When to pop up

[NYVikesGuy]

I'm a new surfer, having been at It a few months. I can get up pretty consistently in the white water, and have started paddling out to the green water. I can catch waves occasionally out there, but I'm confused about timing my pop up. If I catch a decent wave, there's that moment when you're "elevated". Is there where you should pop up? If you don't, the wave breaks and you end up in the white water anyway. It just feels a little tenuous floating up there and having to pop to your feet.

Thanks to all for some input and insight.

[drowningbitbybit]

You should be popping up as soon as the wave has definitely caught you - too early and you'll end up standing on your board as the wave carries on without you, too late and you'll fall down the face of the wave lying down, and then it'll break on top of you.
So you need to time it so that you pop up just as the board begins to fall away from you (on a steep face) or when you and the board start to move independently of your paddle (on a fatter wave). So, yes, just at that tenuous floating moment

[RonG]

too early and you'll end up standing on your board as the wave carries on without you

...feeling rather foolish.

I seem to be making that my signature move

[surf patrol]

Look at this way, it's easy to recover and catch the next wave compared to being pitched forward and nosediving

[IB_Surfer]

Sounds like it's not your pop up. You should be glidding into the wave, not being elevated then shot out. So, a couple of things to correct:

1) You need to get better at paddling, which is the reason why you can pop up easily in whitewash but not in the curl. Head up high, arch your back, dig down and close your fingers, using your shoulders, arms, upper torso, not out just using your shoulders.
2) Move up an inch on your board or try to find the exact balance point on your board. If you are being elevated it usually means you are too far back, which means you stall and get raised up, sometimes missing the wave. Be careful though, being further up means you need to hold your head up high to keep from pearling.

Aint surfing fun though????

[NYVikesGuy]

Thanks for the replies all. Great information. Mathteach, you're probably on to something. I'm the first to admit, my paddling blows. I do feel like I'm on top of the wave, more than being pushed by it. I think my position on the board is okay, I just can't paddle well enough or strong enough to get the speed needed.

Oh, and surfing is the best. Never should have waited this long to start. Now that I'm in, though, I am all in!

[RonG]

Sounds like it's not your pop up. You should be glidding into the wave, not being elevated then shot out.

Which might for me explain the times I'm either:

a) Left standing as the wave continues on without me, or ...
b) Carried a little distance "on top" of the wave, then plummet at a seeming 45 degree angle as the wave breaks under me

Result (b) is a lot worse! It's like I'm not dropping down the face of the wave, it's heading over the falls while standing on my board, with a spectacular nose dive the only possible outcome. At my local beach break it's tough because ever since Hurricane Irene, we have a wide shallow section maybe 50 yards out where they just jack up fast and dump. So it seems the margin between "too early to catch the wave" and "late takeoff" is very small.

[surfnoob]

Trying angling your take-off a little which will result in not such a steep drop. I find dumpy waves really difficult, but the times i made them are when i have angled and dug a rail into the face.

[jasedrummer]

It sounds really obvious but you just haven't caught the wave....I went through exactly the same thing a few months back trying to pop up far too soon. To catch a wave you have to match it's speed - this means good paddling which takes a while to perfect. When you have caught the wave properly you will know - it's basically when the wave takes over from you paddling and starts to propel the board forward itself. Once you get this right a few times it becomes a lot easier to realise what it is you are trying to achieve.....the more time you spend out the back the easier it will get.

[RonG]

It sounds really obvious but you just haven't caught the wave....I went through exactly the same thing a few months back trying to pop up far too soon. To catch a wave you have to match it's speed - this means good paddling which takes a while to perfect. When you have caught the wave properly you will know - it's basically when the wave takes over from you paddling and starts to propel the board forward itself. Once you get this right a few times it becomes a lot easier to realise what it is you are trying to achieve.....the more time you spend out the back the easier it will get.

Makes perfect sense, and I sort of "reasoned" my way to this conclusion thinking a bit about what sometimes happens vs. what should be happening. I know I want to be gliding down the face of the wave rather than ending up sitting on top of it as it crashes, and I know this gets trickier when the wave jacks up and crashes fast. So more aggressive paddling and really digging to be sure I'm down the face is the conclusion I came to. Also makes sense why this isn't an issue on the days when they're slow and crumbly - just lots more time to react and not as much speed required.

Now to go out and make it happen....

[NYVikesGuy]

First of all, thanks for all the great information. Very helpful. Gives me lots of things to work on.

RonG, where are you surfing? I'm in NC and Irene wreaked havoc with our coastline as well.

[RonG]

RonG, where are you surfing? I'm in NC and Irene wreaked havoc with our coastline as well.

Long Beach Island, New Jersey. We were very lucky - we saw very little property damage from Irene, but the storm definitely changed the sandbar along a good portion of our 18 mile ocean front, and not for the better.