ive totally noticed that...waves where the board accelerates and drops faster...my pop up seems ok. the softer....flatter waves are killing me. unfortunatly--i live in the HB area and its often soft
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My pop up has gone to sh!t!!!!
- Thread starter groggylbc
- Start date
I just looked at his site...... can you tell me a little more about it from your expieriance please. thank you
56 yo.
surprised no one has mentioned: LOSE WEIGHT!
the older you get, the more those extra pounds are going to weigh on you doing physical activities, and potentially cause injury.
I use the swiss ball for the jack knifes, but with one tweak, I place the ball under my waist, and roll it forward until my heels/ankles are above the pivot point. this change provides me more lumbar support when rolling back into place, thus making the pain on my lumbar fusion (L4/L5/S1) more tolerable.
but yeah, 56 y.o., 6 foot aprox (1'75'' meters), lucky to keep 70 kilos on, when active. every single time I binge, or don't work out for a while, and get over 75 kilos I notice the very same thing you mention. problems with the pop-up.
ask yourself, is your gut as tight as it could be? any bulge there, transfers to weight shifts neccesary when popping up that could blow your waves.
surprised no one has mentioned: LOSE WEIGHT!
the older you get, the more those extra pounds are going to weigh on you doing physical activities, and potentially cause injury.
I use the swiss ball for the jack knifes, but with one tweak, I place the ball under my waist, and roll it forward until my heels/ankles are above the pivot point. this change provides me more lumbar support when rolling back into place, thus making the pain on my lumbar fusion (L4/L5/S1) more tolerable.
but yeah, 56 y.o., 6 foot aprox (1'75'' meters), lucky to keep 70 kilos on, when active. every single time I binge, or don't work out for a while, and get over 75 kilos I notice the very same thing you mention. problems with the pop-up.
ask yourself, is your gut as tight as it could be? any bulge there, transfers to weight shifts neccesary when popping up that could blow your waves.
Great advice here on technique / strength / weight loss / etc. I have surfed since I was little but due to poor technique, poor mobility, long legs & tight hips/ankles, I still botch way too many takeoffs, especially in crap waves. (steeper waves allow my board to drop down the face and seem to give me more space for my legs/feet to simply slide into position)
Here is what has been helping me a ton this past year:
1) Ido Portal's 30 day squat challenge. (30 minutes of squatting per day, for 30 days)
2) Dialing in technique (wave ki breakdown is pretty helpful actually - "sliding" to your feet vs. "popping up")
3) Along with #1 - directly targeting improving hip and ankle mobility, by doing the following before each surf session:
a) simple warmup of ~20 air squats and then these 2 stretches:
b) Cossack Squat holding on to a fixed object in front, so I can lean into the bent leg and get max stretch of achilles + soleus (secondary inner thigh stretch on other leg). 2 minutes each side.
c) Figure 4 stretch on floor, to stretch outer hip / it band / upper hamstring (for better squat mobility) - 2 min each side (it's kind of like this stretch, but with back leg also bent instead of straight back, and back folding to stretch front leg: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/0904-figure-4-stretch-1441032989.jpg)
Results: I used to not be able to hold a low "asian" squat at all (I would just fall back because my hips and ankles were too tight), but now after a little bit of warm up I can hang out in the squat pretty comfortably with no support our counterweight, even with bare feet. Prone-to-feet consistency (and surfing performance) has definitely improved also.
Here is what has been helping me a ton this past year:
1) Ido Portal's 30 day squat challenge. (30 minutes of squatting per day, for 30 days)
2) Dialing in technique (wave ki breakdown is pretty helpful actually - "sliding" to your feet vs. "popping up")
3) Along with #1 - directly targeting improving hip and ankle mobility, by doing the following before each surf session:
a) simple warmup of ~20 air squats and then these 2 stretches:
b) Cossack Squat holding on to a fixed object in front, so I can lean into the bent leg and get max stretch of achilles + soleus (secondary inner thigh stretch on other leg). 2 minutes each side.
c) Figure 4 stretch on floor, to stretch outer hip / it band / upper hamstring (for better squat mobility) - 2 min each side (it's kind of like this stretch, but with back leg also bent instead of straight back, and back folding to stretch front leg: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/0904-figure-4-stretch-1441032989.jpg)
Results: I used to not be able to hold a low "asian" squat at all (I would just fall back because my hips and ankles were too tight), but now after a little bit of warm up I can hang out in the squat pretty comfortably with no support our counterweight, even with bare feet. Prone-to-feet consistency (and surfing performance) has definitely improved also.
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Getting in a routine of doing these two exercises every time I go to the gym has improved my pop up tremendously. 51 yo.
Decline bench press strengthens the right muscles to push yourself up off the board and the leg lifts build the strength and speed to get your legs underneath you.
Decline bench press strengthens the right muscles to push yourself up off the board and the leg lifts build the strength and speed to get your legs underneath you.
so you dont feel like a kook doing pop ups on dry land?
i mean its the same difference really.
yeah Ido Portal has some great stuff, kinda advanced for me . During the beginning of the Covid Clusterfuck I found some good stuff on YouTube, Nic Laidlaw has some great stuff, you can definitely see he’s influenced by Ido- but a little bit more accessible for us older mortals
Mobility and strength definitely an area to work on as you get older (core and hips especially) - that Asian squat is a great one to work on
Between the Rogue pull-up bar ,gymnastic rings and padded floor for yoga/mobility work I’ve improved my physical abilities- I’m still old though
I made this thread a week ago then deleted it. I’ve felt like an absolute beginner lately. My front foot starts dragging when it gets too cold then my confidence eventually goes out the window. It’s turned into being completely out of synch with the waves. trying to stand up in the trough of the wave or way to late. I’ve been hitting the kettle bells. I hate working out but do my best surfing when I’m in good shape. Bigger surf I do better but sh!t waves in between is not helping to confidence. Crossing fingers I’ll make a comeback. I’m only 41. Oh I think my knee is giving out.
The worst is guys you thought were your pals giving you that look after you blow a wave.
Pull the fins off an old unwaxed board and practice your pop-ups on dry land in your backyard or living room. It helps. I've had to take breaks out of the water over the years due to injuries, etc. and I do it every time when I'm getting back into it. A lot of good advice in this thread, I'm curious to check out WaveKi.
Hah! I wasn't going to respond. I've done that for years. I'm in touch with a lot of formerly world class surfers who are heading into their late 50's and 60's. The popup is what goes. For everybody. Keep the fat off. Work on flexibility. Work on explosive strength (pushups) via plyometrics. Work on hip flexors. You need to get that leg folded up and underneath you easily. And yes, I pulled a WaveStorm out of the trash, cut it off at 6' in length, took the fins off, marked where my feet need to hit, throw it on the garage floor and pop up. When I can do 20 and hit the mark, I'm good. The high number of reps induces fatigue/stress. If you can hit your mark on number 20, then, you're good.
It's a horrible thing. Something you haven't thought about since you were a child starts becoming a problem. Then you start second guessing technique. Technique that is decades old in your muscle memory. It fvcks with your head. Especially in waves of consequence. But you ain't alone. EVERYONE experiences this if they keep surfing. Your former surf heros struggle with it. This is also what drives some of them to SUPs. There is no pop up. Never say never I suppose, but I don't think I can do that. Oh, and the toes. Walk around your house bare foot pulling your toes UP off the floor. Strengthen the muscles in the top of your foot. Work on ankle/toe flexibility. Buddy tape the weaker toes to the big toe. Or wear a non split toe bootie. I could keep going. I have worked this all out with an actual full routine. When I do it, there are no problems. When I don't, there is an occasionally humiliating takeoff. Do a search on YouTube for kneesovertoesguy. Watch with an eye towards regaining full knee flexibility/hip flexor strength, ankle range of motion etc. There is a lot of stuff there that can help you. Good luck. Be smart about it.
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@ Groggy, Cry me a river dude.
Try surfing with a cast on your hand. Or no hand at all like Bethany...
You are a healthy able bodied dude so DO SOMETHING about it.
Sorry I flubbed that I meant kind of the opposite! Posting and working at the same time.
Often you see people go in to "downward dog" mode while popping up, essentially doing a lazy pushup (sorry gonna be some yoga lingo in here). You want to be in "cobra" mode, back arched, eyes forward, pushing your board DOWN under you as you slide your feet in to position. Any wave, hollow or mushy, has a drop you must navigate. Pushing your board down is semantic, it's a mental shift really, but it helps a lot. DO NOT look at your board. Visualize getting your head as far away from your board as possible by pushing down and creating space between you and your board while you are looking down the line. You will be surprised how much this helps.
A big gut will fvck this up (unless you are hilldo who surfs much better than the rest of us). Weak upper body will also fvck this up. But it's also just muscle memory. Practice good form pop ups on land, switch your brain to "push down" mode when in the water.
Also like Truth said, get out in some small waves on a longboard and do it again and again and again with no goal but getting back to a perfect pop up with good foot positioning.
most likely in hollow steep surf you'd fare even worse, flat slopey waves are easy and forgiving. just another lame excuse for you has beens to gripe about.
Ha! Is it just a coincidence that all the hard core foilers I know picked that sh!t up right when their surf ability started to decline?