New to SUP

[DanWeiss]

I bit the bullet and obtained an Oxbow Pilot 10'6". It seems really great for surfing as it charges down any little angle with ease, but I've not had the chance to get it into breaking waves yet.

My question to those who SUP is how to paddle without clanking the blade into the board's rail. I find this occurs right after I switch hands in the middle of digging hard. I'm not concerned about damage but I am thrown off balance a bit. It's not efficient, at the very least.

Any suggestions?

[REDBULL]

It will become second nature after awhile. Dont force it. Just go out and paddle when you can and it will get smother. One thing to look at is when you ride waves make sure your fin is big enough some boards come with way to small a fin and all you get is board twist.This makes it really dificuilt to catch waves or even if you just want to paddle straight. Watch for this, your fin should match the length of your board. Rainbow fins makes alot of good fins and diffrent sizes. You should be able to paddle two or threee times on one side without your board spinning out. A bigger fin helps you track straight and puts all your momentum in a foward direction alowing you to cuise easier. Dont go to far over size as this will make you slow with to much fin drag. Theres a happy medium or a sweet spot of just the right fin for these boards and the way you use it. Happy paddleing my friend.

[outcast]

Agree with Redbull on the fin thing
many folks get all worked up over their paddling form, and if you are banging it that much in flat water you may need to make adjustments to paddle lenth and stroke technique

That having been said, I bang the s...t out of my rail in the surf, and it's part of the learning curve. People use rail tape and paddle tape and everything else

You have evolved....congrads!

[WaterKook]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrLLdNuOESk

[outcast]

talk about unchecked agression......

[vikingsail]

What paddle do you have? Certain paddles are unstable when you pull the paddle thru the water, they flutter. Check http://www.kenalu.com/forums/ask-how/ for paddle reviews.
The learning curve seems to be measured in days, I would suggest that you try to go out in 1-2 ft waves and develop your muscle memory while getting wet. My last outing on 3-4 ft waves imcreased my balance on my board by about 100%.
Fin wise I use my Surfgrass fins 8-1/4 thru the 9-1/2" (with a sail) and found them to work well on my SUP.

[DanWeiss]

I'm using a very basic Bic Jungle paddle. Alu shaft (adj.) and reinforced plastic blade. I'm sharing the board with a friend who's 10" taller, so we figured the adj. paddle would be best at the beginning.

I thought about flutter, too, but it doesn't feel like that's happening. I suspect that it is a function of paddle technique -especially as the banging occurs after I transition from one side to the other.

BTW, what is the recommended method for transitioning from left to right and vice-versa? All I do is let go with the top hand on the stroke, lift up with the bottom hand, grab nearby with the old top hand, pull up and across the board and try to catch the handle and push into a new stroke. This seems pretty hard to do cleanly, and why a smash the rail. Any thoughts?

[REDBULL]

Your paddle length should be set this way. Make a fist and put it ontop of your head. Your correct paddle length for you should be from the ground to the top of your fist. You can also watch u-tube videos for correct paddle techniques and also wave ridding techniques. Theres alot of good videos on there that i think will help you out. They also have more advanced manuvers for when your ready and want to try new stuff.

[DanWeiss]

So, another weekend with 3 days of paddling. The practice really helped. I now hardly smash the rail and can actually step back and do a sweep stroke to rip the board around. I'm still trying to find the fore/aft balance point, and clearly my recurruent pearling at the bottom of every wave is a function of that.

Still, I love the board, and it makes for a ton of fun with my 5 year-old!

Thanks for all the tips, everyone!

[PeconicPuffin]