More on the Pop Up
You can practice the pop up easily in the comfort of your own home. You can also help yourself by doing regular press-ups to build up some arm strength.
Start by lying straight and flat on your stomach. Here are the steps involved:
- Place your hands up by your chest (as if you were doing a press-up), board width apart.
- In one flowing movement, "snap" up to a crouched standing position as quickly as you can by pushing yourself upwards using your arms and bringing your legs under your body.
- Practice makes perfect, and once you have got it down on dry land, you are ready to have a crack at the real thing in the water.
- Your body is turned during this movement so your feet and body are now facing out away from the board. (The next lesson explains this fully.)
The pop up is not best explained in words. It is better to either check out surfers at your local beach or watch surfing videos to see it in action. We have a nice video example of the pop up.
One Knee First - A Little Shortcut
If you are having a little trouble getting to your feet with the pop up, then there is a short term solution to helping you get to the standing position. Instead of going straight up on to your feet, try sliding your front foot up the board, then pushing your body backwards until you are in the crouched position with both your feet in the right place.
- While lying on your board, place your hands on the rails when you have enough speed to catch the wave.
- Holding the rail, pull your legs up under you, twisting your body around to the correct angle.
- Slide the front foot up under you into the correct position making sure to keep your back foot and lower leg resting at the rear of the board.
- When the front foot is firmly planted in the correct position, come to the crouched position.
That is all for the pop up. During these last few lessons, you've learned how to catch a wave, how to paddle around, and how to duck dive. This lesson taught you how to stand up. Now we're going to tell you all about positioning on the board when surfing. Check it out in surfing lesson #5 - positioning.
Oh, and one last thing: Don't practice your pop up on your board out of the water. You will be probably either ding your board or snap a fin off. We know you are keen on practising, but do try to use some common sense!
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