SUP Balance tips for beginners- Stand Up Paddleboarding

Hi I'm Robert Stelik with Blue Planet Surf and today I'm going to talk a little bit about balancing on the board. A lot of times one of the biggest challenges is when you're starting out is just staying on top of the board and balancing. I'm going to give you a few tips on how you can to make it easier for it to balance when you're first starting out. So you know one probably the most important thing is to get the right gear. So you want to make sure you have a board and paddle that's right for you. So the more you weigh the taller you are the bigger the board should be and the wider the board should be. The width is probably the most important thing for your balancing. The wider the board the easier it is to balance. This board here is a 9'6 by 30 and then obviously the smaller you go the more tricky it is to get to balance on the board. But as you as you get better you'll be able to balance on much smaller boards than when you first start out. So yeah let's get started. It's good to have a place where you can get on your board from a standing position like shallow water is good. If you have to do it from a dock there's different techniques for that too. Today I'm just going to show how to do it when you're standing in shallow water. You first just get on your knees on the board. You always want to be right in the middle where the handle is. That's usually the center of the weight. If you're too far back the tail will sink. If you're too far forward the tail will kind of stick up out of the water. So you want to make sure you're balanced properly on the board where the weights right over the middle of the board and the boards flat in the water. Once you get kind of comfortable in a kneeling position if you're struggling like this already you might want to try to get a wider board a more stable bigger board. If you're already struggling just kneeling then it's going to be really hard to get into the standing position. So from your kneeling position try to take a few strokes and you don't have to hold the handle way up here you can just hold the paddle shorter. Take a few strokes to get the board moving. Ideally you want to always start going into the wind first and then put the paddle in front of you. Put your feet where your knees were and then stand up look forward and start paddling. This is usually the way I teach to get up. Another way if you're some people have really stiff knees and have a hard time getting from that kneeling position to the standing position so I'll show another way to do it. If you're on your knees and you have a hard time just getting from your knees to a standing position another way that works for some people is to put the paddle in front of you and then slowly get from that kneeling position into a standing position and use the paddle to help you stand up. I don't know if that's necessarily easier but that works for some people. Remember to be right in the middle of the board so the board is flat in the water. Keep your knees bent, look forward, don't look down at the board, don't be hunched over or bent forward and then start paddling and keep your paddle in the water. If you do start to lose your balance get low and put your paddle in the water for balance. The further you can get the paddle out to the side the more stability it's going to give you. If you're on a smaller board the smaller the board is the harder it's going to balance. The shorter the board is the more important it is to be in the middle. This is a 9'6 so it's a relatively short board and as soon as I put some weight further back you can see that I'm going to sink the tail and it's going to be much less stable further back than further forward. Now moving my feet around is tricky because if I unweigh one foot the board will rock so it's actually the best way to move around on a shorter board is to jump like small jumps into the surf stance, fast forward. By making these little jumps you can unweigh both feet at the same time without going in the drink right away. So moving your way back to sink the tail makes it easier to turn. Some things to remember when you're first starting out. Bend your knees, keep your upper body forward, look forward, keep the paddle in the water, get the board moving, stand right in the middle, keep your knees soft and just let your body naturally do the balancing for you. Alright good luck and enjoy. The most important thing is to have fun right? Thank you.