We watch several hundred pop-ups a week. The slow ones nearly always fail for one of three reasons, and none of them is that the surfer is not strong enough.
One: you are waiting to see if the wave works
This is the big one. There is a moment, right after you feel the board catch, where you can either commit or check. Checking costs about half a second, and half a second is the entire window.
The fix is uncomfortable: commit to standing on waves you are not sure about, and accept that you will fall off a lot of them. The alternative — waiting for certainty — guarantees you miss the ones that would have worked.
Two: you are going through the knee
A lot of self-taught surfers pop up in two stages: chest, then knee, then feet. On slow whitewater you get away with it. On anything with a real drop you do not — by the time you get off the knee the wave has gone past you.
Practise on the sand, and practise it slowly. Chest up, back foot lands under your hip, front foot swings through in the same motion. Fifty a day for a fortnight will rewrite it.
Three: you are looking at your feet
You will not find your feet by looking at them, and looking down drops your weight forward at exactly the wrong moment. Pick a point down the beach before you start paddling and keep your eyes there through the whole movement.
A drill that works
On the beach, have someone stand a few metres in front of you holding up a number of fingers. Pop up and call the number. It forces the eyes up and you cannot cheat it.
What not to worry about
Foot placement, at this stage. Everybody wants to know exactly where their feet should land. The honest answer is that it varies by board and by wave, and if you get the timing and the eyes right, the feet mostly sort themselves out.
