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SUP FREESTYLE
THE FUN WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR FLAT WATER PADDLING SKILLS
WORDS : TEZ PLAVENIEKS . PICS : OLI LANE-PEARCE AS A NEW STAND UP PADDLE BOARD OWNER , FOLLOWING A FEW SESSIONS MEANDERING ABOUT , THERE ’ S OFTEN A QUESTION OF WHERE TO TAKE YOUR SUP NEXT . ADVENTURE PADDLING , SUP SURFING , SUP RACING AND SO ON ARE ALL APPLICABLE . BUT FOR ANYONE KEEN TO KEEP THINGS FUN , POSSIBLY REMAIN CLOSER TO HOME , YET STILL IMPROVE THERE ’ S ANOTHER OPTION .
SUP freestyle ? As a watersports instructor of many years I was always conscious of getting my groups to progress , learn new skills and push on . But without being ‘ drilled ’. There ’ s nothing worse than feeling like you ’ ve ‘ been to school ’ ( so to speak ) when doing something that ’ s supposed to be fun . Which is why during all my coaching sessions I ’ d aim to come up with some kind of game or alternative method of teaching rather than simply making students learn a new skill .
Just like anything stand up paddle boarding has its own set of techniques . The more you learn and can do the better your overall experience will be . That also knocks on to the additional paddling environments and weather conditions you can cope with .
Keeping both the above elements in mind SUP freestyle is a fun way to get on top of new SUP skills – both board handling and paddle related . It ’ s nothing new as back in the day many of us discovering SUP pre-2010 were seeing what could be achieved whilst standing atop a paddle board . Spinning , whirling , twisting and walking up and down the ‘ plank ’ helped us identify just how far we could push the performance of the gear being used whilst developing muscle memory and paddle / board handling skills in tandem .
The word ‘ freestyle ’ may conjure up some images of elitist moves being carried out but actually it ’ s just a term that means messing about . There ’ s nothing more to it than that . Anything that you do aboard your SUP , other than actually standing and paddling , can be classed as SUP freestyle . If it means you ’ re moving about proactively and developing your skills , but in a fun way that ’ s also engaging in its own right , then that ’ s all good in my book .