Paddle Surf Warehouse Blog

How to survive the impact with a board and paddle

You can’t duck dive it, you can’t wrap your arms around and turtle it, and sometimes you can’t even flip it over. Getting caught inside with approach sets is part of the reality of stand up paddle surfing, and for many surfers it’s down right fun. Stand up paddlers are an interesting crew and for some reason even after taking the royal water whipping of a lifetime, they still come out grinning, and will probably retell the experience with the same excitement that they use when describing the wave of the day. If you haven’t been there yet it’ll come soon enough; the day when you’re caught inside faced with the reality that the next wave looming on the horizon is approaching fast and the lip is going to bear down own you. In this article, you’ll learn how to prepare for impact and come out with a smile.

First, lets set the scene. You are one of half a dozen surfers in the water and eyeball that rogue set approaching. You know, that series of waves that seem to be almost double the size of the normal set waves. Spotting the set, you paddle for the horizon. You guess that there are about 6 waves in the set but you’re not sure because the nearest waves blocks your view of the horizon. One wave passes, and the next one is lined up perfectly for you. If you don’t take this one and next one is any bigger you know you’ll be in trouble, so you smile, turn and drop in. The ride is screaming fast, steep, and eventually closes out blowing you off your board. When you surface and turn your head, the next wave is towing over you and already feathering at the top. There’s no way you are going to be able to hold on to your board, even if you wrap your leash around your paddle. Now what?
First thing, scan down-wave from you to be sure that nobody is going to get hit by your board when the whitewater hits. If there happens to be someone on the inside, and he or she isn’t moving one way or the other, make eye contact, and signal to the surfer to paddle either to the left or the right. If you have time, hop on your board and paddle in the opposite direction, then just before impact, push the board as hard as you can toward the clearing.

What about your paddle? You have to keep it under control and if at all possible, hold on to it so that it doesn’t become a projectile in the water. The blade has the most potential for causing injury or board damage so the goal is to keep the blade out of the way. An easy way to do this is to tuck the blade under you armpit, behind you, and close to your body. With the blade is close to you body, it is less likely to get whipped around hitting you or your board, or getting pulled from your hand. Additionally, with the paddle behind you, if you lean back on it while you’re getting dragged through the water, it’ll help plane you back up to the surface.

What about he board? There isn’t a whole lot you can do with your board. In this article we’re talking about taking the impact from a wave or a size that would make it impossible to hold on to the board regardless of whether or not it has handles or similar attachments. Essentially, your board is left to blow in the wind.

Flip the board over or leave it right side up? In most cases, flipping the board up side down will help reduce the distance the board drags you as you are rolled though the whitewash. Much of this depends on the shape of the wave and the shape of your board. The approaching wave is more sloping and slab-like, leaving the board right side up might be a good idea. For a wave like this, there’s a good chance the board will actually slide up the face of the wave and poke through the peak even if you, yourself may be underwater.

Ready for impact? As the wave hits, stay calm and hold on. Depending on the wave you’ll most likely have one of two experiences, and occasionally a combination of the two. If the wave is a big slabby, crumbly wave, you’ll most likely go through the spin cycle. You may lose you orientation about which way is up. Kicking trying to swim through all of this is usually a waste of energy and the precious oxygen in your lungs. Just stay relaxed and wait for things to calm down some before making your way to the surface. Since paddles float, you’ll easily know which way is up. If the wave is steep and barreling, after the initial impact, you’ll most likely get pushed really deep, sucked up over the falls, rolled through the whitewater, sucked back up, and sent back down over the falls a second time. Just before you get sent back over the falls, you can sometimes get a breath of foamy air to make things a little easier.

Resist the drag or go with it? Leash breakage has quickly become a fact of life for many stand up paddle surfers. Big boards and big waves can put excessive stress on leashes. How does this relate to resisting the drag of the whitewater or going with the flow? Simply put, if you resist being dragged along, you’re more likely to snap your leash, thus setting you up for a long swim in. If you streamline your body and go with the flow, you’ll get washed further in, but your leash is more likely to be intact. Many surfers prefer to roll with the punches rather than make the long swim in. They say it’s like riding a wild underwater waterslide. The choice is yours.

Once the smoke clears and you’re back to the surface, survey the scene and get ready to do it all again. Remember to smile. The spin cycle is all part of the stand up paddle game. While nothing is absolutely predictable, when you know what to expect and you know what to do, getting caught inside isn’t always the nightmare it can be made out to be. Use wisdom and be prudent in your decision to paddle out in bigger surf. Like the signs read at all the beaches in Hawaii, “If in doubt, don’t go out!” Have fun, be safe, and enjoy the ride.

Standup Paddle Foot Placement

Getting stuck on a bottom turn? Not generating enough down the line speed? Getting hung up on the lip? With big boards and big paddles, it’s time for some fancy footwork. This article is an introduction to foot placement for stand up paddle surfing. Check back soon for more advanced techniques.

As opposed to traditional prone paddle shortboard surfboards, the massive size of a stand up paddle surfboard requires strategic foot placement to get the board to respond both driving down the line and cranking turns off the bottom and off the top. With time, getting your board to respond will become second nature, but until then, planning your actions beforehand and following these tips will get you longer and safer rides on any stand up paddle surfboard.

Where should my feet in flat water?
Flat water paddling is the best place to get familiar with your board before taking it into the surf. You should be totally familiar and have total control over your board in flat water before taking it into the surf where you will add a whole set of new variables to the sport. Now, where should your feet be? For easy cruising on a lake, find the center point of the board and stand with your feet in a parallel stance. This will feel most comfortable and will also give the most stability. For most boards, the nose should be out of the water for an inch or who and the tail should not be totally sunk.
The exact position will vary from board to board. For example, some Infinity surfboards have the balancing point just forward of center, while Paddle Surf Hawaii surfboads have the balancing point just back of center. Once you find the balancing point, it may be useful to put some stickers or markings on your board for quick reference while you’re up and paddling.

Where should I stand for my power stroke?
When it’s time to really power into your stroke either in flat water or when paddling for a wave, many feel that they are able to generate some extra power by staggering their feet slightly. When taking off on a wave, a slighly staggered stance will give you increased front to back stability as the swell rises behind you, however the side to side stablity may be compromised if you don’t have any forward momentum. Use the paddle the get moving and try staggering your feet a little and you’ll discover what feels most natural for you.

After taking off on a wave, where do I put my feet?
Right after takeoff, move your feet back toward the tail to setup for your turn off the bottom. On a shorter board or a board with the balancing point more back of center, a quick shuffle may do the trick. However, on extra long boards or boards with a more forward balancing point, a graceful cross step may be necessary, especially if you’re taking off on the nose.

I’m just not getting the glide I need to get into a wave, is it my feet?
It could be. If your feet are too far back, you’ll be sinking your tail and creating excessive drag while you’re paddling. Likewise, if you feet are too far forward, your board will be pushing water as you plow through the water like a bulldozer. The goal is to get the board to plane as smoothly and quickly as possible at the moment just before takeoff. The quicker and smoother your paddling, the more even and controlled your takeoff will be.

After my bottom turn, the board is stalling out on me? How can I make the section to the shoulder?
Footwork could be the answer. In plain and simple terms, while you’re riding a wave, if you move your feet forward, you will go faster. If you move your feet back, you will slow down and eventually stall out. As the wave changes shape your wave riding will turn into a surf dance of grace and power to keep the board in the pocket of the wave and sail through the critical sections and to the channel where you can paddle back out to the lineup.

Footwork is key for any surfer. I shift in your stance will open up the performance of your board. Master your footwork and you’ll really be having fun out there. Check back soon for more advanced stand up paddle foot positioning techniques.

The History of Stand Up Paddle Surfing

Stand up paddle surfing, or SUP, is a surface water sport, a variant of surfing where the surfer uses a paddle to move through the water while standing on a surfboard. Stand up paddle surfing is derived from its Polynesian roots. The Hawaiian translation is Ku Hoe He’e Nalu; to stand, to paddle, to surf, a wave.

The popularity of the modern sport of SUP has its origination in the Hawaiian Islands. In the early 1960s the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. This is where the term “Beach Boy Surfing” originates, another name for Stand Up Paddle Surfing.

In the early 2000s Hawaiian surfers such as Dave Kalama, Brian Keaulana, Rick Thomas, Archie Kalepa and Laird Hamilton started SUP as an alternative way to train while the surf was down. As the years went on they found themselves entering events such as the Moloka’i to O’ahu Paddleboard Race and Mākaha’s Big Board Surfing Classic. Now you can find Stand Up Paddle Surfers in many of the Outrigger and Paddleboard races as participants within their own division.

One difference between the modern idea of surfing and SUP is that the latter does not need a wave. In SUP, one can paddle on the open ocean, in harbors, on lakes, rivers or any large body of water. One of the advantages of Stand Up Paddle Surfing is the angle of visibility. Because of the standing height over the water one can see both deeper into the water and further across the surface of the water, allowing better visualization of features others lower above the water may not be able to see, whether it is the marine life in the harbors, lakes and coves or the incoming swells of the ocean marching on the horizon.

For an amazing article about John Zabotocky, the worlds oldest Stand Up Paddle Surfer see the C4 website (who also make excellent paddles - its the ones we use !).

UPDATE :

Thanks to Andre at mylocallineup.com, an excellent surfing and SUP website, has alerted me the this picture :

The picture was taken by Peter Henry Emerson in 1886. It’s called “Quanting the Marsh Hay.” It is likely that the photo was taken in the East Anglian fenlands in the UK, as that is where Peter Emerson took most of his photographs.

The main question is he holding a punt or a paddle? I think I know the answer, given the location, but lets not spoil the moment.

I would like to believe that East Anglia is the origional source for flat water stand up paddling, so lets not ruin that dream.

Check out the guy in the background, now that guys board has a little too much thickness in the rail.