Beginner Surfers Have to Overcome Bad Muscle Memory to get in the right habits of surfing. Skateboarders, snowboarders, and our natural instincts are to ride on the surf board with a trailing hand and the butt over one rail. This causes the surfer to fall off the butt side as soon as he is up.
The other creator of bad muscle memory is surfers learning on their own. In this endeavor they usually get strange habits for the pop up and ride in the hand trailing style I call snowboarding with the butt over the rail. Good surf technique is about a sequence of steps to catch a wave and pop up and then the correct stance for beginners to ride straight to the beach.
Getting to the Right Stance is Crucial
The surfer stance for beginners is having both feet on the board separated by about 3′ with the front foot close enough to the nose to hold the board down in the wave but not to push the nose under. The posture is what I call “pushing the box” with both hands in front as though pushing a tall box. To get into this stance, a surfer uses on of two pop ups.
The advanced pop up moves both feet at the same time. The surfer paddles to catch a wave, then places his hands next to his rib cage and glides for a few seconds. Then he pushes up and pops both feet into position. Where beginners get this wrong is they don’t get the front foot far enough forward on the board. They wind up on the back of the board and lose the wave.
Learning to Release the Hands to Move the Front Foot
Part of the reason they don’t get the foot far enough is they don’t release their hands as the feet are moving to make room for the front foot. Instead, they keep both hands on the board as they pop both feet, but the hands are keeping the front foot from moving to the front of the board. This is where timing and rhythm are important. The surfer catches the wave. Then he glides for a few seconds with his hands next to his chest. Then he pushes and pops both feet lifting his hands out of the way to an upright position as his front foot lands.
The beginner pop up doesn’t take the strength or skill of the advanced pop up. The surfer places his hands in the man’s push up position. Then he pushes and brings one foot under his butt and places it flat on the board. It has to be flat so he can stand on it for a second while he lifts his hands and moves his front foot. This requires strength in the back leg which is doable for most people if they are not overweight.
Being Overweight is a Problem for Learning Surfing
Overweight people have the problem of having too much weight forward over their hands as they push up and their back leg cannot get their upper torso to an upright position. They usually collapse on the board, get stuck with a foot on the board and their body leaning forward on their hands and then often fly off the front of the board.
Timing and rhythm are important. The surfer selects a good foam wave coming in and rolls over on the surfboard while he is in waist deep water. He paddles easy to get momentum and when the wave is about to hit the board, he paddles hard to get the board to accelerate in front of the wave. Then he places his hands and rests for a second. Then he goes through the other steps of popping up.
When beginners have muscle memory that places their butt over one rail, the best they can do is place the hand opposite the front foot in front of their body and it will keep them on the board. They want to learn to twist their hips when they are up to be square in the push the box posture with both hands in front. Then they want to learn to come up square to begin with never letting a hand get behind them.
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
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