If you fall over just wating or paddling, do you tend to fall backward?

[Zooport]

I have been noticing that most of my fall-overs when waiting or paddling, begin with my weight being shifted to my heels.  I almost never fall forward.  Semi surf stance.  Usually when it's lumpy or chopy, surface bump will shift my weight too much onto my heels and I begin to go over. I reach out with my paddle to pull myself back into balance but sometimes can't grab enough water to pull my weight off of my heels.  And boom.

Does anyone else experience that?  I have been experimenting keeping my weight a little more on the balls of my foot when it is rough.  Seems to help.  Any other ideas? 

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I usually go over the side or the back. Then my board will shoot out in front of me.

[SCruzSUPr]

  I almost never fall forward.... And boom.

Does anyone else experience that?

Zoo!  Me too, but only out on the water, so far.  Who has that tag here on the Zone "paddle till ya can't"....

[clay]

yep backwards or whichever way I'm not looking is how I usually fall off.

the skill or habit I learned downwinding is to always have my paddle blade in the water with slight pressure so that it's like having a third leg.  And if it's really rough then when reaching forward I skim the blade tip across the surface so that the paddle is always touching the water and I have something to brace against.

[Subber]

Probably backwash or a ripple getting you from behind - you don't see it, so you aren't ready for it.
From behind, it pushes your feet forward, so you find yourself falling backwards.

[Board Stiff]

On my Sunova Speeed, most of my falls are sideways. I get too much weight on one side or the other, the board sinks momentarily on that side, and then it shoots up out of the water to the opposite side as I go tumbling in the direction that I dipped.

[Zooport]

Probably backwash or a ripple getting you from behind - you don't see it, so you aren't ready for it.
From behind, it pushes your feet forward, so you find yourself falling backwards.

Agree.  I fall mostly when I don't notice a lump that is coming from behind me.  I'm trying to look over my shoulder more often to avoid those surprise lumps. 

I don't think I fall over any more often than most paddlers on tippy boards.  It just seems interesting that my falls are usually backward with weight on heels.

[manta]

That happens to me after a few hours on the water. I presume the stabiliser muscles get tired and just don't react as fast.
I've been spending more time on my goofboard and it has helped LOT. I find balance training builds stamina but also balance awareness like you know where your body is at all times and you are able to react faster.

[SUPcheat]

If I could ever transform the non-productive tasered goat fall off into the "drop to the knees" maneuver, my balance or at least my "stay on the board" ability would improve a lot.

[SlatchJim]

I've done the drop to the knees move and put a massive hole in the deck of a nice wood topped board.
My neice did the same, just to show that it wasn't my mass that won the joust...  Be careful with that move.  It's a lot safer and cheaper to just fall in.

[SUPcheat]

I guess I should rephrase that as "fold the knees and drop the body" maneuver rather than actually ramming the knees into the board.

[Wetstuff]

Zoo,  I sense that same thing happens to me when/if: I lock my knees.  The old 'Saddam Statue' fall.   ..but Subber must know my local conditions..  We usually have a short period, double swell to wobble thru ..and then occasionally, there will be a small, long period sneaker that comes at 90deg that really un-hinges you.  Almost like some invisible freighter has thrown a wake?


"Balance information provided by the peripheral sensory organs—eyes, muscles and joints, and the two sides of the vestibular system—is sent to the brain stem. There, it is sorted out and integrated with learned information contributed by the cerebellum (the coordination center of the brain) and the cerebral cortex (the thinking and memory center). The cerebellum provides information about automatic movements that have been learned through repeated exposure to certain motions. For example, by repeatedly practicing serving a ball, a tennis player learns to optimize balance control during that movement. Contributions from the cerebral cortex include previously learned information; for example, because icy sidewalks are slippery, one is required to use a different pattern of movement in order to safely navigate them."

I deserve one of those SUP handicap parking stickers because my ENT says; R-ear does not play well with L-ear, but F-m ..I'm paddling back out.  I put that bit of blue in that paragraph because I am convinced that 'time heals most things' including SUP balance issues.  What time cannot do, I have found that 32" will. 

Jim

[SuppaTime]

We have sea snakes that sneak up under your board and pull one rail down. They are silent and you don't see them coming at all. You can be standing there for 10 minutes, and all of a sudden one rail is getting sucked under, and kersplash! It is the weirdest thing.

[Bean]

I have been noticing that most of my fall-overs when waiting or paddling, begin with my weight being shifted to my heels...

I have been experimenting keeping my weight a little more on the balls of my foot when it is rough.  Seems to help.  Any other ideas?

I think you hit the nail on the head.  My golf pro calls this "getting into my athletic stance".  Getting the weight centered over the balls of my feet requires me to bend my knees which of course takes more work than simply standing straight.  But the pay-off is better balance and stability.

[blueplanetsurf]

. I reach out with my paddle to pull myself back into balance but sometimes can't grab enough water to pull my weight off of my heels.  And boom.
 

Do you brace with the paddle behind you?  I would try a more staggered stance and brace the paddle more behind you than to the side when you are just standing (in addition to the other good tips given).  As soon as you notice your weight shifting back, push on the paddle to put your weight back over center.  Pushing down on the blade is more effective than pulling up on it.  I find that beginners tend to fall backwards when the board accelerates while catching a wave or a bump and the best way to avoid that is getting in the surf stance or at least a staggered stance and bracing the paddle behind you.   
Also, don't be afraid to move your feet.  If you start falling backwards, moving one foot back to catch yourself works great, as long as you move back forward again quickly so the tail does not sink.