True, but at some point, I can see changing to sponging into my dotage until the shore pound shatters my brittle hip.
There is this guy at our beach who is in his 70s and was outstanding surfer his whole life. But now he has awful hips and bad back, so, he has a board looks ten ft, and he drags it across the sand and paddles out with all the guys in all size waves. He doesn't stand up anymore but slides around on it to be in right position and to get right into the wave, he catches these get rides. He said, "I get barreled every time. If I had new hips, I wouldn't ever go back to standing up. " gets a lot of respect out there for his skills and determination.
And the nose of his board is all buggered up and covered in duct tape where he drags it through the sand. Last time I was up he was in the water for most of the day. Respect indeed.
Very zen. I like. Thanks for all the suggestions, especially front zip, duh! There's more questions I have on subtle things, assuming I'm stretched out, and fit, that can still help me improve my pop up. I read an article by Kelly, and he broke down the backside stance regarding the angle of your back heel relative to the stringer. It made me lots more comfortable on big backside waves - just turn your back heel more outward, it rotates your hips and shoulders,let's you see the wave better. I usually do things instinctively, but that incident slowed the whole pop up so I could feel the different parts, at least till I ate it. So sometimes I do a rolling pop up, when the foam and me come down at the same time, in a crouch with my fingers touching the deck front side, or pig dogging it backside, till the board gets free of the whitewater and getsinto clean face,then fully stand up. That's a two stage pop up (maybe not a pure pop up). It's great when the foam finally releases the back of your board, speed and stability increase, crouch becomes proper stance, and its off to the races.
If you try a normal pop up under a layer of descending sea foam, you usually get drilled. So I thought it should be mentioned. Core strength is essential in keeping stability during a squirrely drop. The other thing is foot placement. Before thrusters no one had tail pads because it was preferable to slide around a bit, and then with a thruster the tail pad is THE place for the back foot. Then hybrids came out and foot placement is a big variable again. I never liked tailpads, that's probably why my back foot hurts, but that's how I prefer to surf. Just more improvisational I guess.
It's hard to explain but what I try to do is use the white water on a late take off as momentum in getting to my feet while getting down the line at the same time. If timed correctly, which doesn't always happen, but when it does, I get basically pushed to my feet with energy from the foam ball. Staying low initially is crucial until stability is attained and then stand up while turning. It all happens so fast it's like one fluid motion.
Don't know if this will help but I find myself setting the rail on the pop up with my back foot whilst in the process of. I drag the back foot across the tail lightly to keep a little weight on the tail while swinging the front foot under then settling gently but quickly. Inside big toe on back foot sometimes will be bloody if wax is sandy after a good session. Don't bounce up, push up smoothly - a drastic weight shift sometimes puts the brakes on while paddling down the face. I see one of my kids do that a lot as he misses wave after wave because the nose comes up from that jerky pop up. That nose trim angle is critical as you know and one micron of bobble can break the deal. Butt always low, leave a little weight on back foot, swing/lightly slide front foot under smoothly while paddling down the face already in trim. 55 yrs old & surfing since my teens on logs and all manner of shorties & mid sizers I tend to chew a lot more turds after the 2 hour mark because fatigue will slow and booger up my pop up. Sometimes ya gotta say when & take a break. And never ever get up on a knee. Ruins the deck of the board, looks awful and slows everything down. Knees should never touch the deck. Hopes this helps.
After reading this I realized: 1. Popping up is a lot of work 2. I'm getting old as well. Conclusion- I'm going to sell all my surfbort and but a SUP If anyone is interested in MR Belmars borts- please let me know. Quiver Size range from 6' to 10'4. All shapes by Wavestorm surf shop
You know what's funny. Before i had a real job and could surf literally every damn day, i felt the same way. About skill dropping off. Now that the schedule is a bit tighter and i can't surf as much as i did....i realize i was exaggerating. I can not surf for a few weeks, get back on it, and surf pretty well. Better than i thought. I'm not saying that in a "you need constant practice because toy suck" way either. Dont get my words twisted. Your lucky enough to get to surf allot. But i bet if you had to take a few weeks off due to waves or responsibilities, you would still rip. Muscle memory is a crazy thing. I can not surf for a few weeks, get out and surf up to my expectations and not blow a single wave (at least on "everyday" waist- chest conditions) Again. I'm not saying this to brag or anything. I'm saying this because i found it interesting and it wasn't somthing i expected. In fact, i think i surf better now. Possibly because i just let muscle memory take over, where as when i was surfing constantly i would over think little things as an attempt to improve.
Yeah no doubt, I may be exaggerating a bit to make my point. For me it's a confidence thing. If I paddled out today, I'm going to be more confident tomorrow. The more days in a row, my confidence picks up momentum and I tend to do better than if I haven't been out in a week or two. Doesn't mean I will have a bad session but I typically have an adjustment period, unless I get an awesome wave right away, then that usually sets up my session.
I hear you man. I used to surf so much it was in fair. And confidence was way high. It's weird now. My sessions (at least in winter when the days are shorter) are so precious that the thought of confidence isn't even there. I just want to do what i love to do and muscle memory takes over. Instead of thinking "it's been two weeks im going to need a few waves to warm up" i just think "let's have fun". Then i pull off a nice turn on my first wave and I'm like "wow. That just happened without even thinking". When i surfed everyday i found myself telling myself that i surf everyday so i should have the confidence. And that almost set me back. It's weird and hard to put into words. And by the way. That guy Betty mentioned. Reminds me of this. For DP and Betty, you guys have heard me mention a group of older LBers a bunch in my write ups. Those guys are in there mid 60s. 2 or 3 of them surf so well with so much style. There like 14 yr olds in a 65 yr old body. It's so cool to see them surf. I wish i can surf like them when I'm older. So much stoke. Luckily for them they don't have any major issues. But still, the way they surf i can easily see them still doing it at 70. Much respect to all the older guys who still get out
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I focus on my confidence each time I paddle out, but I do notice a difference is all.
Good stuff bro. Just like the cross step on a longboard v. a shuffle - the cross step avoids the bog of two feet (all your weight) on one spot for one instant as you shuffle instead of elegantly cross stepping. I have a bit of trouble, I'm no Joel Tudor. Wahines seem to have this dance move down instinctively. So you're doing tai chi with the wave, keeping in tune with the angle of takeoff by subtle adjustment of back toe on board tail, interpreting it's energy on a subtle level - I see says the blindman. Do you live in California and surf great waves alot. It's hard to try the same thing twice or three times in a row here (usually) to get into a rhythm and feel it out, but next time we get a clean easy swell, I'll try it. While longboarding, my big toe on the back foot does the same thing,now that I think about it. Shortboarding I pop up too fast usually to drag toe, but,damn, it's worth a try to gain control, avoid bog, remain on plane and add speed
I dropped into one today and i flubbed at take off. Needed an extra paddle to get in and when i did drop it was steep and deep. I made it but barely and mis timed the bottom turn. Screwed up the whole ride. It looked like a great wall. Was it age or the wetsuit? Neither I think. I had plenty of great rides before and after. Sometimes Sh!t happens.
At 58 I definitely booger up pop ups on a short board now (even though it's a fat high volume one!), in fast wave and in 5/4 rubber. It sucks. Like BassMon2 I tend not to think during my pop, it just happens . . . but I find that espec. on steeper ones, setting the rail and angling the takeoff makes things slow down and gives me more time.
When I get back in the water after not having surfed for weeks, my pop-up resembles the unfolding of an ironing boart.
This! I can hear the rusty metal creaking. And see the dust floating in the air. Need some oil, tin man?
