup and for that I want to build the right muscle memory.

The way I understood it so far, is that the popup is one movement that involves pushing the body upward while moving your feet under your body. But what are the muscles involved in moving the feet forward? To my understanding it is the Core muscles that you use to pull your legs under you. But I also see many references to jumping, which to me would involve the feet and legs in a different way. Also pulling the legs forward feels much smoother and more stable than a jump.

What do you think?

I think your popup will go through transitions throughout your surfing life. If you surf enough it will become stable for a period of time. After you learn to surf reasonably well you never think about how you popup ......well....at least I don't. If you have a problem popping up then you might think about it. I noticed my popup was changing because when I was done surfing I had wax on my toe nails which I never did before. What does that mean? I guess I was starting to drag my foot over the board on popup. Now I don't have wax on my toe nails again. I think my popup has improved a bit most noticeably on small waves maybe because that is what I have been riding lately. I wasn't trying to change my popup but it changed I am sure. I think you just need to practice it over and over. Make sure it's relatively quick and that your feet end up in the right place. There are other threads about popups that have videos to watch but there is more than one method to popup and I don't think it matters much what you do only that it works.

Oldie wrote:Also pulling the legs forward feels much smoother and more stable than a jump.

But how do you pull your legs forward if the torso is in the way of the area you want your feet to land in ? That "jump" or push up is needed to clear out the area.

One recommendation is that you put your hand further back on the push up. Like behind you arm pits. So you push more straight in a vertical plain.

Popup is different depending on the board.
On a longboard or gun you have footspace as leverage which can help you popup very easily you use your feet to push yourself off the board while pulling the rest of your body up with your arms.
On a shortboard or fish, you only use your upper body, you lift all your weight and snap using your abs like a crunch to get your feet under you, or use the chicken wing technique which is more stable and forgiving when it comes to mistakes.
I don't suggest speeding up your popup and having it as a jump because sometimes you'll land on the rails and drive your way into the face resulting in a spectacular wipeout.
But as a tip, your popup must be something you don't consciously think about, you just popup and do what's natural, when you think about it you tend to screw it up somehow.

waikikikichan wrote:
But how do you pull your legs forward if the torso is in the way of the area you want your feet to land in ? That "jump" or push up is needed to clear out the area.

Yes, that I understand (at least I hope so )and moving the hands more back has helped a lot to improve this in my last session. I am more confused about the role of the feet as some suggest to spring from your toes, which to me is a different move than pulling your legs forward.

icetime wrote:Popup is different depending on the board.
On a longboard or gun you have footspace as leverage which can help you popup very easily you use your feet to push yourself off the board while pulling the rest of your body up with your arms.
On a shortboard or fish, you only use your upper body, you lift all your weight and snap using your abs like a crunch to get your feet under you, or use the chicken wing technique which is more stable and forgiving when it comes to mistakes.
I don't suggest speeding up your popup and having it as a jump because sometimes you'll land on the rails and drive your way into the face resulting in a spectacular wipeout.

ok. Thanks.

when you think about it you tend to screw it up somehow.

I am good at that

Really important is to realise a pop up is a power move!
It involves elevating your torso so your legs can come underneath to your initial stance.
Your legs must go forward to plant your feet whether short or long board.
If you use your feet and then use your arms to raise your torso you will be towards the back of the board immediately stalling.
The motion if possible should be smooth and in one step. Too much weighting on the hands can unbalance the board particularly if you weight more on one side.

If you use an initial foot push to propel your legs forward that applies a stall force to the back of the board (that is where a lot of beginners lose their wave catching paddle speed and either slide off the back of the wave or find themselves sucked too high to make the drop) .
It is part of the arcane arts of surfing and a good pop up you can vary to match the wave is one of the best tools you can develop!
Don't think DO!

Best exercise, whether popping up on long or short board = squat thrust
I do them
Do 20 at a time, every day

Good alternative to burpees (that I do every day)!