Hot off the press

Thanks for all the popup tips, and keep them coming, please! They're all going into this computer I call my brain, and one day they may compute.

Today's treat is the freshest Grandma surf report ever, thanks to the fact that I now (temporarily) have wireless internet access at the beach house! I am a mere two hours off the beach, and I'll try to recreate what happened today as best I can. The ideal, of course, would be to write down what happened on each wave as it happened, or perhaps dictate it into a portable waterproof tape recorder, but this is the closest I can get.

Lately I've been practicing my popup on land for at least an hour before I attempt to surf. I did this today. I even videotaped myself practicing in my living room. Today I specifically tried to take M.'s advice not to drag my feet, but to jump up. That is hard as hell, but I can do it. I think. At least I think my feet are both coming up and going back down (got to make another video to be sure). When I do that, I land down in a crouch, which is good---right? With the dragging thing, I just get up pretty much standing up. I don't think I jump very far, but I land crouched down with all my weight on the balls of my feet, heels up in the air. I have seen people ride waves in this position. It's very hard to stand up from it even on land and I am pretty sure I couldn't do it on a speeding wave.

I also practiced what I saw someone do on the beach, that is, bending the back knee sideways off the side of the board just before you take off. I think the point of this is to use the back foot to push yourself up. Doing that, I cannot land down in a crouch. But I can do a little jump, I think, I'm not sure. This might end up a feasible way to pop up. I vowed to try it in the water (but I forgot to).

It was hard to make myself go out, because it was gray and cloudy and I felt pretty crappy physically and emotionally. But I knew I would feel a thousand times better once I got out.

There were as many two foot waves to catch as I wished. I wasn't doing well at first, getting to my knees. Then it occurred to me (and I am not sure this is right, I cannot be sure unless someone watches me or I get it on video) that I am not extending my arms fully before I attempt to stand up. If true, this could be a major cause of my problems. I tried to concentrate on extending my arms and it really seemed to help.

Once, I stood up without knowing how I did it. I was on the wave, actually riding, for about three or four seconds before I fell. Other times, I used my left knee to get up---ouch! It lets me know when I use it now because it hurts! Mostly, I was doing the drag the leg thing because I simply could not fathom how to do the jump as I had on land.

The way I tried to do the jump was to concentrate on fully extending my arms and putting all my weight on them. Then, just telling myself not to use my knees and hoping for a miracle. I still have no idea what parts of the body or muscles you need to use to pop up---if I did, I could concentrate on trying to locate them and using them!

A couple of times it seemed to work; I did get up briefly. And I noticed something completely new: my weight was now on my front leg when I got up. All the other times when I've gotten up and the few times I've gotten rides, my weight has been mostly on my back leg. It felt right to have it on the front leg; is it? I have always slowed down and often stalled out as soon as I got up; it's been like standing up causes the board to slow down or stop, and I don't think it's the wave's fault. That happened today too, but it seemed like it was happening to a lesser degree.

Three or four times, it seemed like I almost had it. The strategy that seemed to be working was this:

1) PLF. Paddle like fuck. (I got this line out of some girls'-guide-to-surfing book; actually. I prefer PLYF. Paddle like you fuck. It works for me.)

2) Extend arms fully.

3) HOP!

I am not sure whether I was doing what I thought I was doing, or whether it was right; I did manage to get my feet on the board without, as far as I know, using knees, and to stand up. But not to ride. I don't think my arms were holding onto the rails, but that is always possible, and there is no way to know.

I might have done better if I hadn't missed the timing on some waves, getting them too late.

All in all, a better session that I expected, and moderately encouraging.

What I really need, and don't have, is someone to watch me every time and either tape me or give me a play-by-play of what I'm doing.