SUP is the short form of the water sport called stand up paddle boarding, which is gaining popularity day by day. It has long been believed that the popularity of kayaking as a water sport has steadily increased since the 1990s and early 2000s. It will be equally good to say that paddle kayaks have become a favorite of the fastest growing . Well, it looks like this sport will soon have to get rid of any of these titles.

Stand up paddle boarding may not be the water sport of choice yet, but it is gaining popularity very quickly.

Understanding Standup Paddle

The origin of stand up paddle boarding is the same as other board sports, and that is Hawaii. SUP, also known as “Hoe he’e nalu”, has very old roots. However, it has now become popular with many photographers and surf instructors.

SUP basically employs a type of surfboard along with a long paddle. In this sense, it is a mix of surfing and canoeing. Credit for making it popular goes to Laird Hamilton, who made use of oar-grabbing tug waves that originated in Hawaii. But now, SUP is not just for surfing. SUP can be enjoyed in many other ways. such as calm water lakes to facilitate beach paddling, open water paddling and even wave surfing.

First steps with SUP

Although you can visit a store and get the first or cheapest board, it may not be the best option to start in this sport.

The design, and therefore the value of SUP paddles and boards, varies greatly. It is not difficult to guess that the better quality plates will be more expensive. At the same time, better boards are more appropriate for intermediate and experienced paddlers.

Here are some tips that beginners will find useful. Once you have decided to get some experience on stand up paddle boards, you should call one of the SUP shops in your area and rent a board for the initial lessons. It may be a good idea to rent boards from different manufacturers to find which one suits you best. It’s not uncommon for many stores to fit the rental cost into the final price of the new board you would buy. So check this out. There is absolutely no harm in starting with used equipment. You can locate many used equipment dealers through the classified ads in local newspapers. Some stores also offer boards that were used for demos or used boards at considerably lower prices.