Editor’s Note: This guide was created in collaboration with The Art of Surfing, an online surf coaching program designed to help people break through performance plateaus and improve faster, including new content that is added monthly. Save more than 50 percent (now just $99 instead of $204) by accessing TAOS here before 10/8.
There’s far more nuance in your pop up than you ever knew. Do you naturally pop? Do you fluidly arch up and slide your knees underneath your chest? Do you apply the chicken wing technique so that one foot can create that pop for you? Now, are both of your feet hitting the board at the same time or is one planting firmly on its deck before the other? And once all that is said and done, is the placement of those feet encouraging a balanced yet mobile stance atop your board?
“If you can get with just kind of swinging your hips and knees underneath you without even bringing your bum high, then that’s the most advanced (pop-up) version and something you should stick with,” says Matt Scorringe, creator of The Art of Surfing Academy.
To Scorringe, while the technique you develop for getting to your feet is important, your pop up must guide your feet into a functional stance. That means he’s encouraged some of his own coaching students to use what he calls, “the chicken wing” technique, which leads to better foot placement for most surfers.
If you’re interested in making a commitment to improving your surfing, access The Art of Surfing, and save 50 percent until 10/8.
