Gromit surfing advice?

Question

i just started surfing recently and when i try catching a wave i have to 'prone' to stopmyself nose diving (The instructor recons i'm not to far forward on the board ) but this causes problems when i try to stand up, my surfing instructor tells me that i am meant to use my back foot to jump up in one motition but i find since i am aleady 'proning' it makes it harder to jump up instead i endup with one knee on the board and one foot and then find it hard to stand competely.

Answer 1

You need to practice, practice, practice. You are just too slow on popping up (I am 55, so it's a problem I am familiar with, again). You just have to work that one motion stand-up until it gets reflexive, and you don't even think about. Practice on land, and spend lot's of time in the water.

Answer 2

This depends on what position you are while lying on the board, you should have your toes hanging over the back of the board, then when you stand up, your feet should be planted on the pad in the back part of the board, this should keep the nose of the board above water.

Answer 3

Sounds like you might be a little "late" in your takeoff if the instructor thinks your board position is right.  You can make a big difference with just an inch shift backwards on the board though, so maybe make a couple minor shifts until your not pearling.

The other suggestions of practicing on the beach (a lot) and just getting in the water and hitting as many waves as you can is really the best advice.  

As for getting stuck with knees on the board, I find the best thing to fix that is to think of a mantra and think it very specifically through each step of the process.  For me it is "back, butt, back, front".  That is: put my "back" up (doing the push up), put my "butt" up (pushing my weight towards my feet by raising my butt a little higher and giving my legs space to shift under my body smoothly), place my "back" foot, and finally place my "front" foot.  I find if I think of each step individually I slow down a little during my stand and I'm far more successful at catching the waves I want.

Answer 4

Practice more on the beach, with the board in the sand.  Standing up should never involve your knees.  Use your arms to "throw" yourself up, like a fast push up.  Your arms need to be strong.  Your feet should need to slide underneath you while you are pushing up.  practice practice practice

Try to have a correct position on the board before you paddle for the wave.  Further back than for paddling.  It is better to miss the wave because you are too far back than to nosedive becasue you are too far forward.  The nose should be a few inches out of the water depending on your board.

Answer 5

What you are experiencing is something most people go through when they learn to surf. You need to keep practicing until you can 'spring' to your feet without using your knees. This will inevitably involve many wipeouts but you need to learn to think of wipeouts as fun if you are going to progress in your surfing. Practicing springing to your feet on the beach will help a bit, but nothing beats time in the water. If you make the mistake of moving back to far on the board while you paddle to avoid nosedives, you will never catch waves, its like putting the brakes on. The reason your instructor says to use your back foot  is because to catch waves an experienced surfer IS TOO FAR FORWARD if they stood up with even weight on their feet. Paddle hard, keep the nose of the board just out of the water, then as you 'spring' to your feet, use more back foot weight, this will stop the nose diving, lean on the rail, turn and glide along the wall...you're surfing!!! It will happen like that, just give it time. I fumbled around in the surf nearly every afternoon for 3 months before I could consistently do this, but that was 12 years and thousands of waves ago. You can do it too.