Surfing Waves

I was wondering if it matters the way you pop up? The only two ways I know of popping up is a push up position by your rib cage or grabbing the rails. I'm trying not to grab the rails but I seem to go over the falls or unable to find my balance using the first method. Does it matter the way you pop up and is one style better then the other?

i only grab the rails if i make mistakes otherwise i pop-up from the deck. There is no right or wrong way whatever works. But i have found i pop-up much quicker when i dont grib the rails. Theres a simple way to get into the habit of doing this is try drawing a simple outline of your board and doing pushups with your hands past the rails. This greatly increased my pop up awarness and oddly enough speed. But hey dont worry i know several guys who still pop up rail style and they have been doing it for a fairly long tims.

don't really think it matters. I put my hands on the deck by my ribs....when I thought about the physics of it all, it seemed to be the best place to push off from, that's why I learnt that way.

Umm, I think there was a thread exactly like this about a month ago, wasn't there?

there was a topic on this a while back and since then ive been taking note of how i do it (its done on instinct now so i wasnt sure how i did it). I found that on later take offs i often use the flat of my hand on one side and the rail on the other to pull the board round into the takeoff. On smaller waves i put my hands further forward and pull my weight forward towards the nose to get a bit of momentum up.
I reckon if you think about it too much your gonna make mistakes tho so practice on dry land until its autopilot and you can do it naturally.

I think I'm going to try isaluteyou way of making an outline of my board. Did you use a piece of cardboard or should I put my board on a bed or something?

well my apartment is tiled so i just stuck my board down and drew an outline ( My landlord wasnt happy seeing a big green surfboard shape splashed in the middle of my floor) But use anything like even string or cardboard it only needs to be a rough outline. i sue my blank every night to practise pop-ups at least this way it gives you a better percpective.

Good Luck

yea i posted this. I grab the rails when i mess up so I don't fall but I usually push up now. It honestly doesn't matter too much just do what works for you.

When I first started I used to grab the rails to popup onto broken waves or smaller green ones (1ft-2ft).

This has been working fine, but recently, when I caught (God knows how!!) a more powerful
wave (3-4ft), my hands got blasted off the rails by the water shooting past before I could pop-up!! Was weird feeling. I had 2-3 goes at trying to pop-up before the wave finally dumped
me on the beach. It must have looked hilarious and there were loads of people p*ssing
themselves laughing as I went past them!

Anyway, my point being I now always try and pop-up using the palms of my hands on top of the board press-up style to avoid more comedy moments...

Anyone else experienced this or was I just born to entertain everyone else in the sea??

gotta love those ebarissing moments. Why is it someone is always watchiing when you cock it up but when you pull off something amazing no one is looking

The main reason i pop up palm style is because theres too much room for error grabing the rails like slipping and falling head first on your board - which is not eaxactly fun