Enhancing Your SUP boarding by Land Paddling

For those that have not been exposed to land paddling or street SUP is a quickly growing sport that combines elements of stand up paddle boarding, surfing and skate boarding. Virtually every time we take to the streets or trails we get stopped and asked what it is we are doing, if it is a new sport and where can someone purchase the equipment? While we would all love to be on the water on our Three Brothers board as much as possible sometimes schedules and weather can limit our water time. With that in mind, land paddling can help you cross train in the following ways while off the water to enhance your experience on the water.


Balance

For the avid stand up paddler the value of balance can not be overstated. We strive to exert a positive force against a dynamic, ever changing surface. Controlled balance and strength is what allows us to accelerate. street SUP is no different, we use a pole to exert force to move us forward while maintaining balance.  The same muscle groups of the feet and calves that we use while on a SUP are utilized and strengthened while land paddling.


Surfing

For stand up paddlers looking to make the transition from flat water paddling to SUP surfing land paddling can help in many ways. Typically land paddling is done in a split or surfing stance which gets SUP folks used to moving their footing around on the board as well as learning to carve which helps with bottom or top turns. Street SUP has a flow to it very similar to surfing while the carving and leaning back on the pole can be very similar to the carving movement of surf SUP.


Endurance

The stand up paddle (SUP) board experience can be enhanced by land paddling most effectively by training your endurance. Land paddling can be as aggressive or easy as you want it to be. If you feel your SUP skills in wind need work try street SUP up some mild hills. You will involve the same muscle groups that enable you to paddle up wind. The benefit being that at any given time you can simply stop without needing to be able to make it back to a launch point.

Just plain fun

We stand up paddle for fun and land paddling is a great way to put a smile on your face while enjoying the outdoors.

Credit: Three Brother's Boards