Intermediate Surfers Default to Bad Habits
Intermediate surfers who don’t get to the water often default to bad habits. Even expert surfers who don’t surf for a few weeks say their stamina and timing drop off. When I was a runner, we said we start losing peak condition after 36 hours of not running.
Its a natural tendency. Absence promotes forgetfulness of the correct techniques and timing. I frequently get calls from intermediates that complain of one problem or another but its always the same causes. They have lost the correct pop up, timing, and stance on the board.
What Are the First Problems
Most of the time, they are popping up into what I call the “snowboard” stance with one hand trailing behind and the butt over one rail. This places weight on the heels making the board heavy on the butt side and they fall off on the butt side or go head first over the opposite rail.
The proper stance is what I call “pushing the box”. The hands are in front as though pushing a tall box which makes the hips and shoulders square to the front and divides the surfers weight equally on the right and left side of the middle stringer.
Timing Becomes an Issue
The second thing intermediates lose is the timing of catching waves and popping up. All surfers lose timing when they don’t visit the water in a while. I start the intermediates on foam waves to see how they anticipate the wave, how they paddle, and when they pop up.
The timing is usually off in catching the wave and not paddling correctly. On a foam wave the surfer wants to let the wave get within 20 feet and start paddling easy to get momentum and then paddle hard three times to get in front of the wave. Most intermediates have forgotten to paddle hard to catch the wave and don’t get in front of it.
Incorrect Paddling Causes Problems
Paddling is usually a problem in that they have long swim strokes which are too slow or hand paddle which is not powerful. Paddles should be half a swim stroke with hands diving to the elbow and pulling with the forearm. In foam or real waves, not paddling fast enough when the wave is on the board results in pearling or missing the wave.
The final issue is usually the timing of the pop up. Because the timing of catching waves is usually off, the timing of putting the hands on the board and standing up is off. The surfer should paddle hard to catch the wave. Once the wave is caught (a developed feeling), the surfer puts his hands in a man’s push up next to his rib cage and glides for a few a seconds developing his poise.
One pop up is then pushing up and placing a foot flat on the board under the butt. The surfer stands on this foot and lifts his torso off the board into an upright position as he moves his other foot to the front of the board. If the surfer does not have the timing right and his head is in front of his toes (in a down dog yoga position), he will fly off the front of the board.
If the surfer does a pop up moving both feet at the same time, he must have his hands off the board and be upright when the feet hit the board or he will suffer the above problem. Without sufficient steady practice, the surfer loses the ability to get the front foot far enough forward on the double foot pop up. If a surfer is not surfing, he should keep doing stretches and practice the pop up in his living room.
These issues can usually be fixed in one lesson. The surfers still have the concept of surfing but have lost the details. Reminding them of the small but important techniques usually has them surfing straight to the beach with good form and timing.
More Posts
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How to Progress to Surfing the Short Board
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