Popup reflections

This week, I want to write something a bit more specific than I usually do. For a few weeks, I’ve been actively working on my surfing pop-ups. Through searching resources, exercising, and practising, I’ve come to some interesting conclusions, at least for me.

First of all, why do I even bother with such a fundamental movement after almost five years of actively surfing a few times a week? There are a couple of reasons that make me think deeper about my technique and the pillars I base my surfing on. For quite a while, I felt stagnant in my surf skills. On one hand, I enjoyed the waves a few times a week, but on the other, I felt stuck, unable to catch enough waves or generate enough speed, which led to weak performance in the water. Like everyone surfing, I dream of powerful cutbacks, high speed on the wave, strong splashes and barrels, but I feel I’m not getting any closer to it. Instead of that, I struggled to get on the wave with the right balance to do anything apart from a simple ride down the line. So I started looking for the mistakes I’m making that block me from the desired progress. Of course, they were not hard to find. I lack many fundamental skills, including reading the ocean, proper paddling, and popup techniques. Those are all preparation steps for riding a wave, so without perfecting those, I can’t even dream of a hollow barrel. My first focus is the popup. I believe it is crucial to work on the fundamentals continuously, regardless of your level. After hours of reading, watching, and training, I have some thoughts that I want to write down for my future reference and anyone else who might be interested.

There are multiple techniques for the popup. Depending on your experience, your strength and mobility, you should choose to either go with the knee first, use the big-small triangle, chicken wing, or classically pop up on the board. As I’m primarily self-taught, I initially focused on the pro-surfing techniques seen in surf movies. However, I’ve come to realise that starting with something simpler, building confidence, and then progressing is a better approach. Since I’ve been surfing for some time already, and I feel confident with a classic popup, I won’t get back to the other techniques, but I will consider it while showing people how to surf for the first time.

Popup is not a one-step process. We don’t just jump on the board at once in a perfect position, riding the wave straight into a bottom turn or down the line. There are a few transitions we need to make to get up on our feet and be ready to rip. After a few paddles, depending on where we are on the wave and how it’s breaking, I position my hands on the board’s top without gripping the rails and assume the cobra/seal position. After that, I slide on the wave until I feel confident enough before I begin the standing-up process. Once I think I go down the line, I get on my knees and place my back foot around the pad, following the front foot, in the middle of the board, right after. The critical part of this step is to keep my eyes up and observe the wave in front of me, of course, having a glance at the inside so as not to drop on somebody. Once both feet are placed on the board, I release my hands and try to consciously get into the surf stance, which by itself is a broad topic that I will include in my fundamentals training at some point.

The feet’ position is crucial. Often, I land with my back foot a bit too far, and at my current level of surfing, I’m not very confident moving the back foot around, especially right after I catch the wave. Being conscious of the foot position helps me work on it and analyse the mistakes I make. Apart from a vertical position on the board, the horizontal placement is also super important. Putting your foot on the side of the board will make you unstable, and most likely you will end up falling before you have a chance to correct it. I find it to be a problem mainly when I rush to stand up on faster waves or when my position is not good. When I’m relaxed, gliding the wave for a second before I jump up, I’m usually fine with the horizontal position of my feet.

Watching down the line is almost as important as a proper popup. “Where you look, there you go.” This was a phrase I kept hearing from the tutorials, and when I started paying attention to it, I found it 100% accurate. This advice is not to constantly look down the line, ignoring everything around. You still have to take a quick look at the inside before you decide to take the wave to avoid dropping on somebody and to know when the wave will break so that you can paddle enough, but the focus should be on the line you are about to take.

Finally, being focused and positive can change the whole session. Anxiety isn’t helping us catch more waves. I often overthink my previous mistakes or drops. It is not about not giving a shit about dropping on people, but about enjoying the surf. If something happens - it is surfing, you can get wiped out, accidentally drop on somebody, or somebody can drop on you, especially in busy spots. However, keeping it in mind for the whole session can ruin your entire surfing experience. So, my advice, mostly to myself, is to focus on the surf itself, try not to steal the waves from others, and do not get angry at others who surf around you. The etiquette is a topic for another discussion, but since it is an integral part of the popup, I wanted to check in on it briefly here.