There are at least Three Pop Ups for Surfing that beginners and advanced surfers utilize. The idea of the pop up is to get in the correct position on the surfboard to ride the wave. A lot of beginners are seen getting up on the surfboard, but they don’t stay on the board before falling off. What fun is that?
The correct position on the surfboard for beginners is to have the feet shoulder width apart with the front foot across the middle stringer and close enough to the nose to keep it in the wave, but not push it under. The hips and shoulders should be squared to the front and weight equal on both legs. The torso should be upright not hunkered down or leaning forward. Hands should be in front.
The Basic Pop Ups for Surfing
The surfer begins by catching a foam or real wave. After the board is moving with wave power, he puts his hands on the surfboard in a man’s push up position. If the surfer ever puts his hands in front of his shoulders, the ride is over. After a second rest, the surfer pushes up. These three moves are the same on real or foam waves and for all pop ups.
A beginner pop up then follows with the surfer putting a rear foot on the surfboard. It should be close to under the butt. This is where surfers learn they don’t have enough flexibility. The front foot can then move under the chest and be placed between the hands. Without flexibility this will also be difficult. Then the surfer stands.
A quicker and advanced version of this has the surfer putting his rear foot flat on the surfboard under his butt, standing, and then placing his front foot between where his hands were. Pros often use this process even though it is so quick it might look like they were jumping both feet at the same time. Once again, the shoulders have to be squared to the front. Riding with a shoulder back like on a skateboard or snowboard will cause a fall off the butt side of the rail.
The third pop up used by advanced surfers is both feet on the board at the same time. After stopping at the man’s push up position, the surfer pushes hard which is the pop and brings the front foot under his chest to be placed between where his hands were and the back foot lands just behind his butt. This requires more strength and agility than the first two pop ups. If you watch pros on video, it is often difficult to see which of the last two pop ups they are using unless you can slow down the film.
Practice in your living room. Do exercises to help pop ups like push ups, burpies, squats, dead lifts, and planks.
27 Great Exercises for Surfing
Read a good book to get ready.
Visit the Home Page for Surf Lessons
See my new website Get Fit to Surf.com
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Get the Learn to Surf Guide Course in Kindle, Paperback or Audio
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