Popup for a Shortie

This past weekend was Memorial Day and we were invited out on our friend’s sailboat for a trip to Shell Island.  This barrier island is a hugely popular spot for boaters in the area.  Because there’s limited access there for the tourists, it’s the most local beach around.

We had our boards in tow, so once we arrived at the bay side of the island, we paddled to shore and walked across the island to the gulf.  Jumping off the 50-foot sailboat with our boards looked nothing like this but is was fun navigating through the other boats having their own Memorial Day parties.

Since getting the shortboard for Christmas (okay, no – a 7-foot board isn’t a shortie, but it’s short to me…kinda like my 2004 Volvo, it’s not new, but it’s oh-so new to me), I’ve been diligently practicing my shortboard popup.  When your feet hang off the back of shorter boards, you can’t use them to pop up. This makes it exponentially hard to pop up.

For grins, lay down on your stomach and don’t let your toes touch the ground.

Now try, in one swift motion, to push up with your hands

and swing your legs through to a standing position without using your feet.

I know – it’s tricky.

So after searching “How to do a shortboard popup” on The Google Machine, I found several videos of pre-pubescent guys practicing popups on their shortbards (and annoyingly, making it look very easy). For example: watch this.  Mmm Hmm, “Tada”

Because I’m neither 14 years old, nor 100 pounds with most of my strength in my upper body, I knew I’d have to put some work into getting this down.

Luckily, I enjoy working out; more than that, I enjoy working out toward a goal.  So this was a fun initiative for me.  I did extra pushups, planks, jackknifes on a yoga ball, and tons of popups.  I used my home office (since that’s the only carpeted room in my house) for my nightly popup workout and each time I was thankful that I don’t live in an apartment with anyone below me to hear the thudding.

Through the course of several weeks, I was making progress in getting my feet up closer to my hands.  This is a critical element because if you don’t get your feet pretty much right under your shoulders, you’ll wind up too far back on your board when you stand up, which will weigh down the back of the board and cause you to stall out.

When we got invited on the boat, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take my short(er) board and put all my practice to the test.  It was weird at first, not being able to put my feet down on the board, but I had to figure this out since I can’t surf my “fun board” forever.

Since Ted is officially the most patient person in the world, he offered to push me into the waves so all I had to worry about was my popup.

The practice must have paid off because with the first wave, I took a few paddles then planted my hands directly below my shoulders; with as much power as I could muster, I used my core to whip my feet up pretty close to my hands.

I couldn’t believe it – success on the first try!  I LOVE being rewarded for hard work!

So I did it again and again, working on my speed and getting my feet closer and closer to where they should be.  Even though guys everywhere are doing shortboard popups, it was a thrilling breakthrough for me.

After a while, we figured we should probably get back to the party.  So we started our trek back across the island and out to the boat, where there were a couple of Coronas waiting for us.

Here’s to breakthroughs.