Repositioning feet on a shorter board

[Prancing monkey]

On my 6,9 hybrid I’ve started to position my chest higher up the board which really helps with an early entry on the wave, but my back foot now lands in front of the tail pad (so not over the fins) which means I’m finding it more difficult to execute a hard first turn after pop up.

Potentially I just need to angle my take off more to help with the first turn, but trying to reposition my back foot straight after pop off seems totally unnatural / unstable. Just wondered how others on this forum reposition after pop up (I.e. adapt pop up, angle take off, move back foot straight away etc etc).

P.s. I’m fine with moving up and down my longboard straight after take off, but then that’s a 9,6 massive mass of tufflite

[oldmansurfer]

Well I'm not a shortboarder but something I did to help get my feet back was to change my popup so that I push back a little instead of straight up (which perhaps I have done because I am getting older and it was easier to do that). Another possible way to deal with it which I have done in the past is to make a cardboard cutout of your surfboard and just practice popping up from your paddle position to the position you want to make a good bottom turn. If you are taking a steep drop or hitting some chop it's not a good time to shift your feet so good to have your feet preset for the bottom turn.

[IB_Surfer]

Honestly, it depends on your height (or length of legs I guess).

My 6'9 has a pad, and I always land on it, but my 7'2" that I bought used has a pad too and I never get on that at all.

None of my bigger boards have pads, I would be popping a wheelie if I stepped on the pad on my 8ft fun board, so I don't even use pads on them.

[oldmansurfer]

I forgot to mention that what I first did was to work at getting my hands further back toward my waist for my popup, then the back pushing thing just seemed to happen. So before you place your hands on the board arch your back then get your hands as far back toward your waist as possible for the popup and this will help to inch you back a bit by itself.

[Prancing monkey]

Thx oldmansurfer

I’ll give the handpositioning one a go. Looks like a dreaded 2 week flat spell coming up so will report back next month (sob).

[steveylang]

Well I'm not a shortboarder but something I did to help get my feet back was to change my popup so that I push back a little instead of straight up (which perhaps I have done because I am getting older and it was easier to do that). Another possible way to deal with it which I have done in the past is to make a cardboard cutout of your surfboard and just practice popping up from your paddle position to the position you want to make a good bottom turn. If you are taking a steep drop or hitting some chop it's not a good time to shift your feet so good to have your feet preset for the bottom turn.

Thanks for that tip- I am going to try that! I am dealing with the same issue as OP. I'm aware of my hand placement when I pop-up, but never considered the angle at which I push. Of course I try to lift my head and chest mostly with my core, but I'm older and need a little extra push at the end...

[dtc]

I have found that moving my hands down lower is very useful. I actually have my right hand down near my hip and my left around lower rib (natural footer). So staggered but that helps with the body twist as well. I sort of push and pivot around the right hand

Like old man I had to change my pop up just from going from my 7’4 to my 6’10 - the latter requires much more of a back foot weighting (due to the type of board) and my pop up needed to be about 3 inches further back. That 3 inches can be a pain to learn!

[steveylang]

Here's a pretty good video on shifting your back foot (this guy's videos are very good in general.) It's not totally applicable to longer boards since you may need to shift both feet back after popping up, but may help with that first turn.

I find it easy to step forward on a board (say to gain speed) but it feels much less natural to step backwards, probably because I'm not seeing where I'm going. But I just have to trust the process and know I'm not gonna step off the back of the board.

[oldmansurfer]

That is Malia Manuel at Kelly Slaters surf ranch on a maxed out wave setting

[Prancing monkey]

Here's a pretty good video on shifting your back foot (this guy's videos are very good in general.) It's not totally applicable to longer boards since you may need to shift both feet back after popping up, but may help with that first turn.
I find it easy to step forward on a board (say to gain speed) but it feels much less natural to step backwards, probably because I'm not seeing where I'm going. But I just have to trust the process and know I'm not gonna step off the back of the board.

Thanks steveylang

Dtc, the lower hand / staggered position definitely seemed to help the other day. Back foot is now hitting the upper most part of the pad more often than not.

[steveylang]

Here is something I've been noticing- I think when you pop up on an actual wave vs. practicing on land, you can plant your feet a little further back and the forward momentum of the wave allows you to achieve balance and lift your torso to complete your pop up (your board is dropping down the wave face which helps as well.) On land I need to swing my feet further up the board and get them more directly under my body weight to pop up in a single motion.

Does that make sense to you guys? I think focusing on this is helping me pop up closer to the tailpad (my board is 7'), close enough that I just do a quick little shuffle if needed to get further back.

[IanCaio]

Just giving my two cents: having those decks with a bigger bump at the end helps too. Because then you can kind of drag your feet during the pop up until you feel the bump and then you know you are at the sweet spot. But changing the back foot positioning is something we have to get used to, sometimes we have to make the drop further forward to build speed and then go back to the fins for sharper turns. It does get harder when you have to do that on a steep and fast wave..

[Prancing monkey]

So I recently obtained a 6,6 second hand mccoy nugget, 3" shorter than the board I originally posted about, and guess what......... Back foot hits the middle of the tail pad from the first pop up. So the moral of the story is......if you a struggling with technique.... Buy a new board!! Now can one of you experienced guys suggest that, and I'll tell the wife it's what the experts say.....

[dtc]

Having once owned a McCoy nugget, given the fat (so fat....) tail, if you dont have your foot back then its a bit of a disaster trying to turn. However, get it right and they power through the turns very impressively.

Anyway - seems like you are doing it right, so go and enjoy!

[Prancing monkey]

Having once owned a McCoy nugget, given the fat (so fat....) tail, if you dont have your foot back then its a bit of a disaster trying to turn. However, get it right and they power through the turns very impressively.

Anyway - seems like you are doing it right, so go and enjoy!

Turning on the nugget is a joy DTC. Really 'pivoty' off the back foot, and it seems to encourage mid face turns which helps me to stop getting too far ahead of the wave; really smooth cutbacks too. The thing i struggle with is keeping the board planning through mushy sections back into the wave or onto reforms. Instinctively i want to shuffle forwards to keep momentum but the board just stalls...almost wants you to keep the weight on the back foot but there must be a sweet spot that i am missing becuase i go too far back and then it bogs again. Maybe its a board for better, cleaner waves. Duck diving it is a bit of an effort too...really hard to get the tail under.

[dtc]

Ah, yes, duck diving. I could get the nose under but as soon as I tried for the tail ... the board is meant to sink but instead I would end up standing up out of the water. Not what you want when you are meant to be duck diving!

Not sure about the mushy sections - maybe rather than moving your foot you just weight the front foot more?

[Prancing monkey]

I think I just need to cut back more....seemed to work today....it cuts back so quickly that I managed (for first time) a couple of roundhouses which kept me moving nicely. I guess having a convex bottom means that you need to keep the board engaged with the wave.... Pumping like you would on a concave board probably makes it lose speed

[IB_Surfer]

On my 6,9 hybrid I’ve started to position my chest higher up the board which really helps with an early entry on the wave, but my back foot now lands in front of the tail pad (so not over the fins) which means I’m finding it more difficult to execute a hard first turn after pop up.

Potentially I just need to angle my take off more to help with the first turn, but trying to reposition my back foot straight after pop off seems totally unnatural / unstable. Just wondered how others on this forum reposition after pop up (I.e. adapt pop up, angle take off, move back foot straight away etc etc).

P.s. I’m fine with moving up and down my longboard straight after take off, but then that’s a 9,6 massive mass of tufflite

It's normal with a longer board, I usually don't use a trackpad on my semiguns or guns for that reason. You can re-adjust your feet if you can, but normally I pop up and surf it regardless of where my feet land. It's actually a good thing, your body is trying to maximize the glide of the board, if you were farther back you would be stalling the board.

Anyway, it's a longer board, expect that to happen, I ended up buying a longer trackpad:

https://www.gorillasurf.com/products

Check out the ones that have the two strips at the top of them.

[nathanakimbo]

Yes. I’m not very experienced on shorter boards but if there’s like a secret to a fluid wave it’s the foot positioning. I have to stagger my pop up because I’m a big bloke. But actually I find it best to have the back foot further back and constantly pump with the front foot.