How To Take Off & Pop Up Like A Pro | Surfing

The take-off is arguably the most important skill in surfing, and not just for beginners or intermediate surfers, for advanced ones too. Many surfers pop up ineffectively even after years of practice and as a result waste waves, fall off or worse yet get hurt. Today I want to clear up this sometimes confusing aspect of the sport. Yes the take-off can take a little bit of time to perfect and even advanced surfers are still on that journey, but there are some steps we can take to at least make the take-off effective and that's probably the most important thing. Now whilst you're here guys make sure you subscribe to the channel, hit the notification bell down below so you don't miss any videos and join me on Instagram at Kalesbroccoli, but for now let's get into it. Now you might think that taking off is a simple task of getting from your belly to your feet and then riding a wave, but it's not the case. A surfer's take-off is impacted by two other major things, their paddling and their positioning. Things might look and even feel easy when you're paddling into some whitewater like this, but when you step it up a notch and have to take off straight into a steep barreling wave, things are a little more challenging. Let's go right back to basics and cover the movements required to take off effectively. Let's dissect that a little more. Number one, catching the wave itself. It's important to note that the take-off can be massively affected by how you catch a wave. Catching a wave in whitewater on a foam board is quite easy, there's not much difference between whitewater here or there. However, catching a wave before it has broken and one that is peeling in a certain direction is going to be a bigger challenge. Generally speaking the best place to take off is at the peak of a wave. This is the place where you will garner the most speed so is desirable in small to medium waves, the type of waves you'll surf most of the time. You want a lot of speed because this will allow you to get away from the whitewater of the wave and it'll also enable you to identify and pick a favourable line on that wave. Catching a wave takes careful evaluation, positioning and paddling but those are things I'll cover in future videos. Now even though we might start off as beginners in whitewater, taking off in that whitewater becomes a little bit more difficult once we swap the big foamies for a smaller high performance board like this. Once that happens the whitewater almost becomes the enemy to a good clean take-off. The best scenario? A clean roll-in without even touching the whitewater. Now at this point I want to talk about the hands and what they do during a take-off. I've seen a Let's look at Philippe Toledo popping up in the Maldives here. If we look at the hands specifically we notice that they are placed predominantly on the deck of the board with the fingers slightly curving over the rail. Now this is important because having the fingers slightly curving over the rail allows for more grip and allows for any board corrections to occur as well. A surfer can quite literally pull the surfboard in the direction that he or she wants to go as they are sliding into the wave. This becomes especially important when sliding into fast tubes like this. If we look at what's happening from the side here we see the hands are basically in line with the chest, pretty much a burpee position before the pop-up takes place. The pop part of the take-off is often the most confusing element of the whole process. Let's build the pop-up from its segments. Number one, the arms press the body into a higher plane. This allows room for mainly the front leg to swing through into position. Number two, the lower abdominals activate and pull the hips higher to allow that leg to come through and the back leg to shoot into position. For beginners on whitewater this can be broken down into two phases to develop confidence. The front foot goes first and then the back foot. Now let's blend these into the perfect pop-up. Note that I keep an especially low back leg during my pop-up. My right knee only slightly rises off the board as my foot finds its place before rising. I find this helps me stay low and ready to turn as soon as I catch the wave. It's important to realize that the back knee does stay lower than the front knee during the take-off process. If you're finding that there's not enough room for your front leg to come through, it could be a lack of core strength or mobility which is causing a lack of movement in the hips. A great way to practice pop-ups is by using yoga poses. Move from lying on your belly to a low plank to downward dog and then to a low lunge, all the while trying to avoid dragging your feet at all. You can also try piking your hips on a swiss ball or practicing strict jackknives like this. And note don't let the back sink on the extension. Okay so you've landed with your feet in the perfect position. Well now what? Well you've got to engage your muscles and stay strong so that you can ride out successfully. Without adopting the right body position after you pop up, you're just going to fall over. It's really important that a surfer maintains their musculature engagement, particularly in the core and back, to successfully ride out of a take-off. They must also lean forward with the wave to fully embrace the ride and to hold on to all the power that it has to offer. To avoid nose diving, the surfer can still lean forward but keep their back foot more heavy than their front foot, lifting the nose of the board out of the water. Notice how after I pop up my body stays low and forward but remains strong and active. This is what I've termed the coiled spring position and is essential for unleashing energy into your first turn. Now that could be where I end this tutorial but there's one other really important thing that I want to talk about and that is eye line. In the beginning surfers will pretty much just look straight forward as they pop up and this might be fine on whitewater take-offs or straight riding but when you begin to advance you should actually be looking down the line as you take off because this will enable you to predict and plan the best angle to take once you stand up. Now I don't want you to underestimate this crucial element of the take-off. As you can see here with one of my coaching clients, it makes a huge difference to the end result on a wave. Literally everything in surfing, all those things that you've been picturing in your head, none of it would be possible without an excellent take-off so it's really important to get it right. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed this video guys make sure you subscribe to the channel, hit the notification bell so you don't miss out on any other videos, join me on instagram at kalesbroccoli and let me know in the comments below what else are you struggling with in the surf. Guys I'll see you in the next video.