Project WW'SUP: Forget Your Feet

One of the most important skills I practice for WWSUP is foot work. Not just where to put them and when, but the more fundamental skill of moving around the board intuitively. For instance, the brain decides that we're going to carve around the shoulder of a hydraulic and head off to the right to avoid a bigger hole just downstream. Ideally the body automatically responds by switching from an offset stance to right-aligned stance. In that moment you are also paying attention to blade placement, the board's edges, and where your body weight is and where it needs to shift next. That's a LOT to deal with in the moment.

This article part of the series, Project Ww'SUP.

Whitewater SUP = Calisthenics

When trying something new very few do it well or efficiently at first. Whether it's chess or snow skiing or whitewater kayaking; noobs use twice the effort for the same effect as more experienced practitioners. Early in my downriver whitewater canoe racing career I was consistently puzzled by paddlers 20 years my senior almost effortlessly kicking my butt. I'd be paddling a 16' open canoe as hard as I knew, sweat stinging my eyes, 30 minutes into an hour long course, and wondering why I was punishing myself like this when Ed Sharp (68 at the time) would sail past me in his own 16' canoe with a smile and encouraging word. Over ten years later I at least have a better understanding of what it takes to paddle efficiently and fast even if the skill is still a bit out of my grasp.

Breaking the Rules

Early in Dale's WW-SUP Career (2013)

A year ago I bought a stand-up paddling board; SUPerCharger made by Jackson Kayak. I did not find lessons to learn how to operate it. I did not find a community of like-minded SUP paddlers to learn from and with. I just started playing with it using the knowledge I had accumulated from a couple decades spent canoeing lakes and whitewater rivers. In addition to learning the subtle art of a single-bladed canoe paddle I had just come off a few years practicing canoe poling. So, I wasn't completely uneducated as far as paddling upright with a 6 foot, single-bladed paddle. I just didn't know there were already rules for this new thing.