This tutorial offers five helpful pop-up exercises that can be done at home to correct common mistakes and optimize technique. The goal is to rewire the nervous system and musculature to ensure a smooth, low transition from paddling to standing, correcting mobility and balance issues.
Key Takeaways & Tips
Exercise 1: Push-up with Knee/Foot Tuck
This exercise helps rewire the nervous system for surfers who constantly pop up to their knees first. Focus on maintaining straight back integrity and tucking the knee under the body, aiming for the knee to touch the opposite elbow. Aim to move the shoulder girdle at an angle during the tuck [1:20].
Exercise 2: Dynamic Surface (Rings)
Increase the difficulty by using dynamic surfaces like gymnastics rings. This is more similar to an actual pop-up because it gives you more space under the body, which occurs as the board falls down the wave. Try softly planting just the front of the foot at a 45-degree angle under you [1:41].
Exercise 3: Low Transition Hold
This instills a sense of remaining low after the pop-up, reminding surfers that the takeoff is a transition from low to slightly less low. Imagine drawing back an arrow to encourage great body integrity and appropriate arm and eye line [2:32].
Exercise 4: Jack Knives
Jack knives create a nice stable hip structure and help create more space beneath the body for the pop-up. Do not swing the legs so far that you lose the natural curvature in the lower back [2:49]. To increase the difficulty, try doing it one leg at a time, emphasizing the leg you’d normally swing through when surfing [3:02].
Exercise 5: Downward Dog Transitions
This is an entry-level exercise great for those struggling with pop-up mobility. It helps calm the system down, open up the hips, and strengthen the arms, helping find comfort in swinging the lower body underneath [3:24].
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Popping Up to Knees
Constantly popping up to your knees before standing holds back your progression. Exercise 1 directly targets and rewires this mistake.
Popping Up Too Tall
Many surfers pop up too tall and lose balance very quickly. The takeoff should be seen as a low transition, not a full extension.
Swinging Too Hard (Jack Knives)
When practicing Jack Knives, avoid swinging the legs so violently that you lose the nice stable hip structure or the natural curvature in the lower back.