Interested to know what led people to SUP surfing. Personally, after 2 shoulder operations, major back surgery and a stuffed neck I could no longer prone surf. I took up the SUP and I love it.
Also, people often ask me why do people sup surf on really short sups when they possibly could surf prone.
interested in comments.

I lived most of my life in a windy place with not many waves, so I Windsurfed a lot and Surfed each time I could.

Around 2006, appeared boards designed for strapless windsurfing in waves, bought one and it was great. However, it was actually an hybrid Wind/SUP board (The AHD Sealion). After some months, I saw a paddle on sale, bought it on a whim to try... and I was disappointed. This thing was insanely hard (The Sealion was only 7'6"...), so I shelved the paddle for 6 months. I then discovered the Gong SUP forum, and by reading the advice, practicing on the flat... and buying a bigger 9'6" SUP, I got hooked.

SUP gave me the best of surfing and windsurfing: surfing but with the vision of the spot gained by standing up, the sheer pleasure of carving high volume boards at speed, a whole body experience, and way to multiply my number of sessions by more than ten. And I the same time my hip began to stiffen so I was not able to sit on a surfboard anymore, so I never prone surfed again.

"why do people sup surf on really short sups when they possibly could surf prone." This has been beaten to death, but ask these people how they experience 5 liters difference in a prone surfboard. They most probably say the difference is huge. Thus, a 7' short SUP with 70 liters more than a 7' prone board is nothing like it, it has tremendously more power in the wave, the feeling is very different! This morning I was in knee high waves, and prone surfers were either on shortboards and doing nothing, or on longboards going straight. But my 6'10" 125 liters small wave SUP had both the volume of a longboard for early wave entry and still short enough to fully plane and rip the wave apart, but with the paddle in hand to be able to control the beast.

Neck farked from too much rugby. If I could prone surf I would. Way better in wind and you can ride a much smaller board so the performance is much better. Good to see sup is dropping off here as there were some unskilled pilots going out into crowded line ups.

lam said..
Interested to know what led people to SUP surfing. Personally, after 2 shoulder operations, major back surgery and a stuffed neck I could no longer prone surf. I took up the SUP and I love it.
Also, people often ask me why do people sup surf on really short sups when they possibly could surf prone.
interested in comments.

To sup surf or not to sup surf that is the question? - or to shortboard surf, or to just mix it up and do both depending on the conditions, surf, size, quality etc. etc... I can sup surf (super short sup or mid size) every day if I could, but not prone surfing I need to rest and fully recover from a session (only every second day), so that is the best of both worlds, and throw in a bit of training - exercises (sit ups & push up & stretches , swimming, etc.) on the beach between waves, and also for the reasons that Colas pointed out ;-)

Started when at the beach jumped on a friends 10fter, paddled in to some crappy reforms and couldn't wipe the smile of my face. I was hooked, makes average waves fun. Still ride a short board ,but a sup is a good way to escape the crowds. Can't say I've enjoyed the paddle out on a short board, sometimes take the long way out on the sup.

Tardy said..
A great subject.
i stopped prone surfing 10 years ago ,because my back couldn't handle it after rupturing it twice ...I tried to surf again ,but after 1 hour I had to come in ,the back bending upward was stuffing me .
i brought a SUP in2014 ,i caught a wave on it 2 weeks later ...and thought ,this is easy ,and no back pain .
25 boards later ,here I am ..


(I think it could be more than 25 )but still have 10 .

10 boards Tardy! There i was feeling guilty with 4, guilt gone

A simple lazy kayak on Hammo in 2015. I realised I had missed the ocean for 15 years since my uni years and and am now trying to catch up for the lost opportunities . I had forgotten the thrill of catching a wave.

Two things.

One was I had a memories of using a plywood paddleboard when I was a kid. Lots of paddling along and standing on it and mucking around in waves. I kept thinking I could build something similar to the one my dad built. SUP came along and I gave it a go and loved the paddle feeling.

The other is I have surfed in one way or another since the 60's and 70's. I could ride mats and longboards ok but I was never really good at surfing. I never had the upper body strength to paddle repeatedly into waves. Windsurfing came along and I followed that path.

I found on a SUP I could catch waves easily and my decades of surfing experience worked just fine. There's no way I could claim to be an expert but I could do it and feel competent in the surf.

I got bored with lugging overweight SUP boards to the bay to go for a paddle and it's a pain having to drive the hour or so to the surf to go surfing. My favourite local breaks need specific tides to work well. My overhead rack in the garage is pretty full with kite and surf and SUP boards. Adding something 14' long has no appeal.

A few years ago I got into kite foiling and that is totally addictive. It has swept away almost every other thing I do. There is a possibility I might return to SUP foil surfing if things like the wind wing work out to be a viable tool.

I could initially see the benefit of flat day fun and my wife was really keen. Figured that if she's enthusiastic about getting out on the water then that means more time in the ocean for me! Bought two cheap pop-outs.

Things just went crazy from there. A bulging disc in my neck ruled out surfing for a long time. Replaced every prone surf sessions with a stand up surf session. Replaced the pop-outs with surf specific SUPs.

Another bulging disc late last year has almost finished off prone surfing for me. Even just paddling around is too painful. Having said that though, even if I didn't have the neck problem I am enjoying surfing a stand up as much as I ever did a 6ft prone board. Paddling away from crowds, not struggling in weak surf and really pushing a bigger board through turns is so much fun. Not to mention the fact I can last for much longer sessions and get heaps more waves. It's only thumping shore breaks or really crowded sessions that I wish I was on a shorty.

I'm addicted. Plenty of boards and paddles since and I keep seeing more boards that I want to try!

Lower back problems basically cancelled me out of prone surfing at 59 years of age. After a couple of years trying everything else, I went out on a battered old sup loaner. After 3 or 4 sessions I was hooked. Got my own board and haven't looked back. A couple of weeks ago I supped a double overhead right point and I was hooting and holloring - thought at 62 that was all behind me. My only regret is that I didn't come to it sooner

Fitzsup said..

SupChickadee said..

Tardy said..
A great subject.
i stopped prone surfing 10 years ago ,because my back couldn't handle it after rupturing it twice ...I tried to surf again ,but after 1 hour I had to come in ,the back bending upward was stuffing me .
i brought a SUP in2014 ,i caught a wave on it 2 weeks later ...and thought ,this is easy ,and no back pain .
25 boards later ,here I am ..


(I think it could be more than 25 )but still have 10 .

10 boards Tardy! There i was feeling guilty with 4, guilt gone

ha ha ....too good ....I got 2 more coming ...

it seems crazy but i seem to use all of them through the year ,

the thing i love about SUPing ,is you can do it any time ,you don't have to worry about tides or wind ,to some extent
I have sold 15 of my SUPs to people around my area ,and all have been first timers ,so i have got 15 more people in to SUPs
ever time i see them ,all we talk about is SUP .
ITS SO COOL .

chickadee ...you need more boards ...honestly how can you survive on 4 SUPS ...LOL.

I await supthecreeks reply ...he has double what i have ...and some breezes are way up on me ..Y knot .

makes me wonder ,is injury another name for old age .?

SUPing has been the best sport i have learnt in my life .

Sick of coming in from a prone surf frustrated due to lack of waves and agro in the water. Also it wasn't helping dodgy shoulders and lower back. So I gave SUP'ing a go and discovered I could generally find a peak to myself and catch all the waves I wanted with no hassle. Also great to improve core strength and glutes, so actually helps my back.

After not using my longboards for 12 months I sold them all to buy more SUP's. I copped a bit of crap from a few of the guys I used to prone surf with, but I'm having more fun and because I'm catching heaps more waves my surfing has improved as well.

Tardy said..

Fitzsup said..

SupChickadee said..

Tardy said..
A great subject.
i stopped prone surfing 10 years ago ,because my back couldn't handle it after rupturing it twice ...I tried to surf again ,but after 1 hour I had to come in ,the back bending upward was stuffing me .
i brought a SUP in2014 ,i caught a wave on it 2 weeks later ...and thought ,this is easy ,and no back pain .
25 boards later ,here I am ..


(I think it could be more than 25 )but still have 10 .

10 boards Tardy! There i was feeling guilty with 4, guilt gone

ha ha ....too good ....I got 2 more coming ...

it seems crazy but i seem to use all of them through the year ,

the thing i love about SUPing ,is you can do it any time ,you don't have to worry about tides or wind ,to some extent
I have sold 15 of my SUPs to people around my area ,and all have been first timers ,so i have got 15 more people in to SUPs
ever time i see them ,all we talk about is SUP .
ITS SO COOL .

chickadee ...you need more boards ...honestly how can you survive on 4 SUPS ...LOL.

I await supthecreeks reply ...he has double what i have ...and some breezes are way up on me ..Y knot .

makes me wonder ,is injury another name for old age .?

SUPing has been the best sport i have learnt in my life .

That's hilarious and true. i'm also regularly letting other suppers try my boards to give them an idea of the next move from their first sup . The weird thing is that as soon as i buy a new board i get on this forum and see other boards and wonder if that board would give my supping another dimension/challenge/fun........its a journey not a destination. My outlook on life is its great to spend money on sports equipment, enjoy the outdoors and be healthy and sup surfing ticks those boxes and gives you a zest for the stoke you get and share out in the water

I come from a sailing background (big boat offshore and dinghies) and in between those days off i'd be windsurfing. I was a wave head junky windsurfing, and always preferred those more surfing based days than full on survival stuff. Then I had a really bad broken foot (broke all my right foot bones, stuck in the front strap) from landing a backie into a sand bar and that freaked me out. I lost a load of confidence and would only go out after that on big floaty boards and throw freestyle stuff (I was pretty good) but slowly I tailed off windsurfing and it coincided with SUP coming into the UK. At first I LOL'd and took the piss.. SeaSweeping me and a few mates called it.. then one of my best buddies finally said "look mate, stop taking the piss and try it.. there's 3ft out there..."
And I did, and I loved it instantly. It gave me all the "Surf" element of windsurfing I loved so much without and straps or millions of rigs to carry around.
And I have a mate who brings in Sunova to the UK and that's where I've been ever since.
I love it, I've found the people to be really nice folks without any built up angst or adrenaline filled aggro. Everyone I've met along my way I almost feel are friends. Honestly couldn't say that about dinghy racing or windsurfing.
I feel relaxed and happy when I'm surfing, love mucking about on SUPs and happy to help anyone out.

I guess I've just found a balance between me and the water and fun.

Prone surfed for 35 years and cervical discs degenerated to to point I had a neck fusion in 1998. Doc said no more prone surfing so l transitioned to waveskis to keep "surfing"!!??... I was on a surf trip to North Shore of Hawaii in 2006 saw a guy (Blane Chambers) on a huge board with a canoe paddle surfing near Laniakea's... Thought he was crazy!! The next year I went back and he was out again, with refined equipment and was TEARING it UP!!! ????... My reaction, "WOW"... I can do that and I can once again stand and surf... YEEOOW!!!
A few months later I was in California and met with SUP Shapers Ron House and Steve Behne and had Steve shape me my first SUP... an 11 foot Infinity??.. It was shipped to Sunrise Surf Shop and was one of the first SUP's in the area. 12 years later I'm still SUPin (age 67) and can honestly say the sport has brought me as much joy, great friendships and as many waves as my decades of traditional surfing...plus..I'm hoping it 's going to keep me "young" for a long time????...Feel very lucky!!!??????

Never surfed before. Bought a paddle board while rehabbing from back surgery. It was a big-old BIC, but I caught some waves and got totally hoooooked. Now 2 years later, I have 3 boards, 3 wetsuits, and a bunch of paddles, and figuring out how to surf the gnarly and crowded beach breaks of NYC every time Magic Seaweed gives me the green...