Paddleboarding as a Paddle Sport

When an activity is promoted as easy, you risk failing to get the most from the activity you’ve invested in. The original promotional efforts of the SUP industry promoted paddleboarding as a ‘surf sport’ over a ‘paddle sport’, and this has played out to the point where it’s clear paddleboarding (the clue is in the nomenclature) is a paddle sport first, and whatever you want it to be after you’ve learned the basics.

Paddle Sport Skills

Paddle sports are an ancient lineage and, at elite and Olympic levels, have become both an art and science, a holistic blending of biomechanics and physiology whereby the body is the machine that powers the inanimate object. Paddleboarding, like all other paddlesports, has many skill levels and layers.

A paddleboard cannot power itself, and while it’s true that the kinetic energy stored within a wave can provide movement, the fact remains the SUP paddle and SUP paddler are the necessary ingredients to bring all the elements into play from the point of view of control through steering and propulsion of your paddleboard.

If you are a paddleboarding beginner who has never swung a paddle of any type, professional paddleboard instruction can undoubtedly help. Introduction lessons tend to be focused on risk management, personal safety, and the safety of others, and that’s a good thing. While learning how to paddle will take place over many weeks following the lesson, initial paddleboarding technique pointers are an excellent investment.

Teaching Yourself - Discovery Learning

If you’re on the way to teaching yourself paddleboarding, you will tend to reach a point where you are neither going forward nor back in terms of skill sets. Importantly, practising bad technique and working incorrect muscle groups creates the potential for injury and many inefficiencies. A professional paddleboard instructor may have to make you unlearn if you have paddled for a while, which can be difficult because the longer you have paddled with poor technique, the more hard-wired your brain will be to your body through kinesthetics.

For Experienced Watersports First Timers 

If you are an experienced water user, there’s nothing wrong with learning SUP through self-discovery, but it does not guarantee you have good paddleboarding technique. Having a professional SUP instructor or stand-up paddler observe and provide feedback, even just once, can be a worthwhile investment. Video analysis is a valuable tool to bring into the process and is often used by SUP trainers.

In conclusion, always consider time with a specialist stand-up paddleboard instructor when learning to paddleboard. If you become bored with stand-up paddleboarding and need some inspiration, investing time with a professional paddleboard instructor or respected paddleboard mentor or SUP trainer can renew your love of SUP sport to seek higher ground and new experiences.