I have taken one paddleboard lesson and I'm an expert ... at falling off. I can do the tip to one side plunge and the walk backwards to gain balance only to walk right off the board maneuver. Those seemed to be my body's favored styles of descent. There were a few big sways – one way and then the other – for balance. But alas, the overcompensated sways generally failed to keep me upright most of the time.
The old adage of "if you're not falling down you're not learning" suits my situation when learning a new sport. I choose to believe this to be a good learning style, mostly to justify why it takes me a while to learn something new.
Having a good sense of balance is helpful though. My teenage daughters have plenty. Regardless of athletic abilities, our first family paddleboarding lesson was a lot of fun.
The girls and I took our lesson from SoPoSUP (South Portland Stand Up Paddleboarding) with owner and instructor Rafael Adams. He started our lesson on the shore at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth. He explained where to place your feet on the board and the basic paddling technique. The paddle is about a full arms length taller than your shoulder and sort of like a one-sided kayak paddle that's extra long.
My daughters, ages 13 and 15, have done a fair amount of paddling in a canoe and kayak so they were able to make adjustments to their stroke to get the hang of this paddling technique.
Once our boards were in the water we climbed on and stayed on our knees to get a sense of balance. This felt a little unsteady initially and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to stand up without falling off. Our instructor cautioned that if I believed I was going to fall in, that's just what I would do. I've learned when trying a new activity that once you fall down, you are less concerned about doing it again. I decided to stand up on my board to get the initial fall out of the way. We didn't have wet suits on and it hasn't been the warmest spring so when I did fall in that first time, it was a cold shock. But once I was wet it was a done deal. My subsequent falls – and there were quite a few – didn't seem to be as cold.
One of the tricks about feeling steady on a paddleboard is constant movement. It sounds counterintuitive to find stability in movement but it's especially true while on a paddleboard. A little forward paddling to get a bit of speed before standing up on the board really does make the position change easier.
To stand up on the board from a kneeling position requires grabbing your paddle with both hands and laying it perpendicular on the board in front of you. Then you get your feet under your knees in a wide stance in the middle of the board before simply standing up.
We were cautioned by our instructor not to lock our knees in place. We needed to keep them slightly bent to have better control of our balance.
My younger daughter is a 100-pound agile 13-year-old. She went from kneeling to standing easily. She made it look effortless although she did fall off once when she tried to stand while parallel to the shore. That's a common beginner mistake. When going from kneeling to standing it is easiest when facing away from the shore. Hitting the waves with the nose of the board makes them more manageable for a novice.
My 15-year-old is my more cautious child and spent a lot of the hour lesson kneeling. She felt content getting a feel for the ocean current on the board. She did a fair amount of standing but commented that her legs felt like jelly after a few minutes. She switched between standing and kneeling periodically and managed not to fall at all during our lesson. According to my younger daughter, her sister didn't do as much standing as she did.
I did manage some time standing and agreed with my daughter's assessment of my legs feeling like jelly. But boy, it sure was a thrill to feel like I was walking on water.
I provided a lot of entertainment for my girls during our lesson with my learning (to fall) antics. But the truth was, it was not a hard sport to learn. We were on our knees and paddling on the water in minutes. Standing took some extra time to figure out but within the hour even my balanced-challenged self was standing for a couple of minutes at a time.
There are a lot of water sports that can be fun for a family with tweens and teens. Learning to paddleboard together will provide not only a nice self-esteem boost for the kids, it will also likely offer plenty of fodder for story (and photo) sharing for the rest of the summer.
Rafael Adams, owner and instructor of SoPoSUP, esplained feet placement on the paddleboard as well as paddling technique on the shore. The 13-year-old (left) was pointed out as holding her paddle correctly.
My 13-year-old was giggling as she turned back to see the splash, which is me falling off the paddleboard, again.
I did manage a little standing on the board with the girls.
Paddleboarding Shops
SoPo SUP
382 Cottage Road, South Portland
317-0425
www.soposup.com
Aquaholics Surf Shop
166 Port Road, Kennebunk (they also have a satellite shop in Old Orchard Beach in front of The Pier).
967-8650
www.aquaholicsurf.com
Moose County
67 East Grand Ave., Old Orchard Beach
749-1656
www.moosecounty.us
Liquid Dreams
365 Main St., Ogunquit
641-2545
171 Long Beach Ave., York
351-2545
www.liquiddreamssurf.com
Wheels and Waves
365 Post Road, Wells
646-5774
www.wheelsnwaves.com
All photos were taken by Shannon Bryan. See Shannon, I told you I'd make sure you got credit for them!
Originally published in Raising Maine Magazine, July 2011
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