Help with stance

Jabba · Post by **Jabba** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:45 am

All, could really do with some suggestions on how I can improve stance. No matter how hard I try, in the heat of the moment the knees seem to attract each other and weld themselves together resulting in me falling over myself at some point in the ride.

I know this is screwing up my potential to advance and would really appreciate any advice you can give on off and on water techniques to get my legs spread (can't believe I just said that!)

Many thanks

C.P.Odom · Post by **C.P.Odom** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:52 am

Same problem here, I attribute it to the narrow boards with handles of my youth. I can get my knees apart if I have time to think about it but not on late drops.

Doc Turbo has suggested his technique using a large exercise ball and learning to balance on top of it on your knees.

My son learned it properly from the beginning with hundreds of dry land pop-ups.

I may also try using my kids large homemade "Indo Board" on my knees after I add some padding to them.

Jabba · Post by **Jabba** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:05 am

like the medicine ball idea and will give this a go - sure to get muscle memory settled down on land and hopefully translate into the water

Eric Carson · Post by **Eric Carson** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:57 pm

My boards are 23" + and I try to position my thighs against my forearms when I pop up.

wolruss · Post by **wolruss** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:48 pm

Jabba, I s'pose it depends on whether your a tail steerer or a rail to rail style surfer. Rail to rail, you would need to "spread 'em like a slut" to get the leverage you require to throw a 'full on' rail turn (I imagine your riding a three fin board as you would only need to nod in the direction of the turn for a 4 finner)(WATCH IT FLY NOW

)
I used to watch a mate of mine (stand up) when he began to surf and he would always have his eyes on his feet when taking off - ran over quite a few guys in the process too. But as he progressed as a surfer, not only did other surfers stay out of his way

he started to automatically land in exactly the right stance for the wave and developed into a great surfer in this area. Perhaps you could develop an approach, [possibly a hand on the deck in between your knees] when you get up. I know that sometimes I have the same trouble when on a tricky take off with a number of facets to consider in a small space of time. Perhaps getting a hold of some of Simon Farrer's DVD's and watching those might give a clue as to what you could incorporate into your take off..
Hope this all helps.

Cheers Wolruss

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:27 am

i draw in wax on my deck pad.... put wax circles where i want the front of my knees to land...

im goofy so my right knee is sometimes like 6 inches forward of my left....

Its good to have a piece of wax in your boardies/wetty ..... When your pulling off a wave, after a good ride , look down at where your knees are and mark the spots.....

C.P.Odom · Post by **C.P.Odom** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:10 am

I think the whole discussion needs to go deeper. What about hand position and style of pop-up? I have noticed two distinct styles of getting up. one is a type of push-up with hands flat on the deck and the other is hands on the rail and elbows on the deck. I do the push-up and I think this may be the lesser of the styles causing the knees to drop inside the hand width.

Any comments?

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:50 am

CP, I use the push up style pop up and my knees are pretty far apart so I don't think that's it. Kneemo, I like the thighmaster tip, gonna have to get me one of those, does Suzanne Sommers still sell them?

Fossil Man · Post by **Fossil Man** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 9:45 am

Interesting point CP on the "pop-up", I've always been a rail grabber on pop-up but since I started wearing the H20 webbed gloves years ago,I've noticed it's a lot better to keep those "flappy" things up, out of the water flow. I'd review clips of Simon, studying hand placement on deck until my wife was ready to smack me in the head with the remote. Don't know which way works better for " knee spread", I too always seem to revert back to knees together on hectic vertical drops, guess that's what happens when you start out on a 20 1/2 " wide Haydu as a grom.

C.P.Odom · Post by **C.P.Odom** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 12:39 pm

Ah, 20.5 would have been real roomy compared to the 18.5ʻs that I started on. There will be a picture posted real soon of my son Evan holding his age 12-13 starter boards and my age 12-13 starter boards.

eqKneelo · Post by **eqKneelo** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 1:05 pm

Kneemo-
Rex and GG needed a hand on the rail to bottom turn.
They were "pulling" their bottom turns because of their need to flex the fin and board (GG... who would snap outta a BT with more speed than he went into it with... mindblowing at the time) or overpower straight rails and fin placement. (Rex)

Watch video... not still pics.
Simon or Novo or Gavin drive their upper bodies off their boards and into the turn, and drive their knees, shins, and feet into the rail.
Their speed coming outta those BT's in unparalleled... which is why they can attack the lip like no one before them.

Gotta have a wide stance to do that.

C.P.Odom · Post by **C.P.Odom** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:30 pm

Ed is spot on. The way Simon, Nov, and Gavin turn is almost identical to the power released on a perfect golf swing. If you read the classic book "Ben Hoganʻs Golf Swing Fundamentals" you will see that the mechanics are very similar. Do it right and the power is incredible, but like many endeavors there are very few right ways and many wrong ways to do something.

Jabba · Post by **Jabba** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 4:06 pm

Guys - thanks for all of the feedback, have plenty to work on. I have been following Simon's videos which is in part where I got the distinct impression that I was doing something wrong. the main issue is have is with regards to balance and the fact that a wider stance equates to more stability in my mind.

Have found a product called Indo Board (further to medicine ball suggestion) which looks to provide me with a good balancing exercise as well as stance improvement (read that as spread em like a slut - thanks wolruss!)

Will keep on working on it - thanks again

skeg · Post by **skeg** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:51 am

Maybe, do some pop-ups on the sand a few times before hitting the water. Hi all, I'm new to kneeboarding. Sometimes I pop-up well above the kneepads. (Am arm paddling with sternum positioned just forward of two pad setup.) On a couple of occassions the waves were small and weak. Instinctive compensation or a bad habit to get into?

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:46 am

Jabba wrote:
Have found a product called Indo Board (further to medicine ball suggestion) which looks to provide me with a good balancing exercise as well as stance improvement (read that as spread em like a slut - thanks wolruss!)

Jabba, speaking of Indo Board, they now have a 24" diameter rubber disc/base that you fill with air for placing under your (definned) surfboard/kneeboard. You can practice popups, wide stance etc. all in the comfort of your own home.

Anyway it's called the Gigante. www.indoboard.com