SUPing, SUSing, and SUKing

[Randy]

Hey LAKAWA,
Welcome to the world of promoting these amazing new sports! I've had more on water days this year than ever and have found tremendous joy in turning others on to the peace of board meeting water. Can't believe it took me almost a decade to drop my closed mind to it. Looking forward to seeing you incorporate it to our Chat. The sports are bottomless, just as kiting and windsurfing. Judd and I did a St. Croix 18 mile run Wednesday. Had a sold out SUP/yoga class Thursday, a full moon paddle last night, and today I'm not the emotional wreck I usually am when a Superior forecast falls apart. Perhaps the greatest thing SUPing brings to the table is accessibility. We just need more people offering more opportunities to those carrying thoughts of limitation. Thanks for joining up to promote this. Mike Fox and I have talked about incorporating it into his events and I suspect now's a good time to collaborate on these types of events for next season. For now, let's see how many windsurfer/kiters are interested in exploring this.

[JERRY]

Peterib was just telling me how he just started SUP, doing early AM paddles around approx. a 4 mi. radius L. Ripley he lives on. He is totally enjoying it.

Maybe I should open my closed mind on this

[Kevinousdigian]

Randy or others:
I do love being on water and like standing up sports (ie I hate canoeing, kayaking, biking,...). I've gotten to love skate skiing in winter because you don't have to plan your life around the wind and get super workout.

How is SUP on the lower back while paddling?

What about carrying those big boards? Aren't they like 35 lbs?
Do you think they'll go to a formula like board that is 17 lbs and shorter?
(obviously I know nothing about sup).

Is it a good aerobic workout too?

I could see stopping by turtle lake on the way to work and doing a few laps.
Ko

Ko

[peterrib]

I picked up on this a few weeks ago and am getting alot of time on the water. Get a kick out of racing my GPS. With
the wind we've had lately I find the SUP to a great fill in. Workout is much like Pole boarding but less punishing if
you fall. Less traffic to deal with also. On our quiet lake a boat wake becomes a challenging experience. First couple
took me by surprise. I'm feeling the workout from toes to finger tips. Great core work. Didn't give much thought to this program 'til I gave it a try and I have to say I'm hooked. Live on the water so it's a breeze to grab the board and go.
Peter

[steve erickson]

Feeling the need to get into this conversation. I discovered SUPing 4 years ago and until this year was using my old Windsurfer standard. Decided to get the real thing after demo ing several at the Gorge on a no wind day. I have direct access to a small lake and take advantage of every glassy day I can. Great compliment to any wind sport, balance/core/shoulders it works it all. I even tried sail my SUP. Great fun, wait until you get one of these big boys planning.

[Kevinousdigian]

Hot topic as it's on the cover of a section of the pioneer press today too.

http://www.twincities.com/life/ci_18662 ... ck_check=1

[Randy]

Yes, Steve. The rocker line and the beam of a windsurfer just aren't SUP friendly. As Scottie Freeman says, "There's no penalty for making things easy on yourself".

Just like the pull of the boom/bar give us great assist in balance on the board, SUPiing involves honing the skills of balance with the use of a paddle. This really becomes evident when in terrain. Only time on the water will give the confidence to fall into your paddle to strengthen/recover balance.

Kevin, to answer some of your questions, it's a sport that's bottomless for skill development. It looks stupid simple, on flat water, and many then conclude it must be boring. Yet, while I've been doing it almost daily through the summer, I'm still just discovering the tip of the iceberg. There's a precision in form that will mean the difference between a sore back or messed up shoulder vs. the capacity to paddle all day. There's a precision that will mean the difference between a stroke that yields power vs. one that just pushes water. Proper skill, and you can paddle the same side of the board, holding your course without a thought. If you want aerobic, get into racing or listen to fast tempo tunes and commit to that tempo. If you don't want a sore back, learn proper technique. I've had great benefit in strengthening my upper body and lower back, but perhaps the best therapeutic is from the "push" of the paddle. Proper form has you transferring energy from your thigh, through your core, driving the paddle forward with your top hand, much like a martial artist releasing explosive energy through the hand from the entire body. The bottom hand is just a fulcrum and there should be minimal pull. It's a great counter to all the "pull" shoulder damage I've had from windsurfing and kiting.

So yesterday I drove to Duluth and got some kiting on a very iffy forecast. If SUPing weren't my back up, I wouldn't have gone. Had a nice 12m session followed by several hours of SUPing the terrain of Lake Superior. I've discovered my real thirst is to just be on a board on the water. Stand Up lets me do this. SUPing three miles along the shores of turbulent Lake Superior felt like the same energy expended for fifteen miles of flat water, and probably took me the same amount of time. Enjoyed watching several skilled SUPers catching waves along the way. Paddled the bayside to hear some blues, got home and paddled out for a beautiful full moon experience, and woke this morning to steam off the water and perfectly still waters for my morning meditation with the fishermen.

Kevin, SUP boards all have a balance carry slot, so even the heavier poly boards are easily managed by most. It's a huge advantage to those struggling with canoes, windsurfers and kayaks.

Lately we've been combining yoga with Stand Up. The yoga benefit is greater awareness through a less stable platform. The SUP advantage is that many of the SUP skills are perfected from various yoga postures (warrior poses, side bends, cobra when prone paddling, etc.). Like anything, it's all too easy to develop some bad habits from improper form. Take the time to get the training in precision to avoid potential injury and inefficiency later. I'm still convinced that SUPing will eventually be the "people's" watersport board in the future. With the depth of water boardsports knowledge found in LAKAWA, I see this community playing a large role in its development.

[BSMITH]

I paddled across Maple Lake around midnight Saturday night. The full moon was sweet! Not a breath of wind. The only sound was the water across my hull.
...and I didn't even spill my beers.

[MK]

Good to see the momentum on this topic. I too have been bitten.

Last week I took Randy L out on a date and we spun around on WBL for about 30 min giving it a go. It's always fun to spend time with Randy so our journey was easy going and entertaining. We both stowed our electronics in my car before we jumped on them, accepting we may end up going for a swim. Somehow we didn't pitch overboard, maybe we didn't play hard enough??

I was immediatlely smitten by these and have added them to my line up of gear and lesson offerings: http://www.lakawa.com/school/sup.html. I see the benefit of renting being the majority of business but I've already fielded a few "prospects" who see this as an item to own. The SS boards are 11' and 30lbs. The grab handle in the board brilliantly centered makes for ease of transport. I also have been waining on adding some Amundson Boards to the line-up since board science changes a lot of the ride, like in kiteboarding.

It's fun to see the interest grow. I too was closed minded for the last few years but realize this is a wonderful offering for the community. The learning curve is practically zero so is remarkably easy, especially compared to kiting. Randy and I goofed around trying out different stances on the boards from sitting down, sitting on the heels, standing on the knees, playing with different grips and paddle length, and standing on different portions of the board. Lucky we didn't fall in. It was a quick and exciting trip. I know that if I have an hour I can make it across the lake from the store past Bellaire and back with no wind. The opportunity to ride in different wind conditions and focus on various muscle groups in a slow and deliberate way adds to my new found joy. Hope you consider joining me sometime. Renting the gear is a surfire way to answer your questions:)

Mike

[Geo]

After trying for years to get my wife involved in wind sports, SHE suggested that SUP would be fun to try. Randy provided that opportunity, and we picked up one for the family cottage.
She, the kids love it, and I got to take it out on a dead flat day on Georgian Bay. Clear waters on a sunny day, and you could see 20+ feet down. Ended up paddling about a mile out, around an island and back with the main difficulty that I had to jump in the water 'cause it was so damn Hot.
Later in the week, during some 25mph winds and long 3' waves, I switched from kite (10m) to SUP to try the surfing thing.
Hard. Lots of work either laying on the board and paddling surf-style into the wind, or maybe even harder standing up going against the wind. But, when I did get upwind, you could actually catch a wave pretty well. I didn't look terribly stylish, but it was fun. After going a couple of hundred yards downwind, though, I was not into the work to get way back upwind again. Lots or respect for those surfers. Kiting: much more lazy-making.

[Cory M]

Came accross this interesting photo and thought I'd share. Appears to be practical SUP in Thailand if I were to guess the locale. Wonder how long they've been using this form of transport?

[Jason_L]

These are pretty fun. I was thinking about adding one to the quiver. Where can you find the best deals on them? The cheapest i have seen is about $900 at Costco. I was hoping the price would be a bit lower. I have rented at Calhoun for $15 per hour but would be nice to be able to take it to other lakes.

[Netdewt]

Just tried Mike K's yesterday. Much more fun than I thought. It's very surreal to stand up on the water.