Surfing Begins with the Pop Up. Attempting the pop up in the water is when a beginner learns whether he is going to be able to surf. A lot of people learn in their first lesson that they don’t have the physical abilities or the mental abilities to learn the pop up sequence.
The recreation of surfing requires strength, flexibility, stamina, courage, and the ability to learn. Learning is the communication between the brain and body that allows the body to execute what it heard in the dry land lesson. The power to weight ratio is often a factor when new students are too overweight to lift their bodies off the surfboard in the water.
How to Execute the Pop Up
The beginner pop up is a sequence. I give students a count so they don’t think and don’t rely on their instincts. Their instincts are usually wrong. The count also sets the timing. The count is paddle, stop, push, back foot, stand up, front foot. Six short phrases the body needs to follow.
The paddle is a quick three paddles with each arm. The arm reaches deep into the water to the elbow and pulls with a short stroke. This gives power. It is used for foam waves and real waves. The stop is putting hands in the man’s push up position next to the chest. It allows the body to gather poise for the stand up move. Too many beginners paddle and go right to the push up, which ends the ride.
The push up and putting the back foot flat on the board under the butt come close together. The foot must be flat so the surfer can stand on it while he raises his hands and puts the front foot on the board near the nose. After placing the rear foot on the board, the surfer starts to stand. This raises his hands so the front foot can get to the nose of the board. If the surfer leaves his hands attached to the board, the front foot will wind up behind the hands and the surfer will be riding on the back of the surfboard.
Once up, the surfer should be in the proper stance. The feet are shoulder width apart. The hips and shoulders are square to the front. Snowboarders and skateboarders like to ride with one shoulder back. This causes them a lot of problems with surfing. The hands should be in front to distribute the weight equally on both sides of the center line. If one hand is trailing, the butt is over the rail and the surfer falls off on the butt side.
In the stance, weight is equal on front and back leg and knees are flexed. If the surfer is in the right stance, he will ride straight to the beach on a foam wave without needing to work. If the surfer is not in the right stance, he will fall off.
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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