Advanced SUP Techniques

Written by Tom English
www.AlohaWealth.com

When people ask me why I surf with a paddle, my response is usually, “because it’s fun”. But when I think about it, it is really about the speed and power that a high performance board and paddle make possible. The paddle allows you to lean into turns harder and gives you more control. I think of the Rolling Stones classic, Let it Bleed, “We all need someone to lean on, and baby you can lean on me”, when I’m leaning into a turn that wouldn’t be possible with out the paddle.

You will find some advanced Stand Up Paddle surfers doing certain turns without the paddle, but in Stand Up Paddle Surfing, the spectacular, ripping, slashing stuff is all about the paddle, and rightly so. Not only is the paddle the key to extreme lean angles, it’s also a tool for tuning your turns, recovery, and either slowing or speeding your board–abilities that traditional surfers largely do without. The richness and radical capabilities that a paddle adds to standard longboard repertoire is already making the best SUP surfers stand out. And it’s really just early days–there’s so much more to come.

Here are a few techniques that I have learned by talking to and watching some of the best surfers in the world. Some were discovered the hard way, by trial and error. I will attempt to tell you the dynamics of these techniques, but you should understand that the key to these maneuvers is time in the waves, working to perfect them. I can give you some idea of where to put your feet, where the paddle goes, and when to turn, but muscle memory, coordination and experience is the only way that you will really own advanced maneuvers.

Don’t neglect the “working to perfect” part of that statement. Getting into waves and surfing for fun will improve your abilities but it takes a very long period of time. You have to have some idea of what you are trying to accomplish, and at least SOME of the time work towards perfecting particular moves in order to make rapid progress. The pioneers of surfing invented all this stuff without knowing what was possible, or perhaps more importantly, what was impossible. But that took decades. We can learn from them quickly if we pay attention to what and how they are doing their dance.

Take off Fade

A fade is a turn that starts off softer and higher in the wave than a true bottom turn. Paddle with your feet in your surfing stance, not parallel stance. Set your board up to glide towards the peak of the wave. As the curl approaches, pressure the inside rail hard, swing your shoulders into the wave, and change directions leaning on your paddle. Notice the flex of the paddle in this picture. Note also that the turn is well underway before the board reaches the bottom of the drop.

When you fall in a fade it will almost always be on the inside of the turn. There are three likely flaws:

• You didn’t maintain pressure on the rail, and the board straightened out while your body was still extended into the turn
• You leaned too far for the sharpness of your turn
• You didn’t swing your shoulders and press on the paddle hard enough.

When you do this turn right, the board will come up under your feet as the turn finishes. Keep your ankles and knees soft at the end of the turn to allow the board to come back under you.

Bottom Turn

The paddle can be used as a pivot point so you can compound the speed generated from the drop into more speed. This allows you to make sections that would be impossible without the paddle. You can also use the speed to propel yourself straight up to the lip. Drop into the wave with your knees bent, hips and shoulders level, looking down the face. At the bottom of the wave set your inside edge, place the paddle into the wave and lean on it. The harder you lean on the paddle, the sharper you will turn, leading to more speed. Trial and error will help you develop a great bottom turn combining power and style.

Notice that the turn is being initiated at the bottom of the wave, the board is trimmed somewhat flat to maintain speed but the inside rail is carving. the paddle is digging at the face, providing a pivot point that slings the board around. You enter the turn with your body centered, and as you set the rail to turn and plant your paddle you bend your knees and ankles to power into the turn. as the board reaches the tightest part of the turn, your shoulders should be facing the wave and the rail should be evenly weighted between your front and back foot. As the board starts to climb the face the wave will add power and increase board speed quickly. It’s the tightness of the turn around the pivot that adds speed. The more gentle bottom turn done without a paddle lets the board track further from the base of the wave, which means the board slows before the wave catches up and the face starts adding power.

Typical flaws for bottom turns are:

• Placing too much weight on the back of the board, which pushes water and slows the board.
• Keeping the upper body pointed down the line at the apex of the turn, which ends the turn too soon and compromises balance.
• Not leaning hard into the paddle, which opens the turn, allowing the board to get too far from the wave face, causing the board to lose speed.

Note in the picture above that the rider is nearly at the apex of the turn. His shoulders are turning to face the wave. when he reaches the apex they will be squared to the wave. His paddle is firmly planted, digging hard in the wave face. His speed is maintained because he is very close to the base of the wave, the board hasn’t swooped away from the wave before the turn was initiated.

Cutbacks

The cutback is where you redirect the speed generated by a proper bottom turn. Proper use of paddle allows you to carve cutbacks with grace and power. My favorite cutbacks are the “Butter the Muffin”, “Layback Carve”, and the “The Snap”. All turns rely heavily on the paddle. The techniques are similar, but use different amounts of speed and torque.

All cutbacks tend to lose speed, both because of the direction reversal and because the bottom of the turn is executed past the base of the wave. The more aggressive the cutback, the less speed is lost.

Butter the Muffin – A hot muffin that melts butter as you effortlessly glide the knife over it is the inspiration of our first cutback. Think about that while performing this turn. You will need a fast, down the line wave and a proper bottom turn to set up this turn. Place the paddle into the water behind you and gently lean on it as you place your board on its rail. This turn is the most gradual of cutbacks and looks and feels great when performed properly. Keep the image of the knife (your paddle) gliding across the muffin in your mind as you lean into this cutback. This turn takes up a lot of real estate, sometimes 20 yards onto the shoulder of the wave and another 20 yards back to the curl.

Notice the back foot planted firmly on the inner rail, and lots of heel pressure making the rail carve. The paddle is steadying the turn, and providing a dragging pivot. Pressing outward with the rear foot will tighten the turn, but can drop you into the inside.

Butter the Muffin doesn’t require the commitment of the next two cutbacks, and so it’s the first backside paddle move you’ll be likely to learn.

Layback Carve – Leleo Kinimaka demonstrates this classic turn which allows you to carve hard on a fast moving wave using the paddle and your body as leverage to redirect your speed back into the curl. This turn uses much less real estate than the “Butter the Muffin”. Place the paddle sharply into the wave behind you set your board on its edge. Bend your knees and place your body over the edge of the board and lean on your paddle. A low center of gravity is critical here. Increase the pressure on your paddle and get your body as low as possible to create a pivot point at the top of the wave. Your butt, back and paddle can actually be partially submerged in the breaking wave. Turn your head back to admire the spray. Trial and error is really required here to teach you the proper amount of speed and torque that is possible.

You will generally fall to the inside on this turn, mostly from simply not committing fully to the turn. You need a lot of rail pressure, and you need to maintain it until the board comes back under your body. Bending your knees deeply is also critical. The momentum of this turn will not return your body to vertical, the board has to come around. If it doesn’t swing sharply enough you’ll be left hanging out over the wave–briefly. Note how Leleo bends his knees to gather the board back underneath him.

The Snap – A snap is a 180 turn executed on the wave face. Here Kevin Coffman executes this tighter version of the Layback Carve. Approach the steep part of the wave and lean hard on your paddle with your body over the edge of your board. Put as much weight over the fins as possible. This can also lead to a fin drift if you crank the turn hard enough.

This turn is executed mostly in the tail. The forward section of the inner rail is free of the wave, waving in the air, as in this photo.

Your back foot drives the board through the turn, spinning it around your front foot. The rail angle needs to be extreme. This is not a great turn for single fin boards, though they can certainly execute it in the right hands. Thrusters or a quad setup will help you by keeping a fin buried in the water at even an extreme lean angle.

The snap is executed with full commitment. You don’t lean into the turn and carve the rails, you dig back and pull the nose around.

All Together

All these turns get linked together into a sequence on the wave. Here’s a full sequence of turns on a nice wave. No shortboard surfers were injured in the filming of this sequence. The first turn looks a bit reckless due to foreshortening by the telephoto lens.

Take Off Fade

Setting up–notice the surfer stance, knees bent, shoulders and hips level, board trimmed flat to accelerate down the face

Changing trim–the board is still trimmed mostly flat and weight is even front to back feet, but he’s starting to bring some weght to the inside rail

Down the line–shoulders squared to the wave, look down the line, bringing the paddle forward

Toe pressure–flex the knees and ankles, applying more pressure to the rail, continue bringing the paddle forward

Picking up speed–rail pressure continues, weight balanced front to back, Shoulders facing forward in preparation to swing

Oops–He’s flattened out the board in preparation to swing. A natural reaction, like swinging your car a little right to turn left. Perhaps not necesary, but no big deal. On the plus side he has brought the board squarely under his hips, and he poised to put power into the turn

Leaning in–Preparing to plan the paddle, toes pressing the rail, knees soft

Plant and push–the paddle is starting to dig, providing focus for the turn. shoulder are swinging into the turn, knees and ankles pressing the rail down, the board is trimmed to carve with weight still largely equal on front and back feet

Dig and push–this body angle would be unlikely for such a relatively soft turn on a longboard. The paddle is enabling the weight to be hard on the rails, head and shoulders extended well over the rail

Recovering–Paddle is still planted hard with lots of pressure, knees and ankles soft but keeping the rail planted and carving. Weight is still fairly evenly distributed, making the board turn on the rails rather than swing on the tail

Recovered–the board is back under his hips, paddle still planted to stabilize. Shoulders pointed into the wave, the board is almost completely under his hips.

Butter the Muffin

Preparing to buttah–board trimmed mostly flat, running up the face

Drag and shift–plant the paddle, rotate weight to the heels. For a tighter turn, step the rear foot to the backside rail

Backside paddle–allow the paddle to track behind the board to the back side, dig hard. Lean back against the rail and the paddle. the knike starts to butter the muffin. Weight is fairly even front to back–this turn is also on the rail.

Recovering–soft knees and ankles combined with paddle pressure allow the board to slide under the hips and recover balance. Board trimmed flat and gaining speed

Bottom Turn

Gain speed–the board is trimmed mostly flat, accelerating down the face. Hips and shoulders flat, Weight centered on front and back feet

Still accelerating–board trimmed flat, even weight, swinging paddle forward to plant it.

At the bottom–board is at maximum speed for this angle, paddle ready to plant, weight even front and back

Stuff and go–paddle planted hard, press hard on the inner rail with toes, knees forward, ankles forcing the inner rail down. Shoulders and head starting to swing into the face

Digging the pit–Max pressure on the paddle to pivot around it, The board is clear of the face of the wave, running on momentum. Shoulders have swung towards the face, maintaining pressure on the rail. Weight slightly favors back foot

Recovering–starts relaxing rail pressure, the board is coming under the hips

Recovered–board is trimmed flat, gaining power from the wave face. You’ve gotta wonder–does he have enough speed to clear that section

Running–faded turn to gain some speed in front of the foam

Swing and drive–another soft turn to chase the shoulder

Almost there

Traversing whitewater–pressing the paddle back into the whitewater adds stability and keeps the tail of the board light to maintain speed. Whitewater pushing the tail down is what usually dumps surfers in the soup

Reaching to plant–with the shoulder near, he starts to pull up into the face in preparation for a snap.

Paddle Snap

Boiingg–The snap is done on the steepest section of the face of the wave, shoving the nose around with the back foot. Here the paddle is planted, he has stepped back in preparation to get weight on the tail, and is ready to shift weight back. At this point the board is still mostly flat because his weight is still distributed front and back.

Whang–leaning back hard into the paddle and shoving hard with the rear foot, weight heavily on the rear foot, allowing the board to pivot on the front foot.

Recovering–paddle still bracing, the board is starting to come under the hip. at this point the knees and ankles must go soft to let the board slide under your hips

Almost there–residual rail pressure start the board carving and lets the rails dig, where before they were sliding. Still bracing on the paddle because the board is not fully under the hips.

Recovered–the board is trimmed almost flat and is accelerating in the steep face of the wave

Turning Out
Turning out is just a bottom turn that doesn’t end. You simply keep the rail planted until you are facing out of the wave and drive over the lip.

Bounce to reverse–as the board comes fully under the hips he starts to pull the paddle forward and shift weight towards the toes to start another bottom turn. The board is trimmed flat and accelerating down the face

Leaning and digging–the paddle has swung forward, pressure hard on the rails from the ankles, shoulders squared to the hips and pointed down the line

Accelerating down the face–weight slightly back, pivoting around the planted paddle

Maintain the turn–instead of flattening the board at the base of the turn, you simply keep the rail carving until the board is facing out of the wave

Over da lip–as the board comes over, the board will unweight and try to shed you. Planting your paddle to the inside is a good plan

Adios

Have fun with this stuff, but practice moves too. The rapid improvement in your surfing will make it all much more fun and enable you to take on tougher condition

Summary

All advanced moves require time and effort to perfect, and they all are just starting points. As you perfect your own style you’ll add personal characteristics to each manuver that will not only make your results more consistent, they will lead to new ideas to try. SUP surfing is a new sport, as good as the top level SUP surfers are today, understand that there is a very long way to go.

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SUP Surfing 101 Basic Track Chapter 1

This post is the first in a very long series (I hope) on surfing your SUP. A lot of people are buying SUP boards just for flatwater paddling. More power to them, but there may come a day when you decide you’d like to try a bit of surfing. The good news is that all the things you’ve learned in paddling flatwater–balancing on the board, paddling techniques, turning, moving around on the board–will all come into play. The bad news is that it’s not nearly enough.

This series will give you practical knowledge about surfing. It won’t teach you to do it–only time in the water can do that. But it will accelerate your learning by showing how to best spend that time.

I’m not qualified by long experience to teach you to SUP surf. I’m a writer who SUP surfs. The knowledge here comes largely from other, more experienced people and from the lessons I’m learning as I take the same path you will take. I’ve been doing SUP surfing for about two years, but I do it intensively. I live in Portland, Oregon and Haiku, Hawaii, and I SUP surf and paddle in both places. I have the luxury of time–I’m semi-retired. I try to get in the water every day and probably succeed about 300 days per year. When I’m in the water I don’t just play, I’m always trying to learn new things.

Chapter 1 Section 1
Etiquette, safety, and wave knowledge

Step one is to reassess your swimming ability. When you’re SUP surfing, as opposed to flatwater paddling, you’ll be in rougher water, and you’ll have a higher likelihood of losing your board, even if you have a leash. You need to be able to swim to the beach from wherever you are surfing. In some cases, like reef breaks, that could be a mile. You also may be swimming in currents, chop, whitewater and breaking waves. Beef up your swimming before you tackle surfing.

Step two is to practice your breath-holding. It’s easy to get held down by a wave, even in relatively small surf. You might be held down for just a few seconds, or it might be more like fifteen. In very rare cases you might have to hold your breath for thirty seconds. That may not sound like much when you’re sitting on a couch, but it can be difficult. It’s worthwhile to practice holding your breath while you’re doing inactive pursuits, like watching the TV, and especially worthwhile to practice swimming underwater. The key to surviving a long hold-down in a big wave is not to panic. The only way to train yourself not to do that is to experience it many times. Start small–trust me, a hold-down from a chest-high wave can scare the hell out of you.

Etiquette and Safety
Before you venture into the water you should know what the surf community expects of you. There aren’t any true rules other than to respect the people you are going to surf with. But there are some customs and expectations you should know about. The “rules” of the SUP community are contained in a site called SUPright (HTTP://WWW.SUPright.com). these rules will change over time as other people add refinements to them, but here is what this site says today:

First thing to understand is that there really aren’t rules–not yet anyway. Right now there are simply ways that the community of SUP surfers believe we should act. If you don’t follow these ways, someone might yell at you, and people might think you’re a jerk, but that’s it.

And that’s the best reason of all to follow these ways–because we don’t want that to change. Join the community and share the stoke because that is what makes surfing–all surfing–so very special. Don’t put yourself outside of that by being an idiot.

Beginners and experts have a different set of responsibilities. We’re going to take pains to explain everything as clearly as possible, which will make this a little tedious. If you find that too slow just jump to the summary at the end.

Beginners
What’s a beginner? Well obviously if it’s your first week on a SUP and you’re still falling in every few minutes you’re an absolute beginner. Once you get into waves you’d probably count yourself a beginner if you can’t turn easily without falling. But the definition needs to be a little more precise.

Beginner: You can paddle out past the breaking waves without falling when knee high whitewater hits you. You can pick the right place to be in a wave, paddle to the right spot and turn in front of the wave without falling, then catch the wave.

Intermediate: In waist high waves you can do a bottom turn, a cutback, and turn out of the wave without falling. When you do fall you can grab your board. Your leash is rarely needed.

Beginners have no business in a popular break. You’ll get in the way, you can get hurt if a closeout wave or set comes through, if you catch a wave and fall you’ll lose your board to the end of your leash. Almost everything you do will endanger yourself and endanger other surfers. Paddle away from the break, find some small waves and practice.

One very important thing to practice is controlling your board. If you watch experienced surfers you’ll almost never see their boards at the end of their leash. They either turn out of waves at the end of their ride, or in the rare cases that they fall they grab the board as they fall.

The leash DOES NOT prevent your board from hurting other people. When your body is outstretched, being dragged by your runaway board you have four feet of body, perhaps ten feet of leash and eleven feet of board. That’s at least a 25 foot radius you can hurt other people within. Your board will generally be in the wave, sticking out just waiting to nail another surfer.

One disciplined way to practice controlling your board is to surf BY YOURSELF without a leash. By yourself means NO ONE in the water who could be hit by your board–all the way to the beach, because that’s probably how far you’ll have to swim to regain your board. You can certainly simulate this with a leash if you don’t want to do all that swimming, but going leash-less is a useful training aid and a commitment. Just never do it around other people.

If you are a beginner, and you want to paddle out and watch the more advanced surfers, stay in the channel (which should be obvious–it’s the way most surfers will be returning to the lineup) and sit down. Don’t wobble around in the lineup and loom over all the prone surfers. It’s rude and intimidating.

Intermediate: If you can execute basic surf maneuvers without falling and can control your board, you should be welcome in an uncrowded lineup. If the crowd grows you should paddle off to the side or go looking for new spots. Your SUP board can catch waves that longboarders can’t. Don’t be a sheep, you don’t have to be in the pocket of a lineup with twenty other surfers. If you can’t thread your way through a half dozen people in the way, and contend with people dropping in or the need to pull out from the wave at ANY time without EVER losing control of your board, then you shouldn’t be there. Yes there will be be people there that can’t do that. Just because someone else is a kook doesn’t mean you need to be. Ride your own ride

All SUP Surfers

1. Don’t be a wavehog: It’s easy to grab every rideable wave with a SUP. You can always be first into the wave, closest to the shoulder. Everyone else is just dropping in. If you are spinning laps, paddling back out quickly and setting up for the next wave, you’re the worst kind of hog.

2, The second worst wavehog is the guy that maneuvers outside, coming in like a locomotive on every good set wave. Do it once and you’re getting all the wave can offer. Do it five times and hoot others off your wave and you genuinely, truly, absolutely suck.

3, When your turn comes, take your wave, surf it well, paddle back out and sit down. Talk to people. Watch for good waves. Let them pass and make it obvious that you’re sharing. Show some aloha, some kindness, some wisdom.

4. Don’t drop in. Dropping in means another surfer has caught the wave closer to the shoulder. If you find you accidentally have, turn out of the wave immediately. If you can’t do that without falling then sit down on the tail of your board (and if you can’t, what are you doing in a crowded break?). Never undertake a maneuver that might cause you to ditch your board in front of the overtaking surfer.

5. Using your high vantage point to call out waves might be a good thing, but ask your fellow surfers if they’d like you to do that. A lot of people surf to decompress and relax. Having some guy bellow “here’s a good one” five times in a row for mediocre waves may disturb their Wa.

6. Don’t paddle out through the middle of the break. Go off to the channel, or if there is no channel, well to the side out of the surfing zone. Killing someone’s ride by standing like a deer in the headlights will not gain you any points.

7. If you must paddle in the surfing zone, signal which way you are going to try to pass any surfer on a collision course with you. Generally you want to pass behind them so they don’t have to cut back, so if you fall you won’t take them out. Make your intention clear. It might not work but at least you tried.

Any time you think a rule doesn’t apply to you, you’re just BS-ing yourself. “I didn’t really drop in because I was so far down the wave”: BS–you wouldn’t come up with an excuse if you didn’t KNOW you were wrong.
“I tried to grab my board but I missed it” BS–go back and practice control.

Find new places. SUP boards are magic for that. You are missing out if you don’t explore, and you’re just adding to the congestion. Five miles is no big deal for a SUP board.

Don’t let nitwits control your standards. Just because someone doesn’t appreciate your efforts to share and to observe traditional etiquette doesn’t mean you should abandon it. Set your standards and live by them.

Summary

Beginners: Stay out of popular breaks. Find some small waves and practice controlling your board. Learn to turn out of waves and/or grab the board as you fall. Do not rely on your leash–in fact consider learning to surf BY YOURSELF without a leash with NO ONE in the water who could be hit by your board–all the way to the beach. Alternatively simulate this with a leash if you don’t want to do all that swimming, Going leash-less is a useful training aid and a commitment. Just never do it around other people.

Intermediate: If you can execute basic surf maneuvers without falling and can control your board, you should be welcome in an uncrowded lineup. If the crowd grows, paddle off to the side or go looking for new spots. If you can’t thread your way through a half dozen people in the way, and contend with people dropping in or the need to pull out from the wave at ANY time without EVER losing control of your board, then you shouldn’t be in a crowd.

All SUP Surfers

1. Don’t be a wavehog.

2, When your turn comes, take your wave, surf it well, paddle back out and sit down.

3. Don’t drop in. If you accidentally have, turn out of the wave immediately.

4. Don’t paddle out through the middle of the break.

5. If you must paddle in the surfing zone, signal which way you are going to try to pass any surfer on a collision course with you.

Any time you think a rule doesn’t apply to you, you’re lying to yourself.

Waves and breaks
Before long you’ll be sitting in a lineup with other surfers and they’ll start talking about the waves. That they are mushy, or blown out, closeouts, or sectioning or A frames. That there’s too much west in them (pick a direction), that the tide is going out or it’s all short period stuff. There’s a lot to know about waves, but you don’t need to know much to start with. Here’s the basics and we’ll talk a lot more about waves later.

Waves for Surfing

Surfers ride waves on the shoulder (or curl), which is the steepest part of the wave, right where the smooth face of the wave and the whitewater of the already broken part of the wave meet. Beginners can have fun playing in the whitewater, and a SUP board can use it’s speed and size to ride a wave almost anywhere on it’s face, but the shoulder is the sweet spot of the wave.

The broken part of the wave is called whitewater, foam, or soup. It’s turbulent and a lot of the power has been spent. You can ride it if you point your board mostly toward the beach, but it’s bumpy and hard to maneuver in.

The lip is the top of the wave, especially when it’s starting to curl over as it gets ready to drop. How the wave drops is an indication of the amount of energy in the wave and how the ocean bottom is shaped to form the wave. When the lip pitches way out and falls into the trough at the base of the wave or even well past it at some fabled breaks it can create a tube (called the shack, a pipe, the green room, breaking top to bottom, etc.). But most waves crumble or form just a partial tube as they pitch over and fall into the face of the wave

Beginner Waves

What you want as a beginner is a wave that has a shoulder that is gently spilling as it travels across the face of the wave. And you want mushy waves, which are waves that crumble down their face, rather than the ones that toss a lip far out and fall with a whump to the base of the wave. You also don’t want waves that are breaking right onto a steep shore or in very shallow water. In other words, you don’t want to paddle out at Pipeline, unless you have grown tired of life.

Waves create rip currents and often have channels in them, that are simply deeper water that doesn’t permit the swell to kick up into a wave at that point. The rip currents and channels are useful for moving back out through a wave, but they also can be a source of danger. A rip current can move a lot faster than you can paddle. If you get separated from your board you may be battling rip currents while you try to get back to the shore or to your board. Simply put, don’t fight rips. Go with the flow and look for a way to get back to shore when the rip dissipates. Generally you can make your way across the backside of the breaking waves and find a place where there either is no current or it’s going more in the direction you want to go. Often you can bodysurf your way closer to shore. In any case, you need to assume that you can be in for a tough swim, in conditions that cause most beach emergencies, injuries and deaths.

The channel might seem like a happy place, non-breaking waves, a favorable current, a fine seat to watch the real surfers from. And it often is, right up until it isn’t. Waves can come up quickly in size, and even if they don’t there is often a sneaker wave that will clean out the lineup as everyone scrambles for the horizon, and not everyone makes it. In those conditions the channel can sometimes be a lousy place to be, because the wave can be at its biggest and most poweful right where they weren’t breaking before. The sneaker waves usually break outside, and sweep up the slow movers in the whitewater. But in the channel they can break right on top of you, and that’s the worst possible situation. The full power of the wave is unleashed on you and your board, You can be pushed to the bottom, grabbed viciously and wrenched back to the top of the wave in a second. Going back over the falls and being pummeled repeatedly. Surfers call this the spin cycle, and that’s exactly what it’s like. You have to be ready for that and constantly vigilant for what’s happening in the outer waters.  We’ll talk about that more later in the sections titled “caught inside” and “big wave safety”.

The best places to get initial experience is beaches that have a sandy bottom or a relatively friendly reef–by that I mean not much coral or rocks sticking up close to the surface at low tide. You don’t want a heavy shorebreak or a steep beach. Not much rip, not much current, and not much wind. Look around for the kind of place that has other beginners, but don’t plan on surfing right in the middle of them, you need to be able to get away from the other beginners.

…to be continued

Prepping a Paddle

Few things in SUP cause more controversy than paddle prep. Some folks like their shaft bare, some like padded shafts, some like wax, some like mastic tape. I’ve played with about every combination and I’ve hit on the perfect preparation for me. I suspect you’ll like it too, even if you’re a bare shaft fan.

I say that because I’m a bare shaft guy. I don’t mind a little wax, but I don’t like the shaft to be too sticky, and I don’t like it being larger, or having a soft grip. Nothing saps my hand strength faster than a soft grip.

But I also don’t like my hands to slip, and the least bit of sunblock or oil on my hands or the shaft and my paddling is compromised. Yes, I clean my hands with sand and give the shaft a scrub, but you can transfer goop from other places easily. This approach solves the problem, giving positive traction without softening or thickening the grip. Once it’s done it lasts for many months–you never have to rewax.

Here’s the recipe:
The Grip: Locate your grip area and mark the shaft with pencil about ten inches above and below the grip point. If you’re not sure of your grip point, hold your paddle on your head, place on hand on the handle, the other on the shaft and bend your elbows at right angles so your forearms point straight up–the hand on the shaft will be in a nearly perfect grip position.

Start at the upper mark and wrap hockey tape around the shaft, starting with one full wrap and then overlapping the successive wraps for half the width of the tape. End with one full wrap.

Now wax the tape with warm water surf wax lightly over the full length and heavily in the grip area. You’ll be able to both see and feel the proper grip point. The wax embeds into the tape and doesn’t come off, even after months of use. The wax also cushions and strengthens the tape, making it last much longer. and finally the wax prevents the tape from being too sticky, as friction tapes sometimes get when the adhesive bleeds through the cloth.

The Blade: There are three good reasons for guarding the blade. First, people have been badly cut with unguarded blades. Second, the blade can chip up your board. And third, the blade can be damaged by hitting it’s edge on hard stuff.

Door edging or commercial blade guard works nicely, but it’s a bit thick for my taste. Mastic tape is good, but it’s fragile, especially if you stretch it thin. What I do is put on a layer of mastic, stretched very tight to make it thin, and then cover it with hockey tape. Finally I add a layer of wax to protect the tape and rub it with a cloth to smooth it. You’d be surprised at the difference in abrasion resistance between waxed and unwaxed fabric tape. The end result is a thin protective edging that won’t mark your board, lasts a very long time, and looks great.

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How To Fall On A Reef

You’re blissfully riding a shoulder, planning your next turn, when suddenly you see coral heads and seaweed just past the nose of your board–ah, that’s why everyone else was cutting out of the wave fifty feet before. As the reef grabs your fin and you sail through the air you contemplate a long session with hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin…

Stand Up Paddlesurfing seems much worse than longboarding for coral cuts. I think it’s because the big floaty boards tempt you deeper into trouble, or just that they don’t turn out the back of a wave very easily. I’ve become an expert at falling on a reef. I do it all the time. I’ve invested in Pfizer to offset my ointment purchases. Most surf spots include a place that can grate a few ounces off your feet knees and elbows. Here’s how to deal with a reef:

1. Stay outta there! Turn out of the wave long before you get to the shallows. Don’t straighten up and run with the foam if the wave closes out, pop out the back if you can. You might not want to get worked by the closeout, but riding the whitewater in can leave you in a much worse condition–paddling over a shallow reef with whitewater bearing down on you. Not fun.

2. Don’t fall! As soon as you see that you are well and truly screwed, step back on the board to raise the nose and brake your speed, and drop down onto your board.

3. Be one with the surface. When you fall, fall flat. Spread your arms and legs, don’t dive, fall onto your back as flat as you can. Think like a sheet of paper. Arch your back as you hit, don’t stick your butt down. Pretend you’re falling onto a bed of pitchforks–because you are. Paddle on your back until you can collect your board, crawl onto it, and beat feet.

4. Don’t stand on the reef. It doesn’t even matter if you think you see a sandy spot, there might be something there waiting to stick you. Sure, you look like a putz flopping around on your back weakly trying to get onto your board, but standing on the reef–even with booties on, it’s a sure recipe for a coral cut. You might get away with it two times out of three, but the third time can be a doozy. Perhaps a nice sea urchin spine between your toes, or a deep slice above your heel when a wave rocks you backwards.

5. Watch how you kick. Most of my cuts are on top of my toes–kicked a rock getting on, ouch! Make your body float up parallel to the surface before you kick, and then kick horizontally. Grab your board by the far edge and pull it under you. The edge of a deck pad helps with this maneuver.

6. Go with the flow. The water is heading off the reef just like you. Unless it’s taking you towards an exposed rock, you are usually best off going with the heaviest flow.

Back to it

Tough week, but I’m back home and getting back into the things I do, including Ke Nalu. I’m working on a new set of instructional articles and some fun stuff. Still looking for any and all contributions of articles, photos, great places to SUP surf or paddle.

All the best to all of you. Don’t forget to have some fun today. This ain’t a rehearsal, this is your life.

Learning From The Masters–In Photos

Laird Hamilton at Peahi

What could you possibly learn from Laird Hamilton? The guy is way beyond the understanding of we mere mortals. That’s not just goofy hero worship. Not only is he an ultimate waterman, but he’s a visionary. He’s helped to birth multiple water sports including tow-in surfing and the renaissance of stand up paddle surfing. He was the first person I ever heard say that nearly anyone could do Stand Up at some level. His first production board was aimed not at the absurd level of expertise that he and his friends are capable of, but at the absolute beginner. He charts his own course, and we all wait to see what he’s going to do next.

But the answer to the first question is: Plenty. As a very simple example, look where his rear foot is in the picture above, and look where his weight is applied. His foot is slightly towards the inside rail, all he needs to do is shift his weight to his toes to press the rail down and turn the board, but his weight is still centered, keeping the board trimmed flat and letting it accelerate.

Now look where his weight is–his foot hasn’t moved, but the board is carving hard. This technique of anticipating a turn with foot placement but not initiating the turn until you are ready seems critical in controlling our big boards at any level. Stepping forward or back on the board, shifting a foot to one rail or the other, all without shifting your weight, is the way to maintain precise control. If you step and shift weight at the same time you’ll probably over control the board which generally means you’ll fall.

Fully committed to the Turn

Observe where his weight is applied, he’s cranking the rails hard and has his weight fully in the center of the turn. Look at where his hand is on the paddle–slid way up the shaft, with the blade skimming the face of the wave, not dragging to slow him, but cutting to act as a stabilizer. Of course he’s done this a thousand times, and it’s as automatic as sneezing, but his actions show us what we need to learn.

Cutting back on the face

Now his weight is back over the center. The board is trimmed flat. You can tell from the slash above his head and the blade angle that he’s been using the paddle to brake a little to hold in the pocket. The paddle is extremely versatile. You can speed up, slow down, stabilize, lift the tail of the board, steer from the nose, any number of things that a prone surfer has to do differently or do without.

Dropping in

Wide stance, centered on the board, staying low.

Bottom turn

Pay no attention to the tons of seawater over your head… Where was I, oh yeah, notice he’s moved his foot to the inner rail to push this turn hard.

Pushing Hard

Look how much force he’s applying to the board, he’s blowing water off the bottom, and his paddle is planted as a pivot point stabilizing him so he can press even harder on the rails. look at the bend in the paddle.

Finishing the turn
Note the foot position, on the inner rail, weight centered over the turning rail, paddle skimming for stability.

A boy and his playground

Here’s an interesting paddle-handling sequence at Ho’okipa:

Skimming the paddle to steer from a forward position

Dragging and skimming

Dragging to stay in the barrel

but sometimes ya just surf

Here’s a move I copied from watching Laird and others and have since perfected to a degree for myself. For me it’s not anything this elegant, and so I call it the “whitewater flail”.

A prone surfer facing a closeout this size would be wise to dive into the face of the wave. If they try to run down the face their speed will slacken just as the lip falls on them. Not a good thing. Generally a ticket for a free ride over the falls.

But Laird uses the power of his paddle to stay ahead, and then presses the paddle back in the whitewater to lighten the tail and simultaneously keep the nose from being pushed under in a power pearl.

Your success in staying on the board in the turbulence may not be as high as Laird’s, but you won’t be going over the falls–that’s already done, finis, pau, over.

Guy must have feet like a gecko

We’ve got a lot more of this coming, courtesy of Darrell Wong, a tremendously talented photographer. You can see more of his work at www.darrellwong.com. In the next installment we’ll look at some astonishing power turns by Robby Naish (yes, he’s a hell of a good surfer, that should come as no surprise) and flatwater strokes perfected by looking at some of the best racing paddlers in the world, including ocean canoe paddlers.

In the meantime, have fun, paddle hard.