Beginner's Guide to SUP

If it’s your first time on a SUP it’s normal to be nervous. At SUP Cape Town we’re used to guiding first-timers through their SUP experience, so here is our advice on what to expect, as well as some helpful hacks, tips and tricks to know before heading out on the water.

To get started, make sure you have all the necessary gear with you. The bare essentials include your stand-up paddle board (SUP) and a paddle. For first timers and those less confident on the water we recommend a lifejacket for water safety, and if you’re going out on the ocean or anywhere with a faster current it’s important to have a leash so you don’t get separated from your board by the tide. Make sure to protect yourself from the sun with sunscreen and a hat as necessary. Take a look at our SUP equipment breakdown if you want a more in-depth guide to all the SUP gear you might need.

Now that you have all the essentials ready, let’s move on to the basics of SUPing. 

To make it easier we’ll break it down into the following 3 sections:  

1. standing up/balancing  
2. paddling 
3. falling/getting back on. 

 

1: Standing 

Firstly, even though it’s called “stand up” paddle boarding, you don't have to stand up straight away! A good way to test out your balance is by starting off on your knees. Once you have worked your way onto the board, make sure you are positioned facing forwards just behind the carry handle (centre of the board). If you’re still feeling unsure, give yourself some time to get used to the movement of the board, you can paddle whilst kneeling down.

When you do want to stand, place your paddle in front of you laying horizontal across the board. Hold onto the paddle with your hands wide towards the edges of the board for stability. You can slightly put your weight onto the paddle as you place your feet where your knees were and stand upright, bringing your paddle with you. It might feel counterintuitive but better to try and make this move fairly confidently and swiftly, as this helps to keeps your balance stable. If you move to slowly and hesitatingly, you are more likely to wobble!

Once you’re standing, make sure that your feet are parallel to each other, about shoulder-width distance apart and keep your knees slightly bent. To maintain balance, lean forward slightly at your hips, keeping your back straight and focus on where you are going instead of looking down at your feet. 

 

2: Paddling 

Next, we’ll move onto paddling. When holding the paddle, the blade should angle slightly forward towards the nose of the board. One hand will always be on the T-grip (handle) and the other about halfway down the shaft. When paddling on the right side of the board, your left hand will be on the T-grip and your right hand further down. Make sure to reverse your hand positions when switching to the other side of the board. 

The most basic SUP paddle stroke is the forward stroke. Insert your paddle into the water towards the nose of the board, make sure the entire blade is under the water to maximise the power in your stroke. Keeping your lower arm as straight as possible, engage your core and think of pulling your body towards your paddle rather than pulling the paddle towards you.

To go straight ahead, make sure to alternate your paddling evenly between the left and right sides of the board. To turn, you can paddle more on one side than the other: paddle more on the left side to go right and more on the right side to go left.

For more paddling advice as well as more advanced paddle strokes, check out our paddling tips and paddling techniques articles.

 

3: Falling/getting back on 

Prepare yourself to get wet as falling into the water is common when you start out! One thing you can do when your balance is off and you feel like you’re about to fall is try go down onto your knees first, this way you can regain your balance and try again. When you do fall, remember to try to fall away from the board to prevent injury. 

While the thought of falling can be scary, try to think of it as part of the fun of learning to SUP! As you improve and get used to balancing on the board you will naturally start to fall less frequently.

To get back on your SUP after falling off, swim to the centre of the board and grab the handle with one hand, and the far edge of the board with the other (if you grab with both hands in one place, you weight will be unbalanced, and you are more likely to flip the board). Pull your upper body onto the board as far as you can and kick your legs up beside you (towards the tail of the board) so that you end up laying on your stomach on the board. Alternatively, you can move to the tail end of the board and slide your body on that way.

If you let go of your paddle when falling, get back onto your board first and use your hands to paddle and retrieve the paddle after. 

Now that you know the basic dos and don’ts, you’re all set to have your first supping experience! 

Some final advice from our assistant manager Jahaan who says ‘When I first started SUPing I was extremely nervous at first trying to conquer all the emotions one can feel when going into unknown territory, but with the help of all these tips it was not so bad after a few tries. I’ve fallen more times than I can count but it was worth it all!!’