Any advice on standing up ??

josie80

Hi all experienced surfers,
I can get up on an 8'4 or 7'9 board but recently bought a 7'3 and am struggling to get up (i've been out on it twice but hey), just wondering if anyone has any advice such as is there any exercises i can do, should i practice with it just on the ground....

My balance is off alot more with this one anyways just wondering if anyone has any advice,

Thanks

Rebeller

josie80 wrote:

Hi all experienced surfers,
I can get up on an 8'4 or 7'9 board but recently bought a 7'3 and am struggling to get up (i've been out on it twice but hey), just wondering if anyone has any advice such as is there any exercises i can do, should i practice with it just on the ground....

My balance is off alot more with this one anyways just wondering if anyone has any advice,

Thanks

When you say you can "get up" on a 8'4 board do you mean you can get to your feet but then immediately wipe out? In other words can you actually catch a clean wave and make some attempt at a bottom turn?

If you're just at the stage of getting to your feet and falling off on the 8'4 the switching to a smaller board will only make your life more difficult. You should stick with one board until you've mastered the basics (catching a clean, peeling wave, doing a bottom turn and perhaps turning off the lip before falling off)

Personally I would stick with the smaller board as it allows for a bit more maneuverability and get out in the water every day if you can, even if you're simply paddling around in 2 inch wind chop. You need to get used to the weighting, feel and balance of any new board. If you're only at the early learning stage you need to give yourself a few months to learn how to control the board and not have the board control you:D

Balance is everything. Try practicing "pop-ups" on the beach i.e. lying face down on the sand and "popping up" to a standing position as you would on a board. When you're in the water, try to avoid getting to your feet in stages, i.e go straight from push up position to standing without balancing on your knees: if you learn with your knees it'll be very difficult to unlearn the bad habit later on.

Good luck

Enygma

With a smaller board it's all about positioning yourself in the right place on the wave and on the board. The sweet spot on the board is much smaller, the nose should only be slightly out of the water when your paddling. When paddling for a wave try lying a little bit further up the board and arch your back to keep the nose out of the water. This will let you adjust the weight at the front of the board when you're paddling for the wave.

The best advice I ever got was: "Paddle harder"

josie80

Thanks alot, got some good tips off the net too but as they say i just gotta practice practice practice...

Gonna try just popping up on the board (on dry land), i did learn by getting to my knees first good advice on kicking the habit now

I think i just get frustrated because i want to be able to do it and advance more but as they say all good things come to those who wait, they better

jtsuited

i' m in the same boat as you josie. Haven't surfed in years and the last time i did was on a 9 footer. Got myself a 7'2" board the other day and have been out every day since.
I only got my first successful pop-up today, and it was sketchy, but as was mentioned before it's all about the sweet spot.
Also big waves seem to be necessary for these type of boards.

I read the thing about the nose barely being out of the water last night somewhere online and it helped me no end today.

josie80

Thanks jt nice to know someone in the same boat, it's hard to go out everyday as i'm in dublin, gonna head out again sunday so fingers crossed

longboardirelan

practice on land - sounds daft put it works.

local surfer

What sounds even dafter is practise on your bed. The fact that is moves under you when you push down simulates a surfboard more. Just dont do it in your wetsuit or people will really start to think that you are strange