Pop up trouble

[oldmansurfer]

Practice your popup on land and do it over and over the right way so that when you go out and try it will be easier. If you just stick with that board it will become more comfortable and easier for you to sit on it with time spent sitting on it. It will also become easier to popup on with time spent popping up. The question is do you have the determination to keep at it till you get it? When you popup your hands are on the board right before you stand. If you don't move you have a 4 point stance with 2 hands and 2 feet on the board. While that is very stable it doesn't allow much for moving to regain balance if you get off balance. So you just stand up a little anbd put your hands out. Some of the pro surfers like Kelly Slater will keep one hand hanging on to the board after they popup on steep waves (a rail grab). Learn to do it correctly on the ground then take it to the board. For a newbie of your weight that would be a small board so it wil take you longer to be able to use it. Not impossible just more difficult.

[oldmansurfer]

A trick that I did to change my popup back when I used to shortboard is I made a cardboard cutout of my surfboard and placed it on the floor and practiced popping up while trying to place my feet in exactly the right spots. Once you get a popup it becomes a habit and it is difficult to change so it is good to do it right from the start.

[Jester]

This is very very common when starting out, you sound like you're describing a lot of my early surfs!

Where are your hands when you pop up? Are they nearly midway along the board? If they're in the front half they will be pushing the nose underwater, get them back by your ribs!

What type of waves are you surfing? Are you still on whitewater waves? That's where we all start and I was on them for about 8 months, lack of a proper green wave means you're catching white water which has lost most of its power, standing up on that is like balancing a spinning top that's spinning too slowly.. It'll soon fall over. In the whitewater your speed and impetus drop off rapidly as does your ability to balance because the wave is losing power.

Going too straight can shorten your run and mean that you quickly get to the point where its next to useless trying to stand up. My advice is forget standing for a wave or two.. Try catching the wave then angling your board to the direction you want to go, slightly across the wave, say 10 degrees, not much, you'll feel the board plane along the face of the wave and it will be smoother and steadier, it will also increase the length of your ride, do this till you can do it every time, then try and stand but get to your feet early!

Speed! The less time popping up, the less time for things to go wrong, practice on land, practice on your bed (I like this because it simulates the non-hard reaction of water as you apply force) learn good technique! I saw a middle-aged woman at my local popping up in a split second, you can't tell me she was stronger than me, it was technical ability.

Arch your back first! Then swing your legs between your hands as you lean a little towards the nose, using core strength to bring your legs up to your abdomen, if done at the right point on the wave the tilt of the board will help.. Do NOT have your hands out in front of you.

Make sure you've actually caught the wave before standing, most people starting (me here) start to stand as the wave is dropping them off the back or petering out and has lost power. Putting too much weight at the back of your board will sink it and acts like a stalling device. An ungainly and beginners pop up usually involves a foot resting on the back of the board for balance and stalls it, resulting in a quick dismount there after.

As was mentioned a big board helps, I'm 6'3 and have learnt on 8 foot boards, I don't see that you would need any more but try a few out?

Take a few lessons, as much info as is on here and as wise as all the gurus are, no one here can see you so get a good surf instructor and listen! You've already paid for a camper van, 30 quid or whatever ain't gonna kill ya!

Practice practice practice, we've all been where you are mate, it gets way way wayyy better you're gonna love it! Part of what I love most about surfing is the feeling of progress. You'll be fine.

Most importantly ENJOY!!!

[InlandMatt]

Cheers to the reply again. I try to put my hands near my ribs but tend to feel I'm going to push myself forward too much so realistically I'd say my hands are by my nipple.

I've had about 3 lessons including a full day that cost me £75. The instructor showed me a fee points that he said I picked up very fast, such as paddling, picking waves, timing of catching waves and paddling up to speed. But for the rest of the day I felt I was wasting my money and his time because I just couldn't get onto my feet that day at all. I tried and tried to pop and get my feet under me but it felt like either my knee was striking my belly and I was literally dragging my foot to under my chest or I was drastically uncomfortable trying to do it.

I will not give up because I love all board sports but always always wanted to surf.

I'm riding small green waves 2/3 foot and white water and I totally agree on the speed. I know from skating and snowboarding to look where your going and speed is your friend. I'd probably say I'm not getting the speed I need. But in San Diego I rented a foam board about 7 ft and was trying to ride 4/5 green waves and just got battered all session. Think I stood up once on the white water after trying to pop twice and failing on the same wave.

Most the time if/when I get to my feet on white water and I just aim for the beach I can ride straight back in at what feels 2 mph. If I can get my pop sorted I want to be going as fast as possible down the green wave face

[Jester]

7 ft is too short at the moment. And get your hands back!! You SHOULD feel like you're falling forward down the wave, that's the bit where you have to over ride your body's natural desire to put your hands out in front, get your hands back ..back down to as near to the centre of the board as you can!!

Watch all the 'surf simply' videos on YouTube, they help a lot!

[Jester]

Just re-read your comment, the problem here is one I encountered a lot as well at the beginning. When you're trying to pop up after the wave has broken I.e. the whitewater, its more difficult because you're practically horizontal and not moving very fast, the board isn't stable either because it's usually being jostled around in the froth. You can however still pop up effectively.. The other day during a lull I managed to successfully pop up on my board just as it was lying in the water.
Try it yourself sometime! You'll look like a prat as did I but it's fun and will help you learn a valuable lesson. Here's something to visualise;

Your arms are the supports of a see-saw, your torso and head begin the move in the up position, you drive them down which forces your bum and legs up into the air a bit, as they come up you coil them like there's a shark nibbling at your toes and plant them underneath you to safety.

Q - How much more pressure will you need if you put the supports of the see-saw forwards to the top quarter of your body?

Q2. - can you see any benefit in beginning the pop up in the cobra position with your head up and back arched?

[dtc]

Good comments by Jester. On land, lay on the ground with your head arched up (as if on a board). Do a push up from that position with your hands around your nipples. Then do one with your hands around the bottom of your rib cage - see how much more room your hips have. For what its worth, I have one hand (my right hand) almost at my hips and my left hand is at the bottom of my ribs. If you are pushing yourself forward rather than up, you need to get your elbows back a bit further. Remember you aren't pushing your upper body back over your feet, your upper body doesn't move and your feet come through under your hips.

Also, remember that you should be crouched down when you get to your feet - a common problem is trying to pop up to a standing position, which is both very hard and, in any case, wrong because you will probably fall over straight away. You want to pop up in a crouched position.

Another tip is something I read recently from another beginner, which is an issue I never really thought about but which is important: focus on getting your back leg through and onto the board (and your front leg will follow milliseconds later). Don't focus on getting your front leg through and hope your back leg will come along for the ride. If you focus on your front leg, your back leg may well trail and flop around, but if you focus on your back leg then your front leg has to come along, because anatomy means it cant do anything else.

[drowningbitbybit]

I try to put my hands near my ribs but tend to feel I'm going to push myself forward too much so realistically I'd say my hands are by my nipple.

It's a pop up, not a pop along

If you're hands are by your nipples, you'll be crawling forward, when you need to pop up.
Not only that, but if your hands are too far forward, you'll just stall the board, but if you have your hands back you partially shunt the board forward and gain a lot of speed. You'll fall off the back a couple of times – not the front... you'll fall off the back. If you don't fall off the back first time, then your hands aren't far back enough – but you'll soon pick it up.


Everyone went through this stage. I have to remember that sometimes, otherwise I simply cannot comprehend why people find it so difficult – surf for a while (quite a long while, admittedly) and it becomes completely second nature