I know we’ve talked about it a million different ways but seriously, mastering your pop up is probably the single most important thing to focus on while learning to surf. Screw up your pop-up, and you’ve messed up your wave before it’s even started. And with it your chance to get better at actually riding a board. With that in mind, add this stellar little progression to your dryland routine to help improve your pop up.
Ground Pop-Ups
Three rounds of 10 reps
To get started with the on-the-ground pop-ups, first come to a prone position with your chest and belly touching the ground and hands directly under the shoulders. In one quick motion, bring your feet directly under your body, keeping your hips low with an even space between your feet.
For your on the ground pop-ups, make sure you focus on landing with your knees bent and your hips low. The lower your center of gravity is, the more stable you’ll be, and repeating pop-ups with the correct form will develop muscle memory that will help you out in the water.
Once you’ve mastered these on the ground pop-ups, you can advance the exercise by repeating the set with either one or both of your eyes closed. It sounds crazy, but closing your eyes really adds an element of instability and improves your balance by enhancing your proprioception.
If it’s harder on land, it’ll be easier in the water.
Balance Board Pop-Ups
Three Rounds of 10 Reps
The next exercise in the progression adds either a BOSU Ball or balance board to further challenge your strength by introducing an additional element of instability.
Start by centering your body in a prone position on the balance board. Place your hands flat on the board directly under your shoulders, trying to avoid grabbing the rails (or edges) of board. As you pop up on to the Indo board, instead of thinking about jumping on to the board, try to imagine swiftly replacing your hands with your feet by bringing your feet directly under your body.
Just like you did with the on-the-ground pop-ups, make sure to keep the knees bent and the hips low with your core pulled in tight. Doing so will help you remain balanced and stable which ultimately will help you catch more waves.
Pigdog: not just your best friend in the barrel.
Pop-Ups with Pigdogs
Three Rounds of 5 Reps
Once you have mastered the balance board pop-up, the final part of the progression adds in a pigdog as a strength element. Again, start with your chest centered on the balance board, with your hands and arms directly under your shoulders. In one swift motion, pop-up onto the board by replacing your hands with your feet. Once you are on the Indo board, immediately rotate into your surf stance, dropping your back knee down as close to the board as possible, grabbing the rail for stability.
Editor’s Note: Video production, writing and editing by Morgan Hoesterey.
