[Jack Crank]

I just started practicing popups at home last friday and even 1 night made a big difference in my surfing over the weekend.  I also some of them (you know, for added creepiness factor) so I could see exactly where my weak points were.  I'm definitely going to keep doing this (30-50 a day hopefully) and things should hopefully keep improving.


Things I specifically work on when practicing are:
- Landing with flat feet in the right place on the board.
- Landing with both feet at the same time
- Already looking where I'm going when I land
- Having my hands/arms in the right place when I land.


I noticed on film that my upper body was dragging compared to my feet so I really worked on landing with good hand position and it made it a lot easier to get that first pump in.

[SeaCliff]

I just started practicing popups at home last friday and even 1 night made a big difference in my surfing over the weekend.  I also some of them (you know, for added creepiness factor) so I could see exactly where my weak points were.  I'm definitely going to keep doing this (30-50 a day hopefully) and things should hopefully keep improving.


Things I specifically work on when practicing are:
- Landing with flat feet in the right place on the board.
- Landing with both feet at the same time
- Already looking where I'm going when I land
- Having my hands/arms in the right place when I land.


I noticed on film that my upper body was dragging compared to my feet so I really worked on landing with good hand position and it made it a lot easier to get that first pump in.

Good stuff....it's all about the basics and having a good foundation to progress from, and that addresses it for sure.

Ok, yesterday I took SC suggestion of placing my hands nearer my hips for the pop up and that made all the difference in the world. It felt much more natural and was lot less effort.
 
 Thanks SC.
 
 

 
 
 Next tip: Try this -
 
 Take two dumbbells and place them on the floor, about 20 - 25" apart, and then use them for pushups - but here's the kick:
 
 Place them parallel to your body, but instead of having them forward like a normal pushup, have them back closer to your hips, in approx the place you want to have your hands when you pop up. Try it - it not only reinforces hand position, but strengthens the exact muscles you need to execute the pop-up!
 
 Now...with the dumbbells in the same position, do several pop ups, concentrating on this: smoothness, foot landing position, and imagining that the handles of the dumbbells are the rails of your board and you are setting a rail into the wave and taking a line.
 
 As a side note, one of the other benefits of using dumbbells like this as opposed to just doing them on a flat floor is that the slight elevation and the grip of the bar much more closely resembles the feel of pushing down and popping up on a board....at least to me.
 
 I still have a loooooooooooong way to go, but this is definitely helping me...hope it helps you too!
 

 I'm just re-reading this - not 100% sure it's translating...perhaps I'll make a short video and post it....

[EastEndWahine]

Reading this thread and thinking about my own pop up, I really can't say how I do it.  It's weird...I don't think I use my knees...it's more of a spring up using my arms as the driving force. 

Remember when you're on the wave it's easier to push the board down the face a bit and control it as SeaCliff was saying.  It's a little different on the floor, although it's great exercise and training.

My main problem is popping up too far forward, which I think we discussed elsewhere in another thread.  I think putting my hands a little further back would help.

Also, keeping my hands more flat on the board at takeoff is easier I think...you get a little extra height because you can spring up off the top of your palm/bottom of your fingers rather than having your palm totally flat when grabbing the rails.

[snaggletooth]

probably 80% of the time i am too far forward. part of it is when it's a mushy wave, i'm consciously putting my front food a bit forward to push the nose down the face. but i need to figure out a better way. i missed the opportunity for some better turns and floaters saturday because i was too far forward (that and slipping on my tropical wax...) argggh. i'm going to try SC's exercise. fingers crossed that it works.

[SeaCliff]

probably 80% of the time i am too far forward. part of it is when it's a mushy wave, i'm consciously putting my front food a bit forward to push the nose down the face. but i need to figure out a better way. i missed the opportunity for some better turns and floaters saturday because i was too far forward (that and slipping on my tropical wax...) argggh. i'm going to try SC's exercise. fingers crossed that it works.

Let me know what you think of the exercise, snags...

[jerseysurfer]

Interesting information and advise. I was bit 3 years ago on the right hip by a lyme tick. Took awhile to figure out what happen and to overcome it. Till this day my right hip on the outside lower part hurts. I can run/walk/surf but the pain is always their and I know its the reason why my pop ups are not what they should be. I can feel the pain as I come up with my legs spread and usually, without thinking about it, drag my right knee up on the board and then stand. Being almost 50 does not help ether.I will have to give these off season workouts a try to make a muscle memory of just standing in one motion.

[rockyveiga]

this a is great topic SC. i've been taught 5 dif ways to pop-up and quite frankly they were nothing compared to what's being taught here (maybe i should reconsider my sources). i actually try to practice on a spare shortboard bag that i have, that is about the size of my board, so i can really get my feet where i want them.


i'm gonna try the hands back now, and perhaps start a strong discipline of doing these EVERY day.

[SeaCliff]

this a is great topic SC. i've been taught 5 dif ways to pop-up and quite frankly they were nothing compared to what's being taught here (maybe i should reconsider my sources). i actually try to practice on a spare shortboard bag that i have, that is about the size of my board, so i can really get my feet where i want them.


i'm gonna try the hands back now, and perhaps start a strong discipline of doing these EVERY day.

Thanks, Rocky - this entire room is filled with all sorts of stuff that I've read and re-read a bunch of times.


As for different methods of popping up - when I was in Barbados, grom and I checked a well known beginner's spot every morning on our way to another spot around the bend - and every morning it was packed with people getting surf lessons from the local surf camp instructors, who would arrive with 9 or more people at a time, and foamtop longboards stacked high on their pickup trucks.


Each day we watched the instructor demonstrate pop-ups on land to the newbs, and each day I would cringe when he taught them to climb up to one knee and then stand. Drove me absolutely insane - it took everything in my power not to scream.


Here's a vid showing 3 methods, but is any method other than the first even remotely advisable?? I'd have to think the answer is absolutely not.

Surf Lessons : 3 Pop Up techniques

[rockyveiga]

this a is great topic SC. i've been taught 5 dif ways to pop-up and quite frankly they were nothing compared to what's being taught here (maybe i should reconsider my sources). i actually try to practice on a spare shortboard bag that i have, that is about the size of my board, so i can really get my feet where i want them.


i'm gonna try the hands back now, and perhaps start a strong discipline of doing these EVERY day.

Thanks, Rocky - this entire room is filled with all sorts of stuff that I've read and re-read a bunch of times.


As for different methods of popping up - when I was in Barbados, grom and I checked a well known beginner's spot every morning on our way to another spot around the bend - and every morning it was packed with people getting surf lessons from the local surf camp instructors, who would arrive with 9 or more people at a time, and foamtop longboards stacked high on their pickup trucks.


Each day we watched the instructor demonstrate pop-ups on land to the newbs, and each day I would cringe when he taught them to climb up to one knee and then stand. Drove me absolutely insane - it took everything in my power not to scream.


Here's a vid showing 3 methods, but is any method other than the first even remotely advisable?? I'd have to think the answer is absolutely not.

Surf Lessons : 3 Pop Up techniques

wow those look really weird! even i can see that! haha

[rockyveiga]

SC - I made a conscious effort to put my hand a bit further back and it makes a big dif. I noticed my feet going imediately to where they need to be.

I noticed though that in my "kook" paddle stance I'm keeping my legs appart, which doesn't help getting up. Now I gotta work on keeping them together. Oh and timming my pop up... That's a big one too.. Any thoughts on that?

[little_nasty]

my thoughts on the popup are kinda like 1fin and loose.  1 motion, no knees whatsoever, not too much thinking.  if you just think about where you wanna go and what you wanna do, your feet will figure it out for you i.e. get in the right spot and the right time.

[SeaCliff]

my thoughts on the popup are kinda like 1fin and loose.  1 motion, no knees whatsoever, not too much thinking.  if you just think about where you wanna go and what you wanna do, your feet will figure it out for you i.e. get in the right spot and the right time.

As onefin said oh-so-correctly the other day, failing to get directly to your feet creates tail drag and absolutely destroys speed. Totally.

He's right.

I'm doing better.

Sometimes.

 

[SeaCliff]

A very basic article on the pop ups for people new to surfing, or looking to try for the first time this summer:

http://www.surfingsolutions.org/surfing-articles/learning-to-surf-popping-up/

[GoofySRFN]

Hey my name is Nick and i'm new to the site. I've been looking over the conversation because I feel that this topic is such an important thing for surfing. When I pop up I like to do it in one fluid motion because it gets you ready to ride faster than the other two techniques that were shown in the last video. I'm not sure why but when I am surfing more frequently, I tend to get a pain in my wrist's from constantly  pushing down on the board. So I try keeping my wrist's straight and push up from the rails instead of pushing up with my hands on the deck where my wrist's are usually bent at an angle. Ive also been using the Indo Board a lot lately to work on my balance while I am not in the water as well as working on popping up like in this video. Its a pretty cool simulation once you get the hang of it.

Indo Board Pop-up

[SeaCliff]

Hey my name is Nick and i'm new to the site. I've been looking over the conversation because I feel that this topic is such an important thing for surfing. When I pop up I like to do it in one fluid motion because it gets you ready to ride faster than the other two techniques that were shown in the last video. I'm not sure why but when I am surfing more frequently, I tend to get a pain in my wrist's from constantly  pushing down on the board. So I try keeping my wrist's straight and push up from the rails instead of pushing up with my hands on the deck where my wrist's are usually bent at an angle. Ive also been using the Indo Board a lot lately to work on my balance while I am not in the water as well as working on popping up like in this video. Its a pretty cool simulation once you get the hang of it.

Indo Board Pop-up

Cool popup on the indo board! I gotta give that a try!