Im learning ,slowly getting it,I have a Naish 140 hover and a 2019 xl thrust abracadabra. I move the foil to the early lift setting short ride swimming with bull sharks move to late lift short ride and ditto. The question is do I need early lift for small waves or same waves and late lift so I can get myself set up. Or do I leave in the middle and just practice more??? I really don't understand the settings and what they do,not the sharpest tool in the shed .Thx to those who give their time and advice.

What's your weight? The rear wing can stay level. tweaking it isn't going to make much difference while learning. The XL requires a pretty good rolling wave so if you're dropping in and getting no lift even with some pumping your front foot, then move the foil forward in the tracks a little. If you drop in and it's so much lift that you can't keep the nose down, then move the foil back a little in the tracks. If you're in really small waves and bumps then look into getting the XXL or 2400 wing from naish. They're compatible and make learning easier with a giant wing. You'll eventually have a few different wings while learning.

Disclaimer, I am not a a SUPper, I prone. I do hang with a few though and have been watching closely as I'm about to embark on a humiliating first summer of downwind SUPfoil. (just glassing my barge).When you eat it, have you really caught the wave, or are you floundering high and slow without forward momentum?

My advice is to set the foil back in the box and have the stab set at neutral. When I was starting out I found it useful to have the board very neutral if not trimmed nose down. That way I could fully take the drop and rotate the foil up to flying attitude when I was ready. If it's too nose heavy, move the plate up a bit and try again.

I started on same foil with 120l Naish board. I had a lot of kitefoiling experience though so understood about front foot pressure. I found to get the Naish XL to pop up well I needed the foil all the way forward in the tracks and the tail with about 2mm of positive lift. I suspect your board is even heavier in the noe so would suggest you start with at least the same settings. Once you get up a few times you can dial down the tail lift or move the foil back, but I never needed to do this. Best of luck.

If you are getting the foil up & running on the late lift then great! That's all you need. My main aim is levelling the board with the surface of the water to avoid breaching & nose diving like going over the handlebars of a bike. So if you have been breaching then the wave is probably powerful enough. If you have a hard time getting the board off the surface of the water just after you have caught the wave then the wave is either too small or no power in its push. Or your foil is not set for early lift. Or the foil wing is too small which I doubt in your case unless you weigh over at least 95 kgs in small waves in my view.
When learning I just surf the wave as normal. Then when in control with both feet set over the boards centre line I will then push down with back foot & lift front foot. Then immediately push down with front foot & lift back foot to level out or to nose the board down to touch the water again & repeat until I can keep the board level.
The concept is simple. Point the board nose up & it will go up. Point the board nose down it will surf as normal or land back to the water if up.
The main challenge is levelling out & keeping left, right balance.