Getting the Beginner Surfer Pop Up is Key to Progress. Many people need to keep taking lessons or have to take one each time they go to surf because they never got the fundamentals correct. People often preface their request for a lesson with the comment I took a lesson a while ago but I didn’t really get it.
It isn’t always the fault of the student. Many instructors teach a process that gets the surfer on the board but they can’t ride in the posture taught. The point of the pop up is to get into the correct stance so the surfer can ride the wave.
Learning the Pop Up and Stance for Surfing
When you watch advanced surfers catch a wave, they will immediately put one rail into the wave pocket and with their butt over that rail drive the wave. This posture does not work for beginners. To ride a foam wave straight to the beach, the surfer has to be square to the front with their weight equal on both sides of the middle stringer.
Snow boarders and skate boarders have a difficult time because they ride the surfboard like their skateboard. They put their butt over one rail and have a trailing arm or shoulder. On the surfboard this makes you fall off on the butt side. Both hands have to be in front where you can see them and the shoulders have to be square to the front or parallel to the beach, not perpendicular to the beach.
A difficult many beginners have with learning the pop up is they are not surf fit. They may be overweight. The weight is a problem because in the process of gaining weight, they were probably not exercising. The pop up requires flexibility of muscles and joints. Touching palms to the floor is an indication of flexibility but may not be enough. The surfer needs flexible hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back.
The surfer needs strength and stamina. The surfer pushes their weight off the surfboard and then has to stand on one foot for a moment to bring the second foot forward. This demands upper and lower body strength in proportion to one’s weight. We call it a power to weight ratio. A few exercisers can get a surfer fit to do pop ups. Do pushups, burpies, squats, and deadlifts. They create strength and flexibility. Stamina is best gained in exercising with aerobics.
Until the surfer is fit to do pop ups and land in the correct stance, his progress will be limited. From the beginning of catching foam waves, he progresses to bigger foam waves and real waves. As waves get bigger, they get faster and heavier. Falling and getting crushed every time takes the fun out of the sport.
Read Other Posts:
Beginner Surfers Learn on Soft Tops
5 Steps to Improve Surfing Performance
3 Ways to Catch Real Surfing Waves
Training to Ride the Surfing Short Board
Short Board Surfing Techniques
For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page
Visit me on Instagram
For getting in better shape for surfing see GetFittoSurf.com
Sign up for weekly Tips on Losing Weight, Health, and Fitness Newsletter
See my new Health and Lifestyle website Markap Health and Lifestyle
The Surfers Life
Why do surfers surf? What is it about the culture that attracts and holds millions of people in the world? Why is the culture growing and how has it infiltrated our world with clothing, music, fitness, and stoke?
Buy on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback. $2.99 or $6.92
The New Surfing Trilogy. 3 books in 1 E-Book
Lose weight, get fit, and learn to surf. All in one concise summary of 3 books, Combines The 3 Week Plan, Get Fit to Surf, and Learn to Surf Guide.
Buy E Book on Amazon for $6.99
The Perfect Start for losing weight and getting fit is the E Book The 3 Week Plan
Buy on Kindle for $2.99 or Paperback for $6.95
Get my new book Get Fit to Surf
Its time to get back in shape. This book discusses strength, flexibility, stamina, and nutritional needs for getting in shape and losing weight. It is the great guide to get back to fitness for all your recreational desires. If you can surf, you can do most anything.
Buy on Kindle for $2.99 or Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
Get the Learn to Surf Guide Course in Kindle, Paperback or Audio
A great 29 page course on the fundamentals of catching waves, doing beginner and advanced pop ups, riding real waves, how to do maneuvers on real waves, which surfboards to ride, and how to progress. Great for lesson preparation, after lesson review, or learning on your own.
Kindle price $2.99 on Amazon. Paperback price $6.95 on Amazon. Audio download price $6.95
Everybody Can Surf
To read a great book for getting in shape to surf or getting in better surfing shape, read my new book Everybody Can Surf, a Health, Fitness, Nutrition, and Surfing Adventure
Description:
Get healthy and fit to surf or set a goal of surfing to improve weight, fitness, nutrition, and health. This guide by a surf instructor/health coach/personal trainer gives the short version of how to lose weight, get strong, build stamina, develop nutrition, and learn to surf. Surfing is a lifestyle enjoyed by millions and so is fitness. Fitness creates opportunities to enjoy life through lots of different kinds of recreation. No need to stand on the sidelines while others are having a great time. Start your program to health with easy steps and progress at your own pace. That is the secret to maintaining a lifestyle. Do it at your pace. This book will start you on the path.
Buy the E book on Amazon for $2.99
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
Seniors Get Fit to Surf
Description:
Seniors often ask if it is too late to learn to surf. Age is functional not chronological. If people have been exercising and maintaining body strength, surfing can be accomplished. If people have not been exercising, then getting in shape to surf could be a life changing move. Learn how to develop strength, flexibility, and stamina to learn surfing. If you are in surf shape, you could pursue most any recreation.
Buy the E-book on Amazon for $2.99
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
Read a Book in the Markap Series
Self-Leadership, Happiness, Start Now.
Start Now is the process of losing weight, building strength and stamina, developing cardio fitness for surfing, recreation and health. Buy the E-book on Amazon for $2.99 and the Paperback for $6.95. Get into surf shape, start a new lifestyle, and enjoy life at a new level of health.
Build Immunity in this Covid Era
The new Omicron variants can often sidestep the anti-bodies in vaccinations. This is when we need to have a strong immunity system. This is when people with underlying conditions like obesity or chronic metabolic disorders like diabetes become vulnerable.
Developing good health habits will help your immune system. The main components would be to attain a healthy weight. Eat healthy. Exercise, Get adequate sleep. Mitigate stress. Drink half your body weight in water oz (a 200-pound person drinks 100 oz.) Consider supplements for the nutrients you may not consume in your daily diet.
One of my favorites is the Rishi mushroom. It has been chronicled in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It supports the major systems. It fights viruses, bacteria, allergies, and inflammation. I get a compilation of 5 reishi mushrooms extracted and combined into one powder. You can get a discount as my client with this link.
This is a short statement that says it all:
- Reishi: Reishi is arguably the most important and most revered herb used by Asian people throughout history to promote radiant health, longevity and a more centered state of mind. It is known to be among the most protective herbs in the world. Reishi may help improve immunological, neurological, metabolic, hepatic and vascular protection, among other functions.
