It Starts With Standing Up
SUP re-emerged in the early 2000's, by the likes of Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama and Brian Keaulana. They started paddling their tandem boards as fitness workouts but quickly realized how much fun they could have in the surf. The sport has grown ridiculously quickly, so much so that there is often backlash toward SUP surfers at crowded breaks from regular paddle surfers.
A stand up paddler does not need to ride a wave to take part in this sport. One can stand up paddle on the open ocean, in harbors, on lakes, rivers or any large body of water.
Stand up paddling allows you to see both the ocean and the coastline from a new perspective. Because of the standing height over the water one can see both deeper into the water and further across the surface of the water, allowing better visualization of features others lower above the water may not be able to see, whether it is the marine life in the harbors, lakes and coves or the incoming swells of the ocean marching on the horizon. SUP offers something that traditional surfing doesn't. It's also not just about riding waves, it's about getting on the water, with a different perspective, any time you want.
"It starts with standing up, on water. Everything that follows is secondary and ultimately lesser. And everything that follows is also unbelievably fantastic so that will put into perspective just how essential the standing on water part is. In the end, we surfers are drawn to the wave, the ride, the rush. We find that we can catch the waves in a position we used to only dream of. For those of us who are slow getting to our feet that hurdle is gone – we’re already up.
We see what is coming from a longer way off and we can establish position to make the best of the possibilities. And then we ride. And ride. And ride. If you measure in smiles it wins the grand prize. If you measure in terms of conditioning it will hold its own against virtually anything out there without the typically commensurate risk of damage-doing. And so we like it. A lot. And we do it, a lot.
Our friends and family suffer our incessant chatter about how amazing the last session was. They barely tolerate our eyes on the ocean at all times attitude. They recognize that they have lost a part of us. We are comforted by the truth that they are also gaining more of us in so many other ways. So we must ask some forgiveness for our excessiveness. There is probably a word beyond exuberance – whatever that word is we are guilty of it.
If you measure in smiles it wins the grand prize. If you measure in terms of conditioning it will hold its own against virtually anything out there without the typically commensurate risk of damage-doing. And so we like it. A lot. And we do it, a lot. Our friends and family suffer our incessant chatter about how amazing the last session was. They barely tolerate our eyes on the ocean at all times attitude. They recognize that they have lost a part of us. We are comforted by the truth that they are also gaining more of us in so many other ways. So we must ask some forgiveness for our excessiveness. There is probably a word beyond exuberance – whatever that word is we are guilty of it.
Some would take issue with the fact that we feel like gods out there, walking on the water. It’s an obvious conceit and a connection that any observer would easily make. We don’t mean to say we think we are God, but we are clearly doing something outside our previous experience and we know it is special. Earth and water beneath our feet, heavens above, and we exist between – connected, aligned, blessed. It starts with standing up, on water."
- excerpt from a post on the Stand Up Zone