How to become a better surf hopper-upper?

May 31, 2008 8:34 AM

I went surfing for the first time recently, and had a hard time doing the "hop up" on the surfboard -- my feet always tended to be too close together, and I just lacked agility. What are some exercises I could do that would strengthen the relevant muscles and/or otherwise make me a hop-master? Thanks.
posted by shivohum to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 comments total)

Practice on land, concentrating on feet position and having both feet make contact with the board simultaneously.
posted by dobbs at 8:50 AM on May 31, 2008

On slow waves with a long board you don't need a lot of upper body strength to hop up. That's mostly timing, positioning yourself near the peak,and learning how to work with the wave. What most people need is more strength and endurance for paddling. You paddle for transportation and you paddle to get into a wave. If you're a weak paddler , then it's hard to get the timing right on the take off. You get to be a better paddler by swimming, surfing, and paddleboarding. You can gain upper body strength doing dry land exercises and that's a good thing but the transfer to surfing is not direct especially on soft longboard waves.

The feet close together thing will go away with time spent in the water. If you stick with a longboard, then you'll learn to move on the board and the foot positioning will become pretty automatic.

I toss in a pointer to a book on surf fitness.
posted by rdr at 9:05 AM on May 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

You should practice your pop-ups on the floor, every night. I did this for years, and it did more for my surfing than anything else. This is because I wasn't wasting the waves that I'd finally caught by trying to build that muscle memory and coordination while out in the water. I was doing my 'homework' and then applying it to the situation...which was actually easier since the forward momentum and pitch of the board will help you some.

Here's what you do:
1. Pick a line in the carpet (tape, imaginary, whatever).
2. Lay facedown on the floor with your body along that line; legs, feet, and arms together.
3. Stretch out your body with your arms in front of you, palms face down and somewhat close together. Arch your back and stretch so that your head, chest and arms are off the ground, as well as your feet, lower legs and knees. Your body should be like a u-shape, or crescent, with only the pelvis, upper legs and belly touching the floor, and the rest of you extended in a line.
4. Count 1-2- and on 3, you are going to place your hands beside your chest on the floor and use them to push your entire body up off the floor, WITHOUT USING YOUR FEET WHATSOEVER. The first time you do this, its going to seem damn near impossible. It is possible, I swear! If done correctly, it's one swift movement of using your upper body (arms) to generate enough lift to engage your core in sweeping those legs under you so that the feet can land on the floor. It's really, really hard at first. But you'll gain an appreciation for doing all that whilst traveling forward on a piece of fiberglass gliding on water.
5. You want to land on the imaginary line, with your feet about a foot apart, and both arches straddling the line evenly (with your lead foot forward = left foot if you're regular, right if you're goofy). I'd try to do 10 successful popups, and then call it a night.

Keep in mind that once you get this technique down, your actual popup in the water may vary somewhat. It's still worthwhile to keep practicing them at home however. It builds memory and muscle.

Also, I wrote these surfing tidbits a while back. Hope they help!
Good luck!
posted by iamkimiam at 9:06 AM on May 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful.
posted by shivohum at 1:36 AM on June 1, 2008