Exercises Guaranteed to Help You Improve Your Pop Up

The skill of standing up on your surfboard, also known as a pop-up, is difficult to master. It takes time and patience, whether you’re completely new to the game or hoping to break some bad habits you’ve formed along the way. Whatever it is, mastering the pop-up is essential in the long run for success in your surfing career so let your journey on pop-up techniques start here.

5 Tips to Improve Your Pop-Up

Before you hit the water, start by practicing with these tricks on the sand. Draw out your surfboard in the sand and let's get started.

Proper positioning: 

A successful pop-up starts with a successful set-up. If you’re too far up on your board, you risk nose diving into the water and not being able to stand but if you’re too far back, prepare for a board to the face. So how do you know you’re in the sweet spot on your board? 

Once you are laying on your board, your toes should almost touch the back of it. If you’re a few inches from the tail, you’re too far up and risk a nose dive. If they’re dangling off the back, your board is going to flip backward onto you.

Hand placement:

Hand placement is just as important as where your body is positioned on the board. If you’re familiar with yoga, you know the cobra position. This is where your hands are just slightly under your chest. You will need to position them there when popping up. This will give you the power to push yourself up and give your legs room to come forward.

Look forward: 

Once you’re properly positioned and ready to begin popping up, the first tip I have is to always look forward. Many new surfers will look at their hands when they're popping up but this can cause a lack of balance and your time on the wave will be cut short.

Instead, look ahead towards the beach, pick a spot to focus on and continue to look at the spot until you have gotten up.

Move quickly: 

It’s easy to go about your pop-up slowly when you’re getting started but it is important to move quickly. The waves move fast and surfers rely on this momentum so you need to match its pace. Not popping up quickly enough will have you missing the wave. 

This takes practice and for newer surfers, the speed of the wave may seem a bit scary and cause them to bail. As long as you move at its pace, you have nothing to fear. So, while you’re testing your technique on the shore, practice pushing up into your pop-up fast. Make it a game of “How fast can I get to my feet?”

Bend your knees:

Once you have successfully popped up and you're on your feet, make sure your knees are bent and your legs are positioned in a squat-like form. Your journey doesn’t end once you’ve hit your feet; it's only just begun. Standing straight will have you losing your balance but bending your knees and staying low will give you the balance you need to ride out the wave.

4 Exercises to Improve Your Pop-up:

You can follow tips until the sun goes down but at the end of the day, a pop-up requires three main things: Balance, strength and power. Implementing a few exercises to help out your pop-up will increase your chances of success the next time you paddle out.

Burpees: The number one exercise that I would recommend to improve your pop-up is burpees. Burpees are basically a pop-up. If you can master the explosive movement of a burpee, you can master a pop-up. 

Push-ups: Push-ups replicate the beginning of a pop-up, particularly triceps push-ups in terms of hand placement. Try practicing this exercise on unstable surfaces such as a yoga ball to mimic the instability of a wave. 

Lunges: Lunges are great for pop-ups because they replicate the balance you will need once you pop onto your feet. Practicing these at home with your dominant surf foot, depending on whether you're goofy or regular-footed, will get you used to placing the majority of your weight on your front foot, which is needed when popping up.

Squats: Squats are great for learning lower body positioning once you have popped up onto your board. Body weight squats will suffice but you can practice weighted ones as well. The most important thing to focus on during this exercise that will translate to the water is your form.

Conclusion: Improving Your Pop-up

Mastering your pop-up takes time and it's important to be patient with yourself. It is going to take time and lots of practice before you are completely confident with your board and the waves. Remember to keep these five tips in mind, practice on land before you head out and implement a few of the mentioned exercises into your routine for the best chances of success.