Getting feet smoothly under chest during pop-up?

[orama15]

Good morning from Vancouver, Canada!

My love for wave-riding began in West Oz when I bought a second hand bodyboard and eventually started paddling into amazing reef-breaks in Margaret River, all the way up to Exmouth.
Now I'm back in Canada, boadyboarding has become dull. Surfing is where it's at and I bought myself a 6'6" second hand board off craigslist.

I've been out to the pacific northwest (10C water) clocking about 12 sessions in anything from 2 ft slop to 5 foot glass, and I can get to my feet and have begun angling down some waves now.

My main problem is getting to my feet early and smoothly... right now I sort of let the board run straight down the wave and stand up when it's nearing the bottom of the wave (somewhat clumsily).
When I do my pop-up, I grab the rails and push myself up, then swing my feet under me. However, I usually get up on my knee first and then jump up after (which is awful). When I try to get up in one motion, my feet land on the board at a sort of angle (the side of my feet and not the flats!!) I think I'm not creating enough space or time for myself to get my legs underneath smoothly.

Any help would be much appreciated to both:
1) pop-up early on the wave (before careeming down the face like a bodyboard); and
2) pop-up more effectively so that I don't have to use my knees and I don't land on the side of my feet.

At any rate, loving the surfing these days... such a new thrill to add to life after playing so many other sports for years. (I know I should have started on a 7'6" for a while, but I'm quite competitive; I couldn't find a used 7'6" at the time; and I've now put in the time and love my board... even if I'm still crap at it!)

Cheers

[Jasedrummer]

You should practice the pop up on land first to get it right.....

I had this problem when first starting, especially as my feet were off the edge of the board, which means you can't use your feet as leverage.

at first I couldn't get it either, but its simply practice but also a few tips to remember:

Don't grab the rails - put your hands flat on the board.
Your hands should be down at your lower ribs - this is key. any further up and you just can't get enough leverage to pop up and also room to get your legs under you.
arch you back and push arms up straight quickly, bringing your legs through underneath.
Concentrate on getting you front foot 90 degrees to the stringer.
Only let your hands off the board when your feet are in position.
Get your hands positioned over the rails, knees bent and look where you want to go.

Don't give up, you'll get it.....

sounds llike you are doing Ok anyway.....I am only at the point of starting to catch unbroken waves....spent the last 12 months trying to get my pop up right first before leaving the white water!

[orama15]

You should practice the pop up on land first to get it right.....

I had this problem when first starting, especially as my feet were off the edge of the board, which means you can't use your feet as leverage.

at first I couldn't get it either, but its simply practice but also a few tips to remember:

Don't grab the rails - put your hands flat on the board.
Your hands should be down at your lower ribs - this is key. any further up and you just can't get enough leverage to pop up and also room to get your legs under you.
arch you back and push arms up straight quickly, bringing your legs through underneath.
Concentrate on getting you front foot 90 degrees to the stringer.
Only let your hands off the board when your feet are in position.
Get your hands positioned over the rails, knees bent and look where you want to go.

Don't give up, you'll get it.....

sounds llike you are doing Ok anyway.....I am only at the point of starting to catch unbroken waves....spent the last 12 months trying to get my pop up right first before leaving the white water!

Thanks for the tips. Ya, from what I've been reading - the hand placement on the push-up seems to be key to the problem. I defintely can't get the leverage when I push up while grabbing rail instead...my feet seem to tangle and slide frantically to get in place... the flat palm push-up sounds like the way to go for sure.
Cheers!

[skimmer2]

Watch this chap - no idea what he is saying but he has the right technique I reckon. Ignore the first 1m 50 then watch the rest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pti202SiePs

[orama15]

Watch this chap - no idea what he is saying but he has the right technique I reckon. Ignore the first 1m 50 then watch the rest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pti202SiePs

Thanks for that post. Super helpful video actually... Couldn't understand a word he was saying either, but his movement steps were really clear: the way he arched his back before popping up and then pushing up to get the feet underneath should be really helpful next time I get out. He also lifted his feet in the air as he arched his back to create momentum to swing his feet onto the board during the push up phase...

Great insight.
Cheers

[philo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPWQdVGN ... re=related

[Barneyrubble]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPWQdVGNPqI&feature=related

Fine if you are on a longboard and are hapy to use your toes....but if you ever want to pop up on a shorter board you need to learn a diff technique really. Doing the above pop up will help build the muscles sort of though.

[dhand62362]

Watch this chap - no idea what he is saying but he has the right technique I reckon. Ignore the first 1m 50 then watch the rest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pti202SiePs

Thanks for that post. Super helpful video actually... Couldn't understand a word he was saying either, but his movement steps were really clear: the way he arched his back before popping up and then pushing up to get the feet underneath should be really helpful next time I get out. He also lifted his feet in the air as he arched his back to create momentum to swing his feet onto the board during the push up phase...

Great insight.
Cheers

does he use his knees as leverage to help him pop up ?

[flacky]

Do yoga. Seriously. The biggest problem with surfing I've found is flexibility.

The first part of the pop up is like the basic cobra pose.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... qVunIpkz8w

Then bring your legs through and stay low. Don't forget you'll be pointing down the wave, so gravity will assist with your legs coming under.

If you get it wrong, you'll be like this pose.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... TuVCidI-kQ

[dhand62362]

any particular yoga exercises i should try ?

[flacky]

print out the basics. it's all good, and very physical exercise.

[Jim Birtwisle]

What kind of board is your 6'6? You're right that you should have perhaps started on something longer. A mini mal is not only stable on the wave but allows you to pop up with a little room for error (i.e. you can get up super early to your feet and shuffle back or forwards depending on where your feet plant) After a while you would notice that your feet consistently hit the same spot on the board.
But that's by the by. It's good advice to practice your pop up on land. I wouldn't go as far as buying one of those olly pop towels but using something with some kind of markings on is handy. When at home see if you have a rug or something with some kind of line or patterns and practice popping up to your feet and hitting the same markings each time and try and remain there. You'll find that at first you might wobble over, off balance as you try and stay in this position but this is all part of the learning. Just keep drilling it until you're always up into the same position.
Do loads of press ups to help with paddling. The faster and earlier you catch a wave the better and building muscle is the best way to help with this. I like to do lots of short bursts of fast press ups where I leave the ground and clap in between. I've no scientific foundation to base this on but it seems to tie in more with the fast bursts of strength you need to paddle. I've definitely noticed the difference since I started doing this. Consider other upper body training as well.
Do place your hands under your ribs and arch your shoulders up, but only after you have kept the weight of your head and shoulders as far forward as possible to get the board planing. Think about a human head, they weigh more than people think and are a vital tool to getting weight over the front of the board in the first instance.
Do yoga, you'll find it helps with core strength, assisting balance which is conducive to achieving some of the things mentioned above. Don't start with anything too advanced, even some of the most basic positions give you a good work out and have you on your backside. Look it up on youtube or in a book, but like I say, just beginners stuff at least to begin with.
With regards to catching the wave early, you'll have a gut feeling as to whether or not it's gonna get too steep before it gets to you. Trust this feeling and allow a few of these to go by. It's best to be paddling like mad from further back and perhaps catching fewer waves rather than just getting thrown forward in bits of steep breaking sections where you end up bodyboarding down the face. You'll learn more from catching 2 or 3 waves out of 10 early, than all 10 too late when the power of the wave has left you in the bottom with nowhere to go.
Hope this helps, anyway back to work!