SUP Mag UK lo-res free to readers July 2014 lo-res - free to read | Page 29

conceived the blue print for their Ready to
Race courses for the Academy of Surfing
Instructors (ASI) and now working with the
recently formed Water Skills Academy Ltd
(WSA), I can vouch for the fact that many
instructors seem somewhat overly
protective of their students. They are
preoccupied with avoiding and limiting the
possibility that their students will fall in or
that, God forbid, they are confronted with
having to work hard to stay deck side.
Discomfort, it seems, must be avoided at all
costs during the learning phase. You have to
question if this is a virtue or a vice.

the gear box area of his hips. His upper body
was doing its level best to keep swinging
away to ensure momentum and pressure on
the blade. His heart rate had been elevated
throughout the experience, not just through
physical effort, but by the nerve impulses
firing heavy duty signals throughout his
body in an attempt to stay focused and
balanced.
We talked, we paddled home and by the
time I was finished with him, he was
converted to the fact that here was a sport
which was anything but easy, aided by the
fact I had set out to not make it so. I had
not over looked his pre-existing ability by
giving him a 10'6 x 36" board, nor
underestimated the importance of a good
paddle. I certainly was not going to provide
him with billiard-table flat water as a first
experience, which would be dull and
uninteresting and only serve to lend weight
to pre-conceptions that SUP sport is in fact
easy and, for many, not much of a workout.

Falling and retrieval
Perhaps this is born of the belief that falling
and retrieval and being challenged to
maintain balance is in some way a negative
factor. The reality may well be that adding
greater challenge and the definite
possibility they will fall, will in fact add to
the experience and dispel some of the
myths that could be detracting would-be
participants, rather than attracting.

Having conceived and written the
instructional training content for SUP Water
Safety and Rescue (with Chris Rea), the
Exposed Waters and Downwind course and

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While it's not always possible to offer
bespoke lessons within larger school
situations, the idea should be nurtured

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Steve West
www.kanuculture.com
Steve West is acting Brand
Ambassador and Consultant
to Mistral Red Dot Division
International. In addition,
he is Senior Consultant to
the Water Skills Academy
Ltd and Managing Director
of KANUculture
Publications. Author of
‘Stand up Paddle – A
Paddler’s Guide’, recognised
as the ‘SUP Bible’ across the
globe. He is a two-time
outrigger canoeing World
Champion (Molokai), past
professional windsurfer and
National Coaching Director
(Australia) and Consultant
to the Fijian South Pacific
Games Race Squad for over
seven years. Instrumental
in the establishment of the
ASI SUP (2011) Instructor
Courses in the UK and
Europe, he has been an
ocean paddler for over 35
years and remains an acti fP