How fast is a pop up supposed to happen in mushy waves?

Hi everyone! I'm an beginner-intermediate and I'm currently surfing regularly in Kata Beach Thailand (so beach break with mushy waves). One thing I noticed is that when I paddle for a wave and it starts picking me up I have very little time to do my pop up and it's nothing like I've seen in certain videos where surfers can maintain the cobra position for a while before popping.

It's pretty annoying because it's preventing me from focusing on the perfect pop up technique, I feel like it's happening so fast that I can't think or control what I'm doing. Is this normal and related with the type of waves (small mushy beach break waves) or is it a sign that I should be paddling way earlier or even something else?

Thanks!