How to pop up on a longboard

The whole point of a longboard is glide. You catch the wave early, way before it stands up, the wave lifts you cleanly, and you walk to your feet. The pop-up matches the boat: patient, controlled, and never rushed.

Try to pop up like a shortboarder, fast, explosive, knees off the deck, and you'll bury the nose, lose your trim line, and miss the whole point of the log. Longboards reward calm. Use it.

Most failed pop-ups are lost before you even press up. Three things to get right while you're still paddling:

• Hand position. Hands flat on the deck, palms down, just under your shoulders. A touch wider than you'd put them on a shortboard, the board is wider, so your stance is wider.
• Paddle long and deep. Long boards paddle fast, that's a gift. Three or four full-length strokes once you feel the wave lift the tail, then let the wave carry you.
• Eyes. Look down the line, where the wave is going to break next, not at the nose, not at your hands, never at your feet.

On a traditional log, the two-step is the move. Knee through, foot replaces knee, back foot to stance, stand up. It looks unhurried because it is, and on a 9'6" single-fin glider it's exactly right.

On a performance log, a hybrid or a mid-length, you can absolutely use the shortboard-style one-motion pop-up, and on steeper waves you should. Press, back foot lands first, front foot slides through, land low. Same as a shorty, just with more time, more board under you, and more room to land.

This is the move when the wave is bowling, when you're paddling into a peak rather than gliding into a shoulder, or when you want to drop into the pocket and turn. It's not the move for nose-rides or trim-and-glide.

Longboard stance is wider than a shortboard stance, a touch wider than your hips, sometimes more. Front foot angled around forty-five degrees toward the nose. Back foot sits across the stringer well forward of the fin, not back on a traction pad, longboards usually don't have one.

Weight is centred or just slightly forward to keep the board trimming, never back on the tail, that's a shortboard pivot position and on a log it just bogs the rail. Soft knees, chest open, eyes down the line.

• Popping up too early. Wait for the wave to actually lift the tail. Pop in flat water and you'll slide off the back.
• Standing tall too quickly. Keep the knees soft. You'll adjust your trim by shifting weight, not by standing straighter.
• Hands too far forward. Pushing on your chest instead of under your shoulders robs you of the press.
• Looking at your feet. The log goes where you look. Look at the deck, you'll ride straight into the whitewater.
• Weight back like a shortboarder. A log bogs on the tail. Centre your weight, or shift forward, never back, unless you're setting up a cutback.
• Treating it like a shortboard pop-up. Explosive and twitchy doesn't fit the boat. Smooth and calm does.

The pop-up is muscle memory whether you ride a shorty or a log. Build it on dry land where you can drill fifty reps without getting tired from paddling.

• Twenty pop-ups, every morning. Ten slow and clean, knee through, foot replaces knee, for the two-step. Ten faster and explosive for the one-motion. Both are tools you want in the kit.
• Tape a longboard outline. Lay tape on the floor matching your log's outline so you can see exactly where your feet are landing. Front foot at forty-five degrees, back foot across the stringer well forward of where the fin would be.
• Slow-motion drills. A log pop-up isn't about power, it's about control. Do a few reps in slow motion, paying attention to balance and foot placement, before you do anything fast.

Long, peeling waves are a longboarder's best friend, and South Wales has them when the swell goes right. Small days at Llangennith, knee-to-waist-high on a sand-bottom point, or a clean small swell at Caswell on the push, give you the long, forgiving rides where you can really commit to the calm two-step pop-up.

Bigger, steeper days, Rest Bay on a punchier swell, or a peaky day at Freshwater West, favour the one-motion variant. Bodhi will tell you which is which on any given day. That's the whole point of the app.