POP UP 101

How to pop up!

Are you interested in learning to surf but have never touched a surf board before? Here are some tips that will help you to gain the strength, flexibility and balance you will need in the water to pop up into your surfing stance. Honestly ladies; even if you can already surf, but your pop up is not on point, it will become hindering to your surfing ability. Check out these tips and exercises. You can practice them at home and all you need is a yoga mat or towel.

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Before we start practicing the pop up you need to find out if you are regular or goofy footed.

Some of you are probably wondering what this means, so let me explain. Regular footed means that you would surf with your left foot in front of your right foot, so that the right foot would be on the back of the board. A goofy footed surfer would be the opposite with the left foot on the back and the right foot in front. Don't worry, it is super easy to figure out, just stand normally with your feet hip distance apart, have a friend or spouse give you a gentle push forward from the center of your back. Which ever foot naturally goes forward is your dominant foot, the foot that will go to the back of the board. Now you are ready for pop up 101!

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Beginner pop up techniques

We have come up with a few different techniques for getting to your feet. Pease try out each technique and see what works best for you.

Knees

Ok so for the first technique you will lay face down on your mat; we are going to pretend our yoga mat is our surfboard. Place your hands under your shoulders on the mat and scoot your knees forward to all fours position. From here you will slide your front foot between your hands, and then step up and plant your back foot. This version works for people who may have tight hips and need a little more time getting stable on the board. Remember, your surf stance should be with your toes facing the side of the board or mat but positioned in the middle of the board with knees bent & looking forward. NOT your feet in a skiers stance and NOT a warrior 2 yoga stance.

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Front foot first…

The next technique, you will come to lying again on your belly, keeping your elbows in close to your side, press your arms straight, and swing your front foot forward between you hands, then plant your back foot. Always keeping a bend in the knees once you have gotten up to both feet and again looking forward.

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Back foot first…

For this one you will lay face down again, bend your back knee and then plant your back foot, step the front foot forward. For those of you with long legs this can be a great technic for you to get to your feet. Stay low, bending in the knees and head lifting up to looking forward.

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Pro pop up

If you can, this is the best version of the pop up, the tricky part to popping up this way is that since you are getting to your feet too fast, they may not be in the correct place on the board. If you can practice at home, pay attention to foot placement.

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What are the steps to a great pop up.

Speed

Firstly, you need to have speed before you can pop up, making sure you have a good strong paddle and getting some forward momentum. You can’t pop up if you can’t catch a wave, so you need to be able to catch a wave.

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When to pop up

When you are first learning, your pop up is different then if you are an intermediate or advanced surfer. Because you are just beginning, it is not necessary to pop up right away. Once you have felt the wave hit you and you are moving forward, you have caught the wave. This is when you want to pop up using whichever technique you have practiced.

If you are an intermediate or advanced surfer you will want to pop up on the top of the wave, as soon as you catch it, pop up right to your feet. Not while dropping down the face and not at the bottom of the wave.

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Hand placement

When popping up, place your hands on the deck (the top of the surfboard). Make sure your hands are under your shoulders and that you apply equal weight to each hand as press your arms straight and pop up.

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Flexibility in the hips

This is a tough one for a lot of people so here are a few poses you can practice on land to help lossen up your hips.

1. Figure four pose is a great pose to begin opening the hips. Against a wall if your hips are really tight.

2. Pidgeon pose for people with a bit more flexibility. Hold the poses on each side for 3-5 minutes.

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Arm Strength

Popping up on land and yoga push ups are great practice to building up the strength you need to pop up and to paddle. The more you practice before-hand, the easier it will be for you when you try on the board. Doing push ups on your knees is a great place to start and gradually making your way to a full push up.

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Foot placement

When you are practicing your pop ups on land try to make sure your feet are a little wider than hip distance apart. Each time you pop up, keep your feet in the center of your yoga mat and make sure to land in that same spot each time. When you are ready to get in the water and surf for the first time, you need to be lying correctly on your board so that when you get to your feet they are in the right spot. We call this spot the sweet spot. You are positioned so that the board is flat in the water. If you are too far forward on the front of the board, the nose will go under. If you are to for back, the nose will go up in the air.

Thanks for reading everyone please feel free to contact me if you have any questions sistersurfcr@gmail.com. Pura Vida , Coco

TRAVELING TO COSTA RICA? WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Costa Rica travel info:

    We all know traveling to a new country by yourself can be a bit intimidating, so I thought I would share with you all some insight on how to prepare for your trip and what to expect when you arrive.

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 Travel info:

            Liberia airport (LIR) is the closest airport to fly into if you are coming to Playa Grande. It is only an hour drive from La Marejada hotel. There are more and more airlines that are flying to LIR now and direct flights from Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and the Mid-west.

           You cannot fly into Costa Rica on a one-way ticket, when you check in for your flight they will ask you to show proof of departure back to your home country. I am guessing most of you are flying on a round trip ticket but if not, you can book a flight with American airlines and cancel for a full refund within 24 hours.

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 Visa Info:

            American and Canadian Citizens do not need to get travel visa for Costa Rica, when you go through customs the normally will write in 90 days as a tourist in the country. The Customs officers will ask you your occupation, how long you are staying the county and where you are staying (La Marejada Hotel in Playa Grande.

 The hotel:

La Marejada is located in the town of Playa Grande. La Marejada is an eight-bedroom boutique hotel, each room has air conditioning and hot water. The hotel has a pool, yoga space, restaurant and a full bar and is just a few minutes’ walk from the beach. 

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Playa Grande:

            The town of Playa Grande is tiny, if you blink you will miss it. We have a few small grocery stores, a school and a handful of restaurants and surf shops. A lot of the people who live here are expats surfers from all over the World. The community welcomes tourism with open arms and people always seem to be coming back here year after year. Both the laid back vibe and the great surf are the main draw to visit Playa Grande.

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The Beach:

            The beach is 3 minutes from the hotel, if you wanted to you could walk on the beach for 7 miles. We surf a few different waves along the beach depending on swell size and direction. All the waves we surf break on sand and in the dry season the water is crystal clear.

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The Weather

We have two seasons here in Playa Grande, dry season (December – April) and wet season (May – November. Dry season is also summer, blue skies every day, high 90’s and very dry. Wet season expect rain every afternoon, the most rain fall in September and October.  Pack lightly or if you need help check out our blog on what to pack for a surf retreat.

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Getting around:

Even though Spanish is the main language in Costa Rica, a lot of people speak English as well. Especially in the beach towns and in tourist areas. It doesn’t hurt to brush up on your Spanish before your trip as the locals love it when you try to speak and most the time people will correct or help you out. Pura Vida is the saying here in Costa Rica meaning pure life.

US dollars are excepted here but for a better exchange rate especially in the smaller Tico shops you may want Colones. The exchange rate is around 590 colones to the US Dollar. Its best to travel with small bills as well because some places don't always have change.

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A day in the life:

Our day to day schedule revolves around the surf conditions. We try to make a point to watch sunset every night, the sunsets here are so beautiful the whole town goes to watch. Here is an idea of what a typical day would look like. (check out our Instagram for the latest pics @sistersurfcr)

6:30 Coffee/ small breakfast

7:00 intro to surfing

7:30 Surf

10:00 Breakfast

11.30 Video Coaching or Classroom session

1:00 Lunch

4:00 Yoga

5:30 Sunset

6:30 Dinner

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LETTING GO OF FEAR

I chose fear as my first blog topic because….

1. Fear is what holds me back the most in my surfing. I recently pulled back on three super sick waves (that for some reason I cant get out of my mind, I just keep playing them in my head on repeat)

2. I feel if you aren't putting yourself in a position where you are getting out of your comfort zone, you aren't going to improve, not just in surfing, but in other aspects of life as well.

Fear comes to people in all different ways in surfing. It may be just diving under a wave for the first time, or fear of turtle rolling or a fear of wiping out and getting hurt. As surf instructors, these are things we can teach and guide you through. However, when you begin surfing on your own, the best advice I can give you is to COMMIT! Commit to dropping in, to paddling out, commit to getting out your comfort zone and take a few wipeouts. Most the time it’s really not that bad, and believe it or not, sometimes it’s good to just get worked and get it out of the way.

Every time you hesitate in surfing you get WORKED! Hesitation is your enemy, and for some reason, the waves I let pass by or chicken out on are the ones that I can’t seem to forget. It doesn’t matter if you are catching a one foot wave or a eight foot wave, find your inner beast and go for it, let go of the fear and COMMIT.

Here is a super sick wave I should have easily pulled into and gotten spat out of, and fortunately, it’s caught on film so I can watch how I chickened out over and over.

A few things to help you let go of your fear:

If you can, surf with a buddy! Having someone at a similar level as you will help in the water. You can push each other in a positive way.

Choose your waves wisely, don't catch the first wave of the set! If you get out to the line up and realize it is way, way too big for you, don't worry, wait for the sets to roll by, then paddle inside as fast as you can and try and catch a smaller wave to shore.

Know your surroundings. Before you paddle out, look for rips or channels. Take a moment to observe where the sets are breaking. Watch the waves for a bit and then make a plan.

Surf etiquette - make sure you know and understand the rules out there in the line up.

Just because all the surfers are on one peak doesn't always mean that's where you should surf (especially at beach breaks). Lots of times the waves are just as good or better right up or down the beach.

Don't forget to communicate in the line up. Even if you are just a beginner surfer, when you have the right of way, don't let people bully you out of waves. Simply say “I am going…” and yell out the direction you are going. A smile and hello in the line up goes a long way. Hoot for people that get sick waves!

Lastly, we are all out surfing because we love it right? The goal is to have fun! So get out there and catch some waves.

SURF & YOGA RETREAT: PACKING LIST

Chelsea talking

I’m heading to Costa Rica next week for our November surf & yoga retreat and have been thinking a lot about packing for my trip. Mastering “the packing” of a surf trip can be tricky business! How do you know what to bring & not to over pack! Even still I usually come home thinking that I could have packed lighter ( but its so hard with so many cute bikinis!!) So I would like to share with you my go to Costa Rica surf & yoga trip essentials.

• BIKINIS

  Bikinis are always the first thing i think about when getting ready for my trip. It’s just hard to choose which ones to bring! Lol. My number one rule when buying suits is they have to be comfortable, cute and stay on while surfing. I normally pack twice as many tops than bottoms because I use them for yoga tops too! on this trip I'm bringing 4 surf bikinis, 1 lounging bikini and 1 long sleeve one piece suit. The long sleeve one piece suits are the best for keeping it all in and not getting terribly sun burnt for those mid day surf sessions! It is baking hot in the middle of the day in Costa Rica so its nice to stay covered.

• Healthy & Reef Safe Sunscreen

  Spending most of my time outdoors sunscreen plays a huge part in my everyday life and over the years I have really learned a lot about what kind of sunscreens we should be using. Our skin is the largest organ on our bodies and we should be lathering it up with yummy chemical free & reef safe sunscreens! It's estimated that each year 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotions end up in the coral reefs, causing coral bleaching and harming marine life. Many popular sunscreens sold world wide contain ingredients that aren’t only toxic to the environment, but also toxic to people, like Oxybenzone which is a chemical most commonly found in these sunscreens and a huge contributor to killing reefs around the world. We need to do our part to treat our oceans & our bodies kindly. Avasol and Raw Elements are a couple sunscreens that I love, work great and smell delicious!

• SARONGS

  For me sarongs are just the best! they pack small and can be used for almost everything ( beach towel, shade maker, skirt, dress) the list goes on! If I had to I'm pretty sure i could survive my whole trip just wearing the sarong. If you don’t have one already there are lots of cute ones to be found here, so no worries!

• Actual CLOTHING

  Usually i pack a cute dress ( the long one in the picture is my favorite handmade by Ranifly ) Yoga pants, couple tank tops and comfy shorts. Anything light and flowy are the best for here in November.

• DIVA CUP

  Ok so here we are at the “diva cup” conversation! Haha! I do have to admit it was pretty hard for Coco & Marjie to get me on board with this whole diva cup idea….But yes they were absolutely right I love it ( especially for surfing )!! They are easy to travel with and no more worrying about anything hanging out from your bikini!!!! Not to mention not adding to the huge amount of single use waste in this world! If your feeling up to it I highly recommend giving this product a go!

• HYDRO FLASK

  There is good drinking water here in Playa Grande so i always bring my refillable water bottle! It keeps your water ( or margaritas ) ice cold which is key in these hot places!! And as always trying to use less single use plastics to keep the oceans clean and animals safe! Playa Grande is a National Park for the leather back turtles, we have to do our part to keep these beautiful creatures coming back here year after year to nest! Defiantly a MUST bring.

• OTHER THINGS

  Leave in conditioner & water proof mascara to keep from looking too salted!!! And I always bring oil of oregano to keep any sickness or infection away ( this is always my number 1 go to ) along with the trustee Ibuprofen for any minor injuries/pains… Also if you are sensitive to bug bites i recommend bringing some benadryl.

Thanks for reading and i hope this can help some of you ladies pack for a surf trip feeling a little more prepared and STOKED! If you have any awesome travel packing tips please leave a comment! I would love to hear about them.