Michael Van Mil The front leg looks like it might just be how staggered your hands arw on the board.

For the back leg, when you practice on the land, do you keep your heel raised? I think your leg is rotating out to allow your heel to rest on the board. I think I do the same thing.

But like you said, definitely more factors involved in the water than practicing it on land.

Looked like your board was trimming up and down the wave pretty well, but hard to tell with camera angle how much of the wave face you were using.

Which leg were you referring to as going outside on the popup?

Emily Brooks Nice, last couple years I've had the goal of surfing once a week which quickly turned into trying to average one surf session a week. 

2025 was the year of the frontside cutback/carve for me.  That was my focus on every session where the waves cooperated.  Still want to focus on improving it, but not necessarily obsess over it like I have been.

John Kuras If you can swing it, make a trip to the wave pool in Virginia Beach and do a session or two.  

The camera system records two angles of every ride, so you can walk away with a lot of video footage to analyze.

The thing that helped me the most with this is going for the cutback/carving turn earlier in the wave.  I definitely sacraficed some longer rides, but it increased the number of attempts and I think part of it just comes down to getting in the reps.  Also, like Graham said, I think if you initiate the cutback too far out on the shoulder where the wave is flatter and slower you're more likely to bog it.

Technique wise, the thing I've become most aware of anytime I bog the rail is where I am looking.  I've noticed I am looking down the line while bogging the rail on the top turn rather than looking back toward the foam.  I would try to pay attention to where you are looking when you bog the rail. 

What are your arms doing on the cutback?  Are you able to "pass the coffee" with your back arm and clear your lead arm out of the way, or are they moving across your body in the wrong direction in more of a counter balance motion?  

How is your hip mobility?  It looks like you are lifting your hands off the board to create space for your front foot to step through.  I think you end up with a little too much weight on the back of the board and get a little hung up as a result.

I noticed the toes on your front foot lift off the board on your top turn. Are you aware of that when you're surfing?

I don't know if that's a common thing or not.

Clayton Nienaber The turn you do at the 5:50 mark in this video, would you call that a front side carve or a cutback?

Does this turn have the same look and wait for the board to respond feeling that you describe when doing a cutback, or does this turn feel/happen faster since it's closer to the pocket and more vertical?

Might be wrong, but to me it looks like you need to paddle a little harder. Looks like the wave drew you up closer to the lip where it was pitching over and you had to recover your balance as you dropped down it.

I think your actual pop up looked pretty good.