Gettin off my knees!

[Sweet!]

Gee wow this is addictive!

I've been lovin surfing for 3 months today, I've got a custom 9'3 which is a nice fatty to learn on.

I caught my first 6ft face the other day! HA! SO much fun!

Anyway, can anyone tell me about how they managed to move away from popping up using a knee first? I'm hefty and not flexible but my strengths strengthened a tonne seeing as I head out every day pretty much.

Does it even make a difference really? I feel like I have enough time to get balanced enough.. but I have a feeling with bigger steeper waves that being able to pop up straight to my feet will make things easier.

what think you?

[HitAndRun]

thats a really nasty habbit, its hard to get rid of it
one thing i can tell you is to practice popping up on land (so that your brain gets used to the idea of two legs hitting the board, and not your knee) and always remind yourself (in the water) to pop up without the help of your knee.
These habbits are really hard to shake, but should go away as time goes by

[SurferFreak15]

I do the same thing, its hard top get rid of.

[dreamer]

I'm not even sure how you would use your knee? Although i started on a shortboard, so.. I don't use the "pop-up" method, i use the slower approach to getting up most of the time.

[SurferFreak15]

What we mean is, when you get up on the board we dont pop up, we use our knees then lifting our legs up.

[Sweet!]

Yeh I know what you mean.

You need to use your knees to push off from to get that momentum off the board. Esp with you board being so short.

No disrespect intended in a mean way

Yeah. Three steps

1. Hands by rib cage

2. Huge push up so knee with legrope comes up n under

3. Pull front foot under beteen your hands and swivel into position

Can you see it? hmm.

I like how this gives me a bit of time to line up and trim and stuff. It's not a fast ... like... POP! YOU UP NOW!... style thing.

I think It's going to take some work, its probably possible... but you're all totally right. I'll need to retrain my muscle memory and get myself out of the habit.

In terms of the hefty part...I found some fairly inspiring photos somewhere here with that cool like...massive dude...riding that shortboard (no offence intended, not discriminating against short boards or even short board riders in anyway... at all)...all styly and stuff. He must have got up somehow.

NO excuses for me a!

[dreamer]

at no point should your knee actually touch the board though - this is the method i use and so do alot of pro surfers.

[Ed McDead]

It's a hard habit to break but it's worth practising until you nail it - it allows you to catch waves at much later if nothing else.

One of the key mistakes people make is holding onto the rails you can't possibly pop straight up if your're clinging to the board.

The second mistake is hands to far forward (just below shoulders) rather than further back towards lower end of ribcage. Pushing from lower down creates a better pivot point - particular if your're not on very steep waves.

Thirdly everyone when they begin feels the need to get the board stable and running before popping - but this means missing the critical point on the wave and it's really much easier to pop on the face of the wave. It's also much easier to balance on ya feet than on one knee. So my advice is to pop imediately you think you've got the wave, don't think just go for it.t

Finally - you will end up slamming lots and missing other waves you may had otherwise got - but the movement has to become learnt reflex and when it does you'll wonder why you ever thought it was a problem!!!

But mainly - don't stress over it too much - just get out and enjoy it and it will come.

[bluesnowcone]

get your arms strong, then just push up realy hard and swing your feet under, whilst letting go and standing up, but dont stand up straight, bend your nee's and bend slightly over.

hope that helps

[lilrippa]

welll... i used to knee board when i tried to stand up..but then i had a surf coach and he taught me...he had me drawing an outline of my board and where my feet shood b and i had 2 practise jump-ups 2 times a day 15 min's each...it worked wonders...

[GowerCharger]

popping up on decent sized waves is easier than smaller ones, On tiny waves your clambering to your feet on a board which is travelling horizontally, on better waves the board kind of drops below you as you get up so you wont need to use your knee. Im not very good at explaining how i do it myself cos its sort of a natural movement now, all i can say is practice practice practice and it'll come.

[Sweet!]

THANX!!

Kane taught me this step up method where you start as per usual with your hands by your ribcage, then push to have your back foot set up followed closely by placing your front foot... kinda close to where you had your hands.

It's an intermediate step i think before all the way pop up.

But boy it was HARD AS!! wow it was tricky! After 3/4 months that's hard work starting all over again...

Mostly I would just give up after a bit and start practising fun things like jumping switchfoot and doing headstands on the board....Crazy thing is....BOTH ARE WAAY EASIER TO DO THAN LEARNING TO POP UP RITE!

I know it'll pay off tho for sure! I'm only just starting to head out back again and finding it fun trying to chase bigger greener waves.

I like how you all were saying you need a ...'just go the hell for it!' attitude rather than being all slow and plannning out your balancing act and thinking too much aye!

YeA!

[lizzxxxx]

i got a lesson yesturday-and my instructor said its a bad habit but u should go on the beach for like 15 minutes and keep practising with two legs-then your brain will get used to which musles u hav to use.remember its alot different on land then in the water.practise makes perfect

[bluesnowcone]

when o your knees put one up so ur doing a drop knee then with the other just put your foot on the back of the board and then twist your knee out, if you understand this, this will help you to get comfterbal with standing up, then try swinging your legs underneath.

[Tallows]

Where are you looking when you pop? Chances are you`re so focused on making it clean you`re staring straight down at your feet. When you pop you should be swinging your front foot across so you`re immediately in a sideways stance. Try keeping your head up and swinging it round to the left (if you`re goofy) or right (regular) just as you start, this should help the shoulders, then hips, then feet to follow.
And, as said before, practice! I`ve just started up again after a 6 month break and the last couple of days I`ve been getting the knee on the bigger sets (I think the less comfortable you feel with the wave the more likely you are to shoot out that stabilizing knee)...yesterday I found an empty room at work, practiced my pops on the floor and it worked a charm later in the day in the ocean.
Also, keep reading this site! Sometimes I`ll get frustrated with a weakness in my technique and wonder if I`ll ever get it right, then I see threads about pearling and remember back to when I thought I`d never get over that stage...but keep practicing and you`ll get there in the end.

[Sweet!]

You are so right Tallows! he he. I can't even remember writing this post originally. 3 months is such a long time I can't even properly remember the struggle that it must have been...

It's like learning to drive... you can never really remember how ackward it really was coordinating all those different things for the first time a.

Yup. All those things just fall into place.

I've been interested noticing the effect that a huge temperature drop can make on your efforts also. Lockie was saying that you tend to muck up a bit more when the cold bites in hard.

SOO true.

My favourite moments that plague my mind constantly.. happy plauge?? is that moment when you are angled so nicely down the face of that beautiful shoulder there and you feel the momentum lift you...remember what it looks and feels like?? Just before you pop up.. heh heh.. I love that moment.