How to Pop Up on a Surfboard: Step by Step

The pop-up is the move from lying on your board to standing on it, in one quick motion. It is the first real skill in surfing, and most falls in the first week come from it: a hand in the wrong place, a look at your feet, a knee on the board.

The good news is that you can practise it anywhere. This guide goes through the pop-up step by step, the mistakes we see most often on the beaches around Tamraght, and a few drills for your living room.

Before you pop up

A good pop-up starts while you are still lying down.

• Lie in the right spot. The nose of the board should sit just above the water. Too far back and the nose points up and the board stalls. Too far forward and the nose digs in and you go over the front.
• Paddle hard. Catch the wave with long strokes, not short splashes. The board has to be moving at the speed of the wave.
• Wait for the push. Pop up when you feel the wave lift the tail and push the board forward, not before. One or two extra strokes after you feel it is usually right.

The pop-up, step by step

1. Hands flat under your chest

Stop paddling and put your hands flat on the board, under your chest, next to your lower ribs. Not on the rails, and not up by your shoulders.

2. Push up and look forward

Straighten your arms and lift your chest, like the top of a push-up. Keep your eyes on the beach or where you want to go, not on the board. Your head steers your body.

3. Bring your feet under you

In one movement, swing your back foot across the board near the tail and bring your front foot forward to where your hands were. Both feet land across the board, about shoulder-width apart, on the centre line.

4. Stand low

Bend your knees, keep your back fairly straight and hold your arms out for balance, with the front arm pointing where you are going. Stay low: a straight-legged stance is the quickest way to fall.

Common mistakes

• Looking down. Your body follows your eyes. Look at your feet and you will fall on them.
• Hands on the rails. Gripping the edges of the board pulls it from side to side. Keep your hands flat on the deck.
• Standing up too early. If the wave hasn’t picked you up yet, the board stops under you.
• Standing up straight. Locked knees can’t absorb the bumps. Stay low.
• Feet in a line. If both feet land on the centre line one behind the other, like on a tightrope, you lose your balance sideways. Keep them shoulder-width apart.
• Back foot too far forward. The nose digs in. Your back foot belongs near the tail, roughly above the fins, not in the middle of the board.

Drills on land

Practise on the sand before a session, or at home on the floor. Ten good pop-ups a day before your trip will save you a lot of falls.

• Line on the floor. Lie face down along a line (tape, or the seam between floorboards) and pop up. Both feet should land across the line, not on it.
• Slow motion. Do the pop-up in four slow counts: hands, push, feet, stand. Then speed it up until it is one movement.
• Eyes up. Pick a point on the wall in front of you and keep looking at it the whole time.
• Strength and mobility. Push-ups and hip-opening stretches make the movement easier. A low lunge is a good one.

Film yourself on a phone. The video shows you things you can’t feel.

Getting faster in the water

Your first pop-ups will be in the whitewater, the foam left after a wave breaks. It is slow and forgiving, so you have time to think. When your pop-up is fast and steady there, you are ready for unbroken waves, where you need to be on your feet in under a second.

Learn it with feedback

Reading about the pop-up helps, but an instructor who watches you is faster. At Travel Surf Nature in Tamraght, one instructor has a group of 6–8 people at most, so they see every pop-up you make and correct it in the water. Every second evening, the group watches the day’s photos and videos, and you see your own pop-up from the outside.

See the surf lessons for beginners, or send your dates and level on WhatsApp.