You’re doing it wrong… because you’re not doing it enough, says your pop-up

Here’s what I didn’t want to hear about popping up: You’re doing it wrong… because you’re not doing it enough. Argh.

This week’s pop-up advice comes courtesy of our fellow Girls Who Can’t Surf Good member Kyla Peterson—resident “get better at surfing” adviser and fearless leader of Surfin Fire Surf School in Oceanside, CA. 

Kyla popped up for the first time when she was seven years old, so I’m not sure she fully understands our stuck-on-my-knees plight 😜… but she’s a surf coach, so let’s hear her out.

A few things you might already know:

• Start with the right board: The wider and longer, the more stable—which makes popping up significantly easier.
• Body mechanics matter: Hip mobility is everything for bringing that front knee through. If you’re stuck bringing your leg around the outside of your elbow, you’re already off balance.

Now for some hard truths from Kyla:

“If you’re only going out once or twice a week, you might not really ever see any progress—or it’s going to be extremely slow.”

I don’t like hearing this at all! 😱

Luckily, there are some on-land exercises to help with your pop-up, even when you’re landlocked:

• 🧘‍♀️ Seated hip 90/90s – Improve hip rotation and mobility
• 🏋️‍♀️ Squat stance drills – Build lower-body strength for stability
• 💪 Prone press-ups – Mimic the push-up part of the pop-up
• ⚡ Power push-ups – Build explosive strength for a quick launch

Kyla worked with The Nomadic Athlete (a physical therapist) using these exercises to improve her own pop-up—so we know they work. You can even download his free pop-up guide with video instructions from his website.