One of the fastest growing water sports right now is stand up paddle surfing, or SUP for short. Ironically, this form of surfing actually pre-dated the modern form of surfing we know today, but has recently reemerged as a global phenomenon. Previously utilized by surfing instructors to be able to manage large groups of students and by Waikiki surfers to take pictures of tourists learning to surf, SUP has gained popularity and has brought in leisure lovers and pro-athletes alike to give this sport a go.
Using stand up paddle boards to take pictures of tourists?! Waikiki surfers are the SMARTEST surfers alive.
So why has SUP gained so much momentum recently? Here are some of the reasons:
1. Zero Learning Curve: You can do this in the bay, river, lake or anywhere that has flat water. Not at all intimidating even for kids, women, and not-so-well-coordinated adults.
This dude seems pretty damn coordinated to me.
2. Excellent Core Work-out: More and more people are getting into this sport for the total body work-out it gives. Plus it’s a lot cheaper than Pilates or Core Kinesis.
This picture is enough to give most guys a total body work-out.
3. For the adrenaline junkies: You can ride out 1-2 feet waves or shred the 20 footers, it’s totally up to you. It’s the closest thing to tow-in surfing, minus a jetski, using your own power with a paddle instead.
STOKED.
4. Very safe: As long as you don’t decide to start ripping monster waves in half on your first day of paddle surfing, the sport is really safe, garnering one of the lowest numbers of injuries when pitted against most water sports.
5. It’s 10x easier to learn than surfing but 10x the fun.
Paddle surfing has certainly ridden the wave of success to become one of the fastest growing water sports today. If you’re in the Philippines, you could try going to places like Anilao, Subic, Batangas or even Boracay aside from the popular surfing spots like La Union to try your hand in this sport. There are a lot of websites like this one that you can visit or videos you can watch if you’re really interested in this up-and-coming sport. So what are you waiting for? Paddle on to your nearest surf spot today!
Sapagkat ikaw ay praning…
