Surfing Waves

Hello, I am getting back into surfing after a long break. I wasn't all that great before but now I'm having a pretty specific problem. Hopefully you all can give me some advice. I have had surgery on both feet that fused my toes and greatly limited my forefoot flexibility. I cannot bend my feet to do a push up, get into a plank or push off my toes for a pop up. Unfortunately this is a structural issue that can't be fixed with stretching yoga conditioning etc. So my question is this. How do I pop up when I cannot put weight on my toes (can't do a push up)?Any advice on how to tweak my technique will be greatly appreciated!

A longboarder at my break uses a knee popup that works in our smaller waves. This would not work on a shortboard.

1. From the prone position, push backward so that you are upright on both knees


2. Bring one foot up so that weight is on the knee and the forward foot. (keep your back toes flat if necessary)




3. Lean on the forward foot and bring your back foot to the deck.

Hope this helps

Thank you! That is exactly what I'm looking for. I just tried it dry land and it totally worked. Good thing I do not ride a short board

The other option is to pop up without using your toes ie what shortboarders do. If you can do a push up you should be able to do it - it doesn't require any additional strength, it's a technique issue

The 'go onto the knee' version has the problem of being slow - so on steep waves you might be down the wave before you can pop up and lose speed. But on fuller waves and with a longboard it's workable.

How does it work without being up on toes? Can you explain the technique for me? Thank you very much

You just push up with your hands and being your feet under. I guess you sort of use your knees as a base (ie weight on the knees rather than toes) but you arent pushing off your knees.

Check out any 'how to pop up on a shortboard' video. Key is to keep your hands low, like around your lower rib level.

It's easier to do in the water than on land because in the water the board is dropping down the face.

Keep in mind that short boarders can't push off their toes (their feet are off the end of the board), so this isn't some radical alternative pop up. It's a normal one - long boarders just get to be a bit lazy

In all honesty I have never really paid attention to how short boarders do things. Thank you very much for the tip and suggestions.

First Video - Short Board Pop up
Just turn the sound off and watch how he does it.



Second Video - Longboard Pop up with no toes (like a short boarder)
....get your feet up like in the first video.

Watch this video starting at 4:00, he bends one knee to get a foot on the board to use as leverage to pop up. If you have a hard time swinging your feet under you in one motion due to your toes, this might help.