62mac said...

and way did you take up stand up paddle boarding?

good topic, everyone has a story.i was having problems with my surfing due to doing a lot of snow skiing.my coach suggested surfing a mal for a bit, wasn't real keen on that. then i day he said he had been doing some standup and i should have a go. we did and i was hooked.we decided to drop the coaching as supping would show me what i needed to do. the time will come when my supping and shortboarding will even out a bit, but at the moment i have to make myself hop the shortie.
cheers

Great thread!

Makes me think I should be getting back on a short board again....
I flicked them 15 years ago for a custom epoxy Mal. No one rode epoxy back then and I had a HUGE (non-visible advantage). Then it just got boring....

Both Tom Carroll and Simon Anderson reckon it is great for your shortboard skills, but not necessarily Longboard skill. As it improves your upper body strength and balance it would be interesting to hop back on a short board on those epic days, (get back a little respect from the locals) and see how it all came together - food for thought!

Keep the stories coming!

AA

Thought I should add mine as to read this you'd think nearly every SUP was ridden by a veteran surfer (although I'm a little jealous that I've come to the game so late)

I arrived in Oz ten years ago and so hadn't surfed when I was growing up. I'd alawys wanted to surf but hadn't made the time and now with two young boys I didn't want to give up the considerable amount of time away from them that it would take me to get competant on the shortboard.

A friend mentioned how much fun he'd had SUPping and I figured it ticked all my boxes about being out on the ocean that surfing would so I'd give it a go.

I haven't stopped smiling since

I'm hopeful that when I do eventually have a go on a shortboard that my SUP experience will help me.

Been riding a short board for 14 years.... and got to the stage where I got curious and wanted to have a go! Now i have 2 sups,,, and totally hooked!

I shortboarded for 30 yrs...
Then, not so suddenly, with my girlfriend pregnant and soon to be expecting, I decided that I had better put off that trip to Costa. Before I knew it, I had peeled the calendar a few times and knew I would, all too soon, end up looking at June (=beginning of the flat months, here in Florida). Now that my little one was born, I figured I would have to be quite the arse to take-off on a surf trip with the guys. Out of desperation, I ordered my first SUP - an 11' custom from Steve Walden. I am now on my third SUP. Even though I have maybe 15 boards at the house, I have not prone surfed in over a year.
I hope to SUP another 30 years...

loco4olas said...

AA said...

Great thread!

Makes me think I should be getting back on a short board again....
I flicked them 15 years ago for a custom epoxy Mal. No one rode epoxy back then and I had a HUGE (non-visible advantage). Then it just got boring....

Both Tom Carroll and Simon Anderson reckon it is great for your shortboard skills, but not necessarily Longboard skill. As it improves your upper body strength and balance it would be interesting to hop back on a short board on those epic days, (get back a little respect from the locals) and see how it all came together - food for thought!

Keep the stories coming!

AA

Andrew-I think it DEFINITELY helps your shortboard skills-the amount of strength you need on a SUP (and gain from the paddling and riding) can then be applied to your shortboard-puts that much more strength/power into your surfing-together with the conditioning you get from the paddling and riding-it's all a bonus-you end up being in the ocean more than if just riding a shortboard solely and so you get that added connection plus the extra fitness-despite the glares from shortboarders when riding a SUP-little do they know that there's a huge advantage when you jump back on the shortboard

i might add to this.when i first started, after about three weeks of supping i went for a shortie. got a nice running beachie. i pulled off 4 top to bottom rio,s and finished with a big closeout.no funny turns in between, just on it. now i could always do those moves, but to do 4 with no loss of technique and have the strength and power i put directly down to the supping. i can't recall ever surfing a wave that well, very stoked. imho every up and comer surfer with stars in their eyes should be using sup as part of their training.
cheers

Gorgo said...

This is starting to turn into a bit of a revivalist prayer meeting. Group hug anybody?

Aaahhh was a sinner but aaahhhh wuz sayev-ed bah the hoooollllly SUP!

Somebody fart or something to break the mood. We need some virgins to sacrifice. [}:)]

you didnt answer the question

Well I came from a swimming/surf club /longboard back ground ,and was In Hawaii at Waikiki surfing and I said to my American mate whats that guy doing paddling way out the back? He said suping ..... I replyed stuff that it looks to hard!

Now I'm paddling 9k , and even though I enjoy longboarding more I've found that when the surfs no good I can go for a paddle and are really enjoying the long distance /downwinders and hope to do some ocean paddling races one day!

I've also found my fitness /balance and losing a few pies has made it easier and more enjoyable when I'm surfing

Love the sport!

Boylos

I started surfing when I came to Australia (about 5.5 years ago) then found I plateaued out and couldn't get any better. I also wavesailed on the side whenever it was windy enough to bog out (or better). After reading lots of articles on the web and seeing some people out at Manly on SUP's (in tiny waves but having a great time) I realised it would fit well with my other sports: windy = windsurfing, glassy + waves = surfing, glassy + no waves = golf.

Now all I really do is SUP! I'm onto my 2nd SUP (9'6" Naish), haven't prone surfed for months and barely windsurf.

As for improving surfing I wouldn't know, however I went out on my waveboard on Sunday in very gusty conditions, and had so much more balance/control when waist deep in water in the lulls! I can't wait to get some DTL in decent wind and waves - my wavesailing will be a lot better.

So it sounds like most of us come from a prone background,I am with Boylos.
The Waikiki trips which are a must do I wanted something to do when the surf was rubbish or too small. I started out hard and fast for the first four weeks,flat water paddling and then hit the surf ,which was not my original intention.I to have dropped some kegs,so much so my friends think I have some illness. I once suffered from a dickie back but that's history thanks to SUP'ing

Another question,who caught their first wave on a SUP? and not a surfboard?

mac

Similar to Windy.

Have wavesailed for about 20 years, traveled all over the place doing that and doing comps at all levels.

Jumped on a SUP late last year and was hooked, bought an 11'4", and recently moved onto a 9'6". Now I am torn between wanting no wind to hit the SUP or wind for a sail.

Have ridden lots of waves on a windsurfer, however have been finding out surfing the SUP is very different and do now wish I had a prone surfing backgound. Love learning something new though.

Been reading with interest all the replies, thought I might as well add a slightly different bent: mad-keen surfer in the 60's/70's, started on a Coolite, first board was in the days of no legropes (surfed Cactus without a legrope---scary). Lost interest in the 80's, became a snow-ski bum.
Back into it in the 90's, lived in Gero (Geraldton) for 3 years, pretty good waves. Moved back to Perth 1998 & that just about killed the surfing for me. Became a total golf-nut as Perth surf is very uninspiring. Bought a 9' mal after a trip to Noosa in 2002, back into it. But the golf kept winning (also very addictive).

Saw my first sup in Zarautz, Spain, September 2006 while surfing a great little beach break on a hired 9' mal. Only one sup out. "What the..." Checked it out on the web when I got back home but thought "nah".
November 2007, faced with a long summer of cr*p surf in Perth, thought I might give wind-surfing a go. Local wind-surf shop showed me a big Mistral, said "good for beginners, & you can stand-up paddle it too", & handed me a paddle

The rest is history!! No wind-surfing, cancelled membership at golf club, selling the mal, onto my 2nd sup, out there every chance I can get, almost feel like 25 again (& I ain't no spring chicken )

I hear you Oliver,at 46 I have two daughters both well into their last year at uni and a son with 1 and a bet years of schooling to go, I also lost contact with my old surfing buddies because I married young had the family building houses and so on.The flip side is I surf with my son who is now a better surfer than me and at the dinning table tonight my eldest wants mum and dad to go bloody clubbing with her this Saturday night to celebrate her birthday I declined So life is good and a midlife crisis is the best thing that came happen
Love your posts.

mac

Nar,first wave was on a Kentucky Fried Chicken foamy in 1969 at 5 y.o ,push-in take off assisted by my Dad.My folks still have footage on old reel film,
Robbo

62mac said...

lacey said...

hey 62 mac this has turned out to be really good topic. really good to read all the stories.all this talk about how good suping is for shortboarding will probably have every back on them when the weather breaks on the goldie.i remember watching a guy suping on a back beach, he was pretty good. anyway he disappeared and came back out on his shortie and preceded to rip the place apart.its got me thinking about a cross competition for those that like comps.imagine guys and gals having to change over from sup to shortie and back again i would watch that. it might help relationships between everyone in the lineups
cheers

Gee glad its turned out to be a good topic Lacey,unlike my SHAME post when I first joined the forum [}:)] Did it stir up the pot [}:)] Good idea with the duel surfing aspect,only I haven't ridden a shortie for the past 20 years bring on the longboards

hey, why don't you have a crack at it again. you might be surprised!