We live in a world where extra activities, games, and sports pop every time. You suddenly find yourself wanting to gain a new skill or learn a new sport or you just want to have fun. Then you discover something called paddle boarding and get curious about it.
Now you’re trying to find out how to get into it. Does this sound like you? Do you want to find out how to become a paddleboarder? Grab your swimsuit and your gear because we’re about to paddle through this article.
Paddle Boarding
There is water, a paddle, and a board, and there is you, wanting to learn to use them all. Paddleboarding is a trending water sport that involves using a paddleboard to access water. Unlike surfing that requires the ocean, paddleboarding can be done on a lake, river, and the great mother ocean.
Paddleboarding is fast becoming a global sport and pastime. You can lie, sit, kneel, or even stand on the water while doing this sport. A common type of paddleboarding is called SUP (Stand up paddle boarding). Many people are taking up this activity, and it is common to see people doing yoga, fishing, or singing while paddleboarding.
The tips below will guide you on how to get into paddleboarding.
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Read About It
The first step to embarking on a journey or attaining a new skill or learning a new sport is to find out what you can about it. You’d like to paddleboard? Then start by reading about it on a blog, a book, or the library. Find out what it entails like the required skills, the techniques, and the pros- and–cons.
You should be curious to know about what it takes to be a paddle boarder. Believe me, you’ll be amazed how reading about something can spark up something beautiful in you and make your desire for it stronger, so read about it.
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Get An Instructor
As much as folks on the internet and that loud confident voice in your head can try to persuade you to learn paddle boarding by trying it out on your own or by watching a YouTube tutorial on paddleboarding, please be cautious or kindly ignore that voice until you learn.
If that voice pops up again saying you could allow your friend or cousin to teach you, you may consider it but what you should do actually is to get a professional instructor. An instructor who is trained to teach you the sport on a professional level.
That’s the best and safest way to start on this journey. When you get great at it, you could become an instructor too. But first, make finding an instructor your piece of cake. There are surf schools with excellent instructors that you can learn from.
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The Gear
Thanks to civilization and some intelligent people who came up with rental services. If you are in Santa Barbara and Ventura, there are stand-up paddleboard rentals where you can get paddle gears at affordable prices. That means you don't have to worry about buying new gear or carrying the gear around whenever you travel. You can easily rent for how long you need it. There are also inflatable paddle boards you can easily carry around.
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Get Out There And Get In There Straight Into Paddleboarding
Get into it if you want to get into it. You can’t learn to paddleboard by only reading a book, or trolling the internet for pictures and videos of paddle boarding, or watching a tutorial, or speaking to the guy across your apartment who paddleboards.
Don’t let the waves scare you before you begin, not even the big bad ones. Flatwater is great for paddleboarders, especially if you are a beginner. Yeah, you will get wet, but even better you will learn. It’s an outdoor sport, so get out of your door and dive straight into paddleboarding.
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Practice. Practice. Practice.
Practice makes perfect. Cliche right? It's true, though. Practicing paddleboarding constantly will help you become better at it. You can set a certain number of hours per week or per day to practice on your paddleboard.
WHY NOT TRY IT?
Opposed to the conventional way of swimming in the water, paddleboard brings you into an entirely new and crazy dimension of water sport. You even get to stand on water. That’s cool, isn’t it?
Imagine being able to access the ocean, a lake, or a river differently. Not through swimming, canoeing, but paddleboarding.
This could be a great opportunity to learn a new skill, become fit and have fun at it. It is also a great way to connect with nature, a significant activity to do with family and friends or that really special someone.
So why don't you try it out today?
