Splash on flickr

So, if you SUP on the waters of Hawaii or the Carribean or places like that, you probably couldn’t care less about falling in the water.

If you’re looking to come out to Tempe Town Lake in AZ to try SUP for the first time, then it might be a different story. Now I love Tempe Town Lake and couldn’t be more grateful that we have it here in the city but it isn’t the cleanest body of water. That being said, I have no problem paddling it at all.

Talking to people who are thinking about coming out paddling SUP with us, many are worried about falling into the water there and they shouldn’t be.

The things is, it’s highly, highly unlikely that you’re going to fall into the water your first time. Most of the times that I’ve fallen in the water were after I’d been paddling for a few weeks when I started working on pivot turns & doing other goofy stuff.

If it’s your first time, the odds are that you aren’t going to be trying anything too crazy. The boards that you’ll likely paddle are around 34″ wide. That’s pretty wide. Race boards can be a good deal more tippy but they are a lot narrower – down to around 25″. I’ve been on a 27″ wide board (Surftech Bark Competitor) that was definitely less stable but that’s not likely to be the board you paddle your first time.

The only other people who I’ve seen have some balance challenges were heavier folks – like 250 lbs-ish. We have some pretty big boards and the rentals at Tempe Town Lake are the same. With those, you can definitely paddle safely if you are around that weight. At that point though, a bit of balance does help. As the person to board ratio goes up, you need a bit more balance and skill.

Of course some tips regarding SUP make a world of difference as well. Some of the key ones we always share with people are:

• Start out with a low center of gravity. We typically have friends & family start on their knees & then stand up as they feel comfortable.
• Your balance is much better when you have the paddle in the water. It serves as another point of balance/support. So keep paddling.
• Balancing is also easier when the board is moving. Same concept as riding a bike. As the board gets moving, it gets increasingly stable.
• It’s also much easier to balance when the lake is still. Wind comes up in the afternoons and then dies down again in the evenings. So paddle early or later if it’s your first time to enhance your chances of flat water. Also check the trees wherever you are when you’re considering heading down to the lake. If you see them blowing up top, there’s likely a bit of chop on the lake.
• Easiest way to fall in is waiting for someone with your board at a stop and looking back behind you. If you’re a bit uncomfortable with your balance and you’re out there & waiting for someone, drop down to you knees when you’re not paddling.
• Wait a time or two before you try pivot turns.

So with that quit worring about falling in to Tempe Town Lake and go SUP!

The weather has actually been amazing the last few weeks but we’ve been hammered with the house move, the holidays and bouts with the flu and cold. Well, we finally pushed the excuses aside today and got on the water. Went down with Heather, the kids and a neighbor kid.

We didn’t get any crazy workouts in but at least we started our paddling initiative of 2012.

As I expected, I was creaky and my stroke wasn’t anything fabulous but I know that comes back quickly. One of the things in my head was that I had this nagging pain in my lower back that I haven’t been able to stretch to gone. The cool thing was that on my first run, I felt that exact spot getting cranky and screaming when I was paddling on the right. As I continued to paddle, it felt like it was loosening up.

It’s crazy but it seems that so many of our ails are helped just by getting them moving. And that spot on my right lower back, seems to avoid muscle movement/involvement no matter how I try to stretch and loosen it. Well SUP did the exact trick. While I was creaky and stilting on the board, I can already tell that it’s going to help and a few outings along with my regular stretching routine is going to make it go right away.

Anyway, lovely day, fun trip to the lake with the family. Tough to beat for a Sunday.

Oh, and the water was coollllldddd….

I’d been looking at a variety of options and found some that I thought about buying.

SUP Racks for Purchase

I particularly liked the Expandable Ceiling Surfboard & SUP Rack from http://storeyourboard.com but it was quite pricey and at this point I couldn’t have waited anyway.

I will say that I am a bit bummed that you cannot get the base rack with a SUP attachment on the base rack instead of a surfboard one. I’m storing our SUPs in our garage so maximum clearance is what I’m looking for. With this rack, the base rack only comes with a surfboard mount (26″ wide instead of 33″). They say lots of people use that to store paddles which would be cool but I’d rather have the additional 8″ or so in clearance. So if you’re like me, you’d still need the 2 SUP upgrade and be looking at $250 or so.

We also thought about the SUP Wall Rack as it’d be cool to have the boards on display but we don’t have the wall space. It’s also quite a bit cheaper.

Building a SUP Rack

So with those 2 options not being perfect, I figured I’d replicate something I found on Stand Up Zone. I used DavidJohn‘s roller SUP racks as a model. With those in mind, my buddy, Nathan, and I hit Home Depot and freestyled a bit.

I’ll put together a more detailed post on the components and the actual building of the racks but here they are.

If you are thinking about figuring out your own custom solution, there are also a bunch more posts on the How Do You Store Your SUPs thread on Stand Up Zone.

SUP Rack v2

So I’m pretty happy with the rack at this point but I still need to get it closer to the ceiling to provide more clearance. I actually used the hooks that were already in the garage ceiling (made for bikes) so switching those out or smaller eye bolts would help. What I’m going to do though is split up the ceiling connections into 4 (1 at each corner of each rack) rather than have just the 2 connection points. Pushing the SUPs on to the rack caused them to move a bit back and forth as well as sway and twist horizontally. I’m fine with the back and forth movement but don’t think I want to deal with the horizontal twisting ongoing.

I’m also going to attach 4 pulleys at those connection points and then route the rope back to a common point where I’ll put additional pulleys and then bring them down the wall to 1 of 2 attachment points. I want to be able to bring the boards up and down easily so it makes for easy loading and then also stores at maximum height for the greatest amount of clearance.

The poles and rollers should serve fine though and will function the same in v2.

I will definitely post more (and final build) details as we get this completed!

I was contacted by Garrett of Sawyer Wooden Standup Paddleboards from Lake Tahoe. He’s going to be in town for the Thanksgiving week and is looking to get out at Tempe Town Lake and would love to paddle with some of the locals. He will also have a 12’6 hollow wooden SUP that experienced paddlers can try.

Don’t think it will be a bunch of us but we’ll be heading to Boat Beach to catch up and get some time on the water.

Come join us!

Since I’m feeling guilty, I thought I’d share a killer video I came across. Dan Gavere surfing the wake of a sternwheeler. Great angles & good tunes.

Oh but for a paddle wheeler here in the AZ…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMbrR5yic[/youtube]

If you missed Ignite Phoenix 11, here is my presentation on stand up paddling (SUP) in Arizona.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayP6jSqolAQ[/youtube]

I was honored to be able to present and I had a complete blast speaking so many folks about SUP.

I must also say a big thanks to the Ignite Phoenix organizers and all the volunteers. It’s such a great, great event every single time!

Will post video as soon as it’s released. For now, here is a link to the slide deck.

What SUP? Stand Up Paddling in AZ – Ignite Phoenix 11

There are some basics though that will help you out. One of my favorite subjects is technique and there are different schools of thought. We’ll definitely dig into those in the future but for now, we’ll talk about some concepts that are common among all.

Now to get on your board…

BOARD TIP: With regard to your board, the first thing to note is that hand well (if your board has one – and most do) is located right at the center of the board’s gravity. So when you get on your board, you want to kneel around it and when you stand up, you are going to want to stand up around it.

Getting On Your SUP

• When you go to get on your board, make sure you’re far enough into the water that your board and your fin are not going to drag on the ground.
• Then bend over and hold your board with both your hands just a bit higher than the center hand well. Hold it still and slide your first knee on just outside the hand well. Then holding with both hands, push off and pull your other knee up on the other side of the hand well.

SUP Positions

As you’re heading out, there are 3 main positions you can take.

• You can kneel on your heels. This is going to keep your center of gravity lowest and keep you most stable. If your ankles aren’t flexible though, it might be the most comfortable position. Some folks also feel some arch pain in this position. I personally (with some stretching of the ankles, knees and quads) find it quite confortable and will often drop down if I’m waiting for someone or if I’m doing a lot of talking.
  

  If you’re paddling on your knees, don’t try to grasp the handle at the top of your paddle. Keep your top hand also on the shaft and keep both thumbs up.

• You can then kneel upright. This is a bit more comfortable than kneeling on your heels and it’s a bit less stable. It’s a good interim step before standing up though.
• And then you can stand. This is by far the most comfortable but it’s also the least stable. Standing with your board still is about the hardest thing you can do on your SUP. Once you start paddling, the paddle acts as another “leg” that you can use to balance yourself.

Standing Up

• To stand up, get your hands back down on the board so you’re on all fours. Then pull one foot up outside the hand well. Then pull the other foot up. Then push off your hands into a standing position.
• As far as your foot placement, you stand with your feet side parallel surrounding the hand well. The further out your feet are, the more stable.
• When you first start paddling, you might find balancing just a bit of effort. It only takes 2 or 3 times out to get really comfortable and turn the standing into more of a “bone movement” but your first couple, you could very well feel like your legs are working hard. Also a good idea to keep just a bit of flex in the knees.
• Another good tip is that you want to keep your feet and toes loose. Some people experience some arch pain when they get on a board. It typically comes from grabbing the board with your toes. Keep your toes loose and you’ll pretty much avoid this.

And then to paddle…

PADDLE TIP: When paddling, one thing you need to do is find the proper hand position for you on the paddle. A good starting point is to hold the paddle up over your head and make sure you have about a 90 degree angle between your upper arm and forearms. That is a good rule of thumb and then you can experiment with your hands wider and narrower to see what works best for you.

Paddling Basics

• When you paddle, you want to make sure that the angle in the blade (if there is one in yours) is pointing forward. Additionally, most paddles have a decal on them. That typically should be pointing forward (really just an indicator of how the angle in the blade should go).
• Another fundamental is that you paddle on both sides. You paddle on one side and then to correct the course of your board or to give that side a breather, you switch to the other.
• Switching is done by letting go with the top hand and bringing that underneath the bottom hand and then sliding what was the bottom hand up until it grasps the handle and becomes the top hand.

SUP Stroke Technique

• A big, huge key to paddling well is to try to take your arms out of it. You don’t want to be bending your elbows and trying to move the board with your arms. Your biceps and triceps will get fatigued quickly & you’ll be done. The idea is to keep your arms pretty straight with just a bit of bend in the elbows.
• So what you do use is lats, obliques, abs, lower back to rotate your shoulders around your spine.
• The shoulder of the bottom hand reaches way forward while the shoulder of the top hand rotates back.
• You also want to bury the whole blade of your paddle in the water before you start pulling. Ideally the water around your paddle will stay quiet. You won’t see any ripples or waves. Ripples or waves (often called cavitation in this scenario) just takes power away from  your stroke.
• And during the stroke, you don’t want to pull too far back. When you get past the point where the paddle is perpendicular (this is where the 10 degree angle of the paddle helps), you’re actually pulling the board down into the water and creating drag. Once you hit about your feet, quit pulling and bring the paddle out of the water.
• For a little more power, you can also bend a bit at the hips on the downstroke and put a little more body weight on the blade.

Other SUP Stroke Tips

• Think about is keeping your arms and hands relaxed in the recovery. Keep your hands pretty relaxed throughout the stroke in general. There is no need to have a death grip on the paddle.
• Keep your paddle as vertical as possible when you are paddling. You don’t want it angled from the water with your top hand way over the middle or alternate edge of the board. Keeping your paddle vertical will help keep the board going straight.
• And reach. When you are paddling, the bulk of the good you are doing is out front. So reach forward with that bottom hand shoulder. One of the godfathers of SUP, Dave Kalama, has a saying of “reach, damnit, reach” so….reach…

Much, much more on this to come!!!

Here’s a good video by Jim Terrell of Quickblade Paddles as well:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ANelSnn0y8[/youtube]

Wondering if you need anything else?

You do NOT need to register your stand up paddleboard. You can see at the Arizona Game and Fish Department website that there is only call for registration when a watercraft is motorized. I verified this with a call to the AZGFD. You can also see this at the Boater’s Guide site by Boat Ed, the official provider of Arizona’s boating safety course (developed in conjunction with Arizona Game and Fish). Non-motorized vessels are specifically excepted.

What you do need though, is a permit.

And depending on where you paddle, you will need different permits.

Tempe Town Lake

If you are going to paddle at Tempe Town Lake, you need a specific permit for that lake. Permits are good for a year and are $50 annually per watercraft. If you are a Tempe resident, the cost is discounted to $25 annually per watercraft. Daily permits are also available for $10 per day (Tempe resident or not).

You can purchase your permit at:

Recreation Administration Office
2nd Floor, Tempe Public Library
3500 S. Rural Rd., Tempe AZ 85282
(480) 350-5200
Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Pyle Adult Recreation Center
655 E. Southern Ave., Tempe AZ 85282
(480) 350-5211
Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

I went to the Tempe Public Library. If you’re going to head there, as soon as you step in the door, head for the elevator on the left and take it to the 2nd floor. Once you get out, head toward your right and you’ll see the office with the glass wall on the lobby.

A tip is that permits are done by month. So if it’s nearing the end of the month and you can wait a few days, try to wait until the 1st of the next month so your permit will be valid for that much longer.

Other Arizona Lakes

If you’re looking to paddle other lakes in Arizona, you’re likely to need a Tonto Pass.

The Tonto Pass is a daily use pass. There are 2 components to a Tonto Pass. There is the pass itself and then there are water craft use stickers. You do NOT need a water craft use sticker to stand up paddle. They are again only needed for motorized watercraft.

Tonto daily passes are $6. You need to scratch off the date and time you are using it for and then they are good for a 24 hour period. A Tonto Pass is needed for each car parking at the lake.

Tonto Passes are required for:

• Saguaro Lake
• Canyon Lake
• Bartlett Lake
• Apache Lake
• Roosevelt Lake

Passes are valid at the recreation areas, NOT the marinas. See detailed info on valid Tonto Pass locations.

You can buy Tonto Passes ahead of time at a variety of locations. You can buy them:

• At the Tonto National Forest supervisor/ranger offices.
• At retail outlets around Arizona.
• Online.
• By phone or mail.

Lake Pleasant

If you’re heading to Lake Pleasant, they do things a bit different there. They charge a fee for entry. It is $6 per vehicle or $2 per person in a van or a bus.

Nothing to be done ahead of time here. Just pay as you enter.

My mom, Heather’s mum & stepdad and my 5 year old nephew got out on the stand up paddleboards for their first times and really enjoyed it. That is one of the things I love most about stand up paddling. Anybody can do it from young, young kids to folks even a bit older than me.

It turned out to be awesome and very different from Tempe Town Lake. We went to Butcher Jones beach. It’s a nice large beach with some sand(ish) and patches of grass. Looking at the water, it definitely looked a good deal cleaner than Tempe Town Lake. Plenty of area to set up a comfortable spot. There are also some nice amenities there but I didn’t really look too closely. I did see that there are grills, bathrooms and spots with shade but I was mainly there for the water.

The beach is pretty. It’s a little cove with some (kind of) sand. There are hills and mountains surrounding and there a couple lines of buoys a ways out for a no boat zone (inner line) and a no wake zone (outer line).

To get to the subject that most SUP fans care about, the water is indeed a good bit cleaner than Tempe Town Lake. At the time we were there (afternoon) there was also a lot more movement in the water. There was a strong wind and a good number of small waves rolling in. I’m guessing those were mainly from the boats passing out in the main part of the lake.

I’ve been thinking of trying one of those SUP races over in CA (since we don’t have many at all in Arizona). I know that paddling SUP in the open ocean will be far different from a closed body of water like Tempe Town Lake. While I paddled tons of open water off Long Beach, Kauai and Oahu, I still have yet to experience it on a SUP. Saguaro Lake was a good first step. I’m sure that the waves and chop were miniscule compared to open water but they were significant compared to TTL.

They made for a great workout. We loved the instability and the variety. Several hours later, I can tell I’m worked in very different ways than a typical TTL workout. My midsection and rib area are already a bit sore (which is cool). I think the instability caused many more muscle groups to be called into play.

Heading straight out a good distance (past both buoy lines) and then turning around and racing back in gave you a bit of a chance to work to catch some bumps. Nothing major but at least it was something. I didn’t think we were going to get that opportunity anywhere in Arizona.

I guess the telling thing to say is that we will likely be spending far more of our weekends at one of the outer lakes (such as Saguaro, Canyon, Pleasant) instead of Tempe Town Lake. The combination of cleaner water, chop and bumps and scenery definitely makes the additional drive worth it.

Some tips on SUP at Saguaro Lake…

• You need a Tonto Daily Pass. It’s $6 and it’s good for one day. You can buy them ahead of time online or at locations around town. Then you just rub off the spots for the date and time. FYI: The Tonto Daily Pass has spots for watercraft stickers. You don’t need these. These are only needed for motorized watercraft.
• Like all lakes, if you want still water, you want to go early or late. As the day heats up, the wind picks up and you’ll also get lots more chop.
• The water is quite shallow for quite a bit. Make sure you walk your stand up paddleboard in to a spot where you’re not going to be dragging your fin.
• There is a good deal of plant life in the water – some reeds and some other lake weed type stuff. Look out for that when you’re paddling.
• As the beach is pretty broad and it is so shallow, you’re going to have to walk in a bit. If you have something like water shoes or Vibrams, I’d give those a try. I haven’t paddled in my Vibrams but I hear it’s pretty good. My buddy who had his on was digging them.
• If you’re barefoot, stick to the left half of the beach where it looks like there is mud under the water. It is mud but it’s much more comfortable on your feet. If you stay toward the right side of the beach, you’ll end up walking on lots more rocks and pebbles. Not much fun.
• If you do have your flip flops on around shore, be careful in the mud though. When I was moving boards and putting boards away with my flip flops on, the mud definitely stuck to them, holds them down and takes a second to release. Just take your time so you don’t fall.

I tend to paddle a bunch at night. I usually work late so getting up super early is rough. Then I work until the day is done, go home & eat dinner with my family. After the kids are down, a couple times a week, I’ll load up and head out to the lake for a workout.

So far, I’ve just paddled at night at Tempe Town Lake. I don’t really see that changing so some of my comments are specific to TTL.

Paddling at night is very, very cool. It’s beautiful out there with all the lights reflecting off the water. There is a bunch of ambient light so it’s easy to see what you need to. Then it’s also dark enough to make it seem like a completely different experience. Obviously there is no sun beating down on you so that is great. It also always seems extra calm. Talking with one of the rangers, I hear that it’s typically quite calm (no wind) in the evenings. That results in a glassy surface which is lovely to paddle on.

If you are going to paddle Tempe Town Lake, it is open for boaters from 5 am – 10 pm so make sure you’re off the water by 10.

Night Lights

As far as details, if you’re going to paddle after sunset, you need a light by law. For paddling SUP, you just need an all direction white light.

There are a few different types of lights. We’ve settled on an elevated light that attaches to the stand up paddle board in a couple different ways. We actually use 1 of 2 different types depending on the board we are paddling.

For my standard epoxy fiberglass board (a SUP ATX lake rider LR model), I use the Paddlers Supply Company LED Kayak Deck Light with Suction Cup Base from REI. It’s about $40. It has a very strong suction cup that sticks to the fiberglass surface. No worries that it will fall off.  It’s super easy to put on and super stable. Then it has the clip that I attach to the leash cord just in case anything were to happen.

No issues with this. Quick on and off. Bright light. Doesn’t get in the way of paddling at all.

Now when you have one of the comfort top boards where the padding stretches the full length of the board, the suction cup option isn’t going to work.

For our SUP ATX comfort top HR board, we use the Kayalite® Deck, Anchor and Stern Light. It’s also $40. The light itself is pretty much exactly the same as the other model.

The way this light varies is in the attachment mechanism. Since there is no open fiberglass to stick a light to the board, I clip it to the leash anchor point.

I can’t actually get the clip around the bar so I’ve attached a thick zip tie with just a little slack. You cannot attach it directly to the leash cord either as there would be too much slack when attached. So I attach the clip to my zip tie and then I pull the other end of the bungee to eliminate slack and tie it off on the light.

This again works wonderfully.

Tempe Town Lake Night Paddling Tips

If we’re out with friends, we still go out to Boat Beach as I like the feel down there. I like being with the bridges. If you have people that are waiting on the bank, it’s a bit nicer there in the evening than the Marina.

If I’m by myself or 1 other person and basically doing a workout paddle, I go to the Marina. You can drive right up and drop your board and equipment steps away from the water. I drop my stuff on the grass right near the boat ramp. Then it’s easy to park very, very close.

I typically either head west toward the lighted bridges or on occasion will go east toward the other bridges. If you go west toward the lighted bridge, rounding a pylon and heading back to the boat ramp will give you a workout of about 1.1 miles.

Then getting out at the Marina is a breeze. Just walk your board up off the boat ramp to the grassy spot grab your car, strap your board on and you are ready to go.

One other bonus of paddling from the Marina at night is that you don’t have to deal with any sand which is nice.

Another random tip:  I now don’t worry about stashing my flip flops anymore. I just chuck them on the front of the board pad and they don’t even move over the course of a workout.

We started this journey with borrowed boards. At a certain point, we needed to give those back and were unable to quickly fill the void. So I began an effort to procure our own boards. I did a bunch of research and determined that for what we needed (at this point in time), we would go with SUP ATX.

Our SUP ATX boards and paddles came in at the same time that my back went out (just over a week ago). We got a small paddle in last Monday just to get on the water but it didn’t feel like it really counted. It was super abbreviated and it just didn’t feel very good. Not paddling for a month or so definitely affected our paddling fitness and our stroke. Heather and I each did a couple runs. While the 1st run for each of us was rough, the 2nd was an improvement for both of us.

Over the course of this week, I continued to hydrate & stretch (will share my paddling stretching routine soon) and try to put the back issues behind me. The back is still a bit creaky but definitely a good deal better.

This weekend was crazy busy but thanks to Heather, I got a decent paddle in on Saturday. I did about a 1.75 mile loop on Tempe Town Lake. While I started to find my stroke and get used to the new board and paddle, it still hurt. Fitness is not there and my left arch was killing me the entire time.

One thing that I really like about paddling is that it lets you know if your body is off in any way. When we were paddling a good deal before I felt it in my lower back, my glutes and hips. I could tell that I needed to stretch well or I was going to be in big trouble. Over the weeks, the stretching greatly helped and I felt better and better. I also have a bit of an arch pain issue which I managed by paying attention to my feet during paddles (basically ensuring I was not gripping at the board with my toes).

Well today with the arch pain, it was obvious that my body is still not in prime shape for paddling. I’d spent the past month on crazy projects and a business trip  and since I wasn’t paddling or in the gym, I slacked off pretty hard on my stretching routine. I’ve been working it again but I still have a way to come. With the mechanics of paddling, I think any problem in your kinetic chain is emphasized. I’m sure my arch pain is a part of the whole lower back, glutes, hips and calf stuff. Happy to have the signals telling me that so I can actually rectify the problem.

I will also say that the paddle reminded me just how much our bodies love to work. Afterwards I was breathing pretty good and my heart rate was up. My body was almost smiling. Just felt like a machine that was finally getting warmed up again. Many of us spend way, way too much time letting our bodies rust from disuse.

So a first step taken… I’m glad and now that we have our own stand up paddle boards and paddles, I just have to figure out a permanent routine to start getting on the water as much as we were in the summer.

Let us know if you’re going out or if you just want to try SUP. Love to connect!

He gives a great analogy that really illustrates the need to keep the stroke light and fluid.

In case you don’t know him, Dave Kalama is one of the greatest watermen there is. At 46, he is still placing at the very top of the biggest races there are. He took 4th in the Maui to Molokai and Molokai to Oahu channel crossings in a sport that is being dominated by youngsters (a 16 year old having won most of the races this year). He is one of guys who invented tow-in surfing (along with Laird Hamilton, Darrick Doerner, and Buzzy Kerbox) and surfs the 60+ foot waves at Jaws off Maui. He also (along with Laird Hamilton) is responsible for making stand up paddling popular.

Heather and I were lucky enough to attend one of his Kalama Klinicks recently  in Newport Beach. We made the trip out to California just for this clinic & then headed right back to Arizona. Dave champions a “Tahitian” style stroke. It is a shorter stroke emphasizing reach and keeping all of the work in front of you (unlike the long “Hawaiian” stroke). I’m a big fan of his and his teachings.

His tip…

The third and perhaps most important mistake I see, is people working way too hard. One example I’ve been giving people lately is this, imagine drinking a glass of water. You would grab the glass with very little effort, you would bring it to your mouth with very relaxed muscles, and doing almost no flexing of your muscles at all. Now imagine grabbing the glass with so much effort you almost smash the glass, imagine bringing it up to your mouth now with every muscle flexed like a body builder posing, the glass would be vibrating and water spilling over the rim. While that my be an exaggeration, I do see people exerting that type of force while trying to paddle. Paddling most of the time needs to be a very flowing and rhythmic action, not a tense muscle flexed series of positions, but rather a constant continually moving movie. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place to exert yourself, but if your base stroke comes from a place of rhythm and flow, when you exert yourself you will be much more effective and efficient. The best fix for it is to greatly reduce your power level and learn how to use your technique as your driving force, not your power output. Decrease your power to the level that you don’t feel like you’re doing any work at all, and just concentrate on technique. You’ll be surprised at how fast you go. Just like drinking that glass of water, get to a point of calm relaxed movement before you start chugging.

With many of the top races being quite long (30+ miles) and most of the standard races being good distances (5-15 miles), it’s critical to develop a stroke that you can maintain for extended periods.

As Dave recommends, take some time practicing staying loose and fluid and see how it helps.

See his other top 2 tips at the 3 most common mistakes in stand up paddling.

We did look at a bunch of other options but for the budget we had, nothing else was readily available. I do like the Surftech Joe French boards but they are pricier and they were out of stock – something that seems all too common in the SUP world. New 2012s look killer too but they won’t be out for a while.

SUP ATX has pretty much an unmatched deal for someone getting started in the sport. If you haven’t looked at equipment at all, boards alone often range from $1,000 to $2,500+. And the good carbon fiber paddles can go up to $400. With that being said, SUP ATX gives a very affordable option out there for a standard board. They run under $1,000 for BOTH the board and a carbon fiber paddle.

Looking forward to breaking them in!