Mar 12, 2020

Surf Stance for SUP Surfing-Why Should You Practice It and How

SUP Surfing Basic Tips For Beginners

SUP surfing is a fun activity you can do with an inflatable paddleboard. And it’s a more challenging one as well because you’ll be catching waves which is completely different from a casual SUP session.

You’ll have to learn how to maneuver in more difficult situations like when a wave is coming. But it’s fun for sure. If you do want to give it a shot, it’s suggested you start from learning the basics.

One of the most basic parts of SUP surfing is the surf stance. Knowing the right surf stance can help you build a solid foundation for SUP surfing and make the following learning process much easier. So take time to learn and practice the surf stance first to build a solid foundation.

SUP Surfing

Why is it so important to take the surf stance?

So what makes it that important to know and use a surf stance? The first and most obvious reason is that it makes ride waves much easier.

It helps to distribute our weight forward and back on the board thus giving you better control over the board. And it’s easier to move and make adjustments when things get rough.

Paddling out over waves is not easy for beginners, but the surf stance is able to make it easier for you to get over waves. It’s not just catching waves you need to learn, but also paddling out over waves and surf stance is the key to this process.

A surf stance can also make it easier for you to paddle in a straight line, which is important for catching waves. For a beginner, it’s not easy to ride a wave without going in a different direction than the waves and falling.

With a surf stance, going straight will be much easier and you won’t keep turning in a different direction than the wave. So the surf stance can actually help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your strokes.

Where to stand on the board when on surf stance

Place one foot in front of the carry handle and the other foot about two feet behind the handle. It’s basically the most ideal position for balancing and the surf stance.

Try to move front and back to practice moving on your board until you are comfortable doing it. It’s not an easy task but it will benefit you greatly when you go SUP surfing in the future.

How to take a surf stance?

The surf stance is actually very simple, even for beginners. People usually start with a normal parallel stance which is standing with your feet on each side of the handle in the center of the board with your toes pointing on the board.

It’s a basic stance that works great for casual stand up paddleboarding on flat water. But when it comes to SUP surfing, you will be riding your SUP board on much choppier water, especially when you are riding a wave.

That requires you to take a completely different stance than the normal parallel stance to get more stability.

To take a surf stance first is to have your feet on the centerline of the board, with one foot on either side of the handle and the other foot on the other side. You can first try having your left foot front and your right foot back.

If that doesn’t feel natural to you, switch it and try again and you should feel more natural this time. Usually, people will have their natural foot forward, and by trying different surf stances, you should be able to find out which foot it is very soon.

If you’ve tried any other board sports like skateboarding or snowboarding, you should know which foot to place in front and back without having to try it much.

When and where to practice the surf stance?

You can take any opportunity you have on the water to practice surf stance. No matter if you are on a river, lake, ocean, sea, inland waterways or even whitewater, you can go ahead and try the surf stance. It’s the kind of thing that you can do more perfectly with practice.

Take paddle strokes in a surf stance and once you are comfortable doing it, you are basically ready for SUP surfing. It’s going to be fun and recording at the same time.

There have been examples of people practicing the surf stance who turned out later to be able to do it comfortably and move on to SUP surfing with no problem, even if most of them have never even caught a wave before. This is an important and useful skill for SUP surfing.

So even if you don’t do SUP surfing much, it’s still important to master the craft because it’s going to make a huge difference once you get out to the water and try SUP surfing.

Practicing a surfing stance

One important tip to keep in mind when practicing the SUP surfing stance is to keep your paddle moving in the water as you go to move your feet.

Here’s how to do it. First have the paddle planted in the water completely, start taking the stroke and at the same time, start moving your feet. And continue to repeat that process until you are into that surf stance position.

The transfer of weight will help you balance when you move your feet, make good use of it and it will significantly lower the odds of you falling into the water while moving.

As you know, practice makes perfect. Practice surf stance when you have the chance and you will benefit from it greatly when you are out there on the water and your paddle board would be a great source of fun for you.