What is Stand Up Paddling?

Written by: James | Last update: 3 November 2022

SUP (stand up paddling) is one of the greatest water sports there is. But what exactly is supping? Back in Hawaii, surf instructors stood on their surf boards with a long paddle in their hands, teaching surf. In this way the surf instructors had a good overview on the beginning surfers. With this method, the surf instructors gave lessons on the water. Stand Up Paddling was therefore established some time ago by the Hawaiian surf instructors. Standing on your SUP Board with a long paddle in your hands, moving yourself and the sup board forward, that is in short stand up paddling. The great thing about stand up paddle boarding is that you can do it anywhere, on flat water, at sea and even on wild rivers. For each type of water you need a certain type of paddle board.

In the meantime, a new way of paddling has even been added called ‘sup foiling’. You need a special foil for this, this special foil can be mounted on a foil sup. With the right speed, the supfoil ensures that your sup board comes out of the water and this makes you fly above the waterline. Sup foiling is a unique experience that every SUP fanatic should experience!

Why is stand up paddling so popular and so healthy to do?

Stand up paddling is a water sport where you use a lot of muscles, it is a total workout.
Below we have briefly summarised the advantages of SUP boarding.

• Outside: you are in nature
• Mindfulness: good for the mind, makes sure you don’t think about anything else for a while
• Body: the whole body is trained when paddling
• Balance: you are always correcting your balance and this makes for a workout in itself
• Easy to learn: with guidance paddling can be learned quickly

To be able to paddle, you need a stand up paddle board. There are different types of paddle boards for different purposes. All types of SUPS are described in the list below:

– Tour paddle boards, tour sups are suitable for people who would like to make a long trip with comfort
– Surf paddle boards, these are mainly suitable for supping at sea and therefore also for surfing waves
– Windsurfing paddle boards, with this type of board you can both windsurf and just paddle
– Race paddle boards, race boards are intended to paddle over the water at a fast pace. Race paddling is only recommended for advanced riders as they are difficult to balance due to their narrow base
– All-round paddle boards, all-round sups are intended for paddling both at sea and on flat water. Allround boards are real all-rounders, you can even surf with them!

Do you also want to start with Stand Up Paddling? Then take a look at our research for the best Beginners paddle board to arrive at your ideal beginners paddle board. In addition, we have many more interesting blogs related to stand up paddling.