The Sports DNA
This may be stating the obvious. I hope so. Let’s consider for one moment the possibility that stand up paddleboarding is in fact, a paddle-sport by any other definition. I say this because I get the worrying impression that this simple synergistic reality is yet to be fully acknowledged amongst some of the very people who have the most at stake in ensuring its growth, especially those not living in Hawaii.
If you want proof, consider that surfing schools have rushed to be first in line to offer tuition of this sport, which seems to be a clear statement they view this as a surf sport, when in reality a canoeing instructor would have a more immediate and relevant knowledge of how to teach paddling technique and skills, biomechanical principles and theory, which can be taught and explained.
Consequently this ironic juxtaposition seems to have created a situation whereby SUP seems to be loitering somewhere between a paddle sport and a surf sport. Surfers would argue it’s a surf sport, seeing the paddle as a mere optional extra. Paddlers (outrigger canoeists, river canoeists, kayakers, surf ski paddlers etc) would argue it’s a paddle sport regardless of what you are stood on. The paddle is what makes for the definitive point of difference.
Flat water and downwind paddling disciplines, are heavily reliant on paddling skills and the power delivered by the paddle itself. Only when surfing, when wave power takes over, is the paddle’s power rendered less relevant. It’s no coincidence that Hawaii’s founding pioneers, educators, advocators and ambassadors for the sport are also individuals who possess both surf and outrigger canoe paddling skills
An entire generation of surfers will debate issues of purity, maintaining a vigilant stand that surfing (without paddle) is the essence and soul of surfing and the inclusion of such is akin to adding preservatives to organic food. Biff is already occurring in the line up as the usual territorial issues overshadowing wave selection begin to bubble to the surface as SUP numbers increase. Not everyone is stoked about SUP.
The genetic lineage SUP`ing shares with outrigger canoeing, Hawaii’s national sport, is all but ignored yet it is intrinsically linked to the origins of Stand Up Paddlingboarding. The surfboard combined with the extended outrigger canoe paddle, two of Hawaii’s indigenous ocean sports, was a natural blend of two skills, that of surfing and paddling, yet alarmingly, the paddling (canoeing) element in this marriage of Hawaiian sports has been overshadowed on account of surfing’s global appeal and recognition and outrigger canoeing’s relative obscurity.
Armed with the possible paradigm shift in thinking that this is indeed predominantly a paddle sport, we can begin to promote and market this sport for what it is, a uniquely varied, enervating paddle sport. Paddle sports universally appeal to a much wider audience than that of surf sports regardless of the stoke you personally may feel when surfing and the reasons for this are not hard to grasp. In the first place, there is a by far a greater abundance of relatively flat, surfless water, both coastal and inland on this third rock from the sun of ours.
The use of an extended outrigger canoe paddle is what defines this sport but the importance it is given seems matter of fact. While dedicated canoe paddlers devote a lifetime to perfecting paddling technique and style, adhering to regimented drills, technique sessions, periodization plans with military precision, the feeling one gets is that many SUP participants are yet to fully embrace the same passion for the act of paddling as devoted canoe paddlers. Those who do hail from a paddling background bring this knowledge of paddling to the sport and many who are fanatical ‘downwind’ paddlers, bring also years of skill and passion for chasing ‘bumps’, connecting the dots, knowing the rush one gets from a following sea and wind over distance.
This particular form of SUP is gathering momentum rapidly. Of the three essential disciplines of SUP; surf, flat water cruising and downwind open ocean racing, it is ocean racing which truly tests the riders combined surfing and paddling skills; dependant on endurance and an entire repertoire of ocean skills and physicality honed over many year of a devotion to an ocean sports lifestyle.