Surfing and Stand Up Paddling as Zen arts.
Written by Len Barrow and Robert Stehlik. Focus and paying attention to technique, equipment, mental aspects, the interplay with nature and others.
Being able to go Stand Up Paddling in Venice was a dream come true. I had it on my bucket list for a while so when we took a family vacation to Florence this January I planned a day trip to Venice despite the cold weather. I contacted Eliana from SUP in Venice and even though her SUP business is usually closed for the winter she agreed to not only take me on a tour but also arranged a Gondola ride and Gondolier's lesson for the rest of the group as well as a Venetian style lunch and walking tour of the city. It was an awesome way to see Venice, here is the video:
Stand Up Paddling can be hard on the shoulders, here is a video with some tips for dealing with an injury:
In these two videos I talk about a shoulder injury I have been dealing with for over a year and what worked for me. I hope this helps others.
I will not repeat everything in the videos but some things not mentioned are the many things I tried to treat the injury, including: rest, icing, heat, stretching, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, massage, taping the shoulder, pain relieving gels (Arnica gel) and rubs, not sleeping on the affected shoulder, and more.
While all these helped, I feel like the main key to recovery are the PT rotator cuff exercises shown in the video. I'm not saying not to try everything else, especially to relieve pain and discomfort but in my experience, the exercises were the most helpful to recover.
My doctor thinks the pain is caused by Bursitis, as well as possible damage to the rotator cuff muscles and tendonitis. This link has good information on Bursitis and how to treat it, if you are interested in reading more about it:
My doctor recommended trying a Cortisone injection if the PT did not help but since my injury has improved greatly since starting the exercises I have been able to avoid and injection. So, if you think you may have a similar injury caused by paddling, or if you want to prevent this type of injury, I highly recommend making these rotator cuff muscle strengthening exercises part of your training regimen.
Please note that I am not a doctor or expert on this subject. Since your injury may be different than mine, I recommend seeing a doctor and/or physical therapist. Don't do any of these exercises if they are painful and make sure to keep good posture and form when doing the exercises. When I was doing research on this subject I found that these physical therapy exercises were not posted online, it is how the PT's make a living after all, which is why I decided to make this video, I hope it helps others treat and prevent injury sooner.
I'm happy to answer any questions, feel free to post a comment.
We are often asked: "What SUP board volume is best for me?"
The short answer is: "It depends. For beginners we recommend a volume of about twice your body weight."
Here is a longer explanation of our board volume recommendations:
First of all, you need to know your body weight into kg. To convert from pounds to kg divide your weight by 2.2 (1 kg = 2.2 lbs)
Using myself as an example: my weight is 195 lb. divided by 2.2= approx. 88 kg.
The metric system makes it easy to calculate lift created by volume as one kg is equals to the weight of one liter of water by definition (note that salt water is slightly denser so the same board will float slightly better in the ocean than in freshwater). Interestingly most board dimensions are quoted in feet and inches but volume is always quoted in metric liters for this reason.
Basically: one liter of volume displaces one liter of water and therefore creates one kg of lift, so one liter of board volume will float one kg of weight.
For beginners, we recommend body weight in kg= liters x 2 (approximately) or about 176 liters volume for my weight of 88 kg. This means that when I stand on the board, it will be pushed about half way under water to displace enough water to float my body weight plus equipment weight. Please note that more volume will not necessarily make the board more stable. Side to side stability is a result of the width of the board and the thickness of the rails and to a lesser degree the length of the board. A thicker board can actually be less stable as the feet are higher off the water, raising the center of gravity.
For racing and touring you can go with a higher volume as thicker, high volume rails can add secondary stability to a narrower hull that has less resistance than a wider board. In downwinders especially, high volume in the front of the board works well to keep the nose from plowing deep into the trough.
If high performance SUP surfing is your goal, as you improve you can gradually lower the volume of the boards you use since a lower volume board will generally surf better but will also be much harder to balance on and control, making low volume,high performance boards very difficult to learn on.
Expert SUP surfers can use a board volume as low as their body weight plus board, paddle, clothing and gear weight plus a few liters extra, or about 100 Liters volume for my body weight. At this volume the board will barely float when not moving. Some pros even use boards that don't float them when standing still, they need the dynamic lift created from moving through the water to keep them afloat, the board will sink if they stop paddling, with the board volume in liters slightly less than their body weight plus board and equipment weight in kg.
Once again: The body weight times two is only a rough guide to recommended volume as the width and volume distribution of the board has a bigger impact on how stable the board will be. Although we recommend buying a board that is challenging to balance on at first since your balance will quickly improve with practice, don't make the mistake of buying a board that is too small for your skill level as that can be very frustrating. The point is to have FUN!
Surfing on raceboards is a lot of fun and a great skill to practice if you want to get faster on downwind runs, since it's all about surfing the bumps. Surfing these big, long boards also allows you to catch and surf waves that others can't, which opens up all kinds of uncrowded spots and smaller waves that are barely breaking that you can catch from way outside,surf and ENJOY without a crowd. These two videos are from our weekly SUP training group, in the first one we go over some tips on how to surf waves on long raceboards (sorry, the sound is not the best as the microphone was picking up the wind noise). The second video has action on the water with a voiceover going over some of the tips. We hope you enjoy the footage. If you like our videos, please subscribe to the blueplanetsurf youtube channel! Part 1: On land coaching:
Between our Blue Planet SUP clinics and private and group lessons, we have helped hundreds of beginners learn how to SUP (stand up paddle). The best way to learn the basics and start having fun on the water with minimum frustration is by taking a lesson with a well qualified instructor that can help you learn proper technique from the start. If you don't have the opportunity to do that, the next best thing is to read up and watch instructional videos that will help you avoid common mistakes and don't let bad habits become engrained. Remember to make sure to learn the basics in calm, protected water before attempting to SUP in the surf, even if you are an experienced surfer, you are learning a new sport and have to learn the basics of using the paddle and balancing first. One of our most popular videos on the blueplanetsurf youtube channel (please subscribe to our youtube channel to see our latest videos) is titled Introduction to Stand Up Paddling. We recently added three more videos to our channel to help beginners get started in this great sport. The first video is titled: SUP tips: Common beginner mistakes This video goes over some of the common mistakes we often see when people paddle for the first time, including: getting on the board before it is in deep enough water, trying to stand on the board before kneeling first, going with the wind instead of into the wind, holding the paddle straight to go forward, holding the paddle backwards, hands too close together on shaft, not standing in the middle of the board.
The second video is titled: SUP Balance Tips for Beginners This video gives some pointers to beginners that are struggling to stand up and balance on the board (it's not as easy as it looks!). Some of the points covered in this video: getting on the right equipment, centering weight over middle of board, getting the board moving before standing up, different ways of getting from kneeling to standing, using the paddle to brace and lowering center of gravity to help balance, balancing on smaller boards, moving around on the board, getting upright and looking forward, not down.
The third video is titled: SUP tips for beginners: Stoke Technique Drills This video shows how to practice your stroke while standing in knee deep water and goes over getting good catch with the blade, getting good reach and ending stroke by the feet, feathering the blade at the release and during the recovery as well as using torso rotation to make your stroke more powerful.
For more videos, including more advanced technique tips for intermediate and advanced paddlers, please also check to our playlist titled SUP technique videos (some of the videos are in both playlists).
Everyone both stand up surfer and surfers on longboards and shortboards have been up in arms over the recent proposal to ban stand up surfing in traditional surfing areas. Here are a few things we should take into account. In a quick note, I do not SUP surf yet I believe SUP surfers can go where-ever they want (within reason). Why?
1) The surfing areas are regarded by law as a public commons. Thus technically all citizens have access to these public commons no matter what surf craft they ride.
2) Surfers already have and informal code on how to deal with stand up surfers who take too many waves.
3) Certain breaks allow SUP surfers culturally, and some breaks are hyper specific in relationship to who can surf SUP boards. NOTE! I don't make the rules, nor am I am saying if they are right or wrong.
Example: Tommy Chun Ming Is a Sup surfer at Kewalo that everyone loves.
A Note to Newcomers on SUPS
1) Before going out find an old time SUP surfer and ask them the specific cultural code in regards to etiquette on an SUP in relation to the specific surfing break.
2) Share the waves.
3) Wait in line for waves (refer to Social Surf Intelligence 2 in this blog)
4) Know your limits. If it's Hawaiian 6 feet and you don't know if you can handle, DONT GO OUT. I was run over by a QUAD SUP on a large day. It hurt. 4x the pain. The guy was a novice and should not have been out on a large day.
In the end we all have rights to the waves. Let us all pay attention in a Zen manner.
There has been a lot of buzz about what is proper etiquette in the water. As an Anthropologist, I have noticed that surfers have their own set of un-said rules. These rules are set far apart from common law and are overlaid on public surf areas. I am not saying they are correct or incorrect. I just wish to indicate to a beginner what they are as they are customary.
1. When you paddle out at a semi uncrowded spot don't bring a “crew”. A crew is a bunch of people. Their is nothing worse to some surfers than seeing five people, Stand Ups or Regular Surfers paddling out at once if you are in the break. The usual rule is two people max. Three is pushing it but is possible. A trick to avoiding this unsaid rule is that if you come with a crew of 3+ people, paddle out in a staggered manner. Everyone trickles out, one or two people at a time with around 10 minute intervals. When it comes to myself, I usually surf by myself. This makes me popular.
2. If you are new to a break, start your surf off from the inside of the break. Many people don't realize that there is a line of people waiting for the waves. As we would not cut in line at the supermarket, we should not cut in line while waiting for the waves at the surf break. One off the most offensive infractions to some surfers is to observe another surfer paddle out and not wait in line and by sitting in front of everyone.
3. If you are on a Longboard or SUP you need to realize that you have an exponentially easy time catching waves. Because of this, make sure to observe who is getting waves and who is not getting waves. When a nice wave comes in, let the guy or girl not getting waves have it, even if you are in line to get the next set. People notice little “cool” acts like this and you will develop a good reputation.
4. Think in the long term. As I am on a longboard, I get waves easier than others. I can literally snake every single set that comes in during a 2 hour session and have a wonderful time at the cost of others. Yet that two hour greed-pig-out will make everyone hate me forever. I can take that same 2 hour session and wait in line share waves and cheer people on and be welcomed every time I choose to surf for the rest of my life.
If you have a new SUP or surf board and are not sure how to properly install and set up the fins, watch this video for tips on how to properly install them, different set up options, and how to set up the fins for different conditions.
Downwind coaching runs are most effective with one on one instructions but doing downwinders as a group is fun as well and a great way for those newer to downwind paddling to get into the sport and learn the fundamentals in a safe environment. When we have enough people interested in a group run, I offer coached runs for groups of up to 5 people. Last week we did two group downwinders, the first with five participants, the second with two (plus myself). Watch the videos for some tips for the fun downwind run from Portlock to Kahala.
Here are two videos of group downwinders from last week with coaching tips voiced over:
January 7th downwinder with Peter, Kyle, Allan, Linda, and Patricia:
January 10th downwinder with Sean and Hopper:
January 29th downwind group with: Kyle, Jenn, Brett, Robert, Natalie, Sean
Here is a fairly random freestyle poem that I thought about while I was surfing. I thought that it would be nice to share on our blog. Enjoy!
Tears in the Rain
There was a tear.
The tear was angry, sad, frustrated and full of misunderstanding and fear
One day the tear realized that it was a drop of water in its original nature
Yet the tear was still angry, sad, frustrated and full of misunderstanding and fear
One day the tear saw the ocean
The tear angrily asked the ocean
Why are you so large?
Why are you so vast?
I hate you!
Why do you only have the nature of infinity while I must disappear?
The Ocean smiled in loving compassion and told the tear. “Those are only signs and symbols that you apply to me. Dear tear, do you not know that language makes all obscure. I am but you and you but me”.
The tear was startled yet with deep courage and tremendous
compassion; the tear dove in to the sea and found the truth.
No longer to suffer in anger, sadness, frustration and misunderstanding
Serenely and playfully abiding in inter-being and bliss.
