G'day,

just looking for a pointer. I've developed a weird habit of bring my back foot forward when getting up,on the waves. It's not till,it's to late I realise that I should be further down near the tail. Just not sure how I developed this habit and seem to keep repeating it.
anyone got any thoughts on ways to break the cycle.

cheers

When you do the pop up, prepel yourself just a touch backwards.

Also simple but concentrate on your foot placement. It seems silly but i find when i concentrate were my feet are to land, they generally do. Its when i start to take it for granted they'll land right i end up all over the place..

Thanks. Your both right. I'll give it a Crack.
I think part of me just wants to get up and going and I'm not concentrating on the basics.
Cheers

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Sparky394 said..
Thanks. Your both right. I'll give it a Crack.
I think part of me just wants to get up and going and I'm not concentrating on the basics.
Cheers

I find when in a large pack and the perfect wave, its my turn, everything is ideal and i get so excited i will not pay enough attention and blow it

Sad but true...

I will sometimes just look down and shuffle back.

I'm a pretty below average surfer so take my opinion with a grain of salt. But I reckon you've commited a bad habit to muscle memory. You probably spent a day or two surfing smaller fat waves and got used to jumping slightly forward. My opinion is you need to do a bit of a system reboot. Take a mal out for a couple of surfs, or a foamie, a fish or even a soft board. Just something where you won't take the surf too seriously. Have a non serious surf or two and forget about all the details. Then, go out and start fresh, with a clear head, not overthinking what should be a fun activity.

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PaddlePig said..
But I reckon you've commited a bad habit to muscle memory. You probably spent a day or two surfing smaller fat waves and got used to jumping slightly forward.

This.

Surfing sh**ty closeouts, gets me into the same bad habit.
My body and brain gets used to shifting forward to generate speed.

Reboot required IMO too.

My routine to reboot

Surf a slower wave, and slow myself down.
Stop for second and think before I start paddling for the wave
Lie just a touch further back on my board.
Don't let my hands touch the rail/deck til I'm ready to pop up
Focus on pushing up with my hands flat on the deck and slightly spaced on an angle. (I find when I grip the rail I kind of pull myself forward rather than pushing up)
Push up and slightly back in one smooth motion
Dig my back foot into the kicker.

Repeat and repeat until its ingrained subconsciously.

Good call Mick and Paddlepig
i'll definitely give that a go.
It does get hard when I only get to surf once to twice a week and mainly beach breaks.
I think slowing down is the big one.

I moved to the Sunshine Coast last year and it took me about 3 months to slow down my surfing after surfing perth my whole life. Where I surf now ( Coolum ) I don't have to get up and race to beat the close out, I have more time to bottom turn and set up for the first section and also make sure my back foot is where it should be. But when I surf more faster and hollower waves and have to get speed quick that's when my perth surfing kicks In and I can beat more sections than the rest of the people out there going over the falls as they take off.