Balance is a weird thing

[PonoBill]

I bought my new SIC Bullet 17 V2 because I've been getting pitched off my V1 with a bit too much regularity. The new board did exactly what I thought it would--handled a lot like the V1, but the extra width made it roll a little slower and I could catch extreme tips that would have put me in the drink on the V1. The nose is cool too for lighter conditions, It punches in a lot, but nothing much happens when it does.

Then it started really nuking here. Suddenly the V2 was a bit too slow to react, and the nose was getting buried. I couldn't turn it quickly enough to avoid the wave backs. I stuffed it completely into a shoulder-high swell to the point that only the little bit of tail I was standing on was still above water. It came back up without drama, but that was a bit much.

So I took out the V1. Suddenly it feels totally stable. What's this all about? I'm catching screw ups that would have tossed me off a few weeks ago. How could a more stable board, make my less stable board feel stable?

Just for the heck of it, I did an upwind/downwind on my 12'2" X 25.5" today, the ancient starboard. It's generally a handful. Nasty conditions paddling up, very messy paddling out to the middle of the river, and crossed up and challenging going downwind. No falls. Not even close.

I don't get this. I thought I was taking a step down the geezer path--next step--some kind of walker frame. Anyone have any insight?

[SUPcheat]

The "balance brain" does seem to have a mysterious short term memory. 

Creek mentioned going back and forth in sessions between more stable boards and the less stable boards to do better on each.  I think that may be true.

I have felt like a balance champ on the Hammer 9.3x32, but it also seems to be better when I go back on smaller 8.10 Speeed.  Things I can do on Hammer, I can apply to Speeed, and vice versa.

Strangely, though, when I exchange boards out on the water, as soon as I get "used" to the new board, going back to my own board wrecks my balance for a while.

It would be nice if all this processing could be consciously controlled, but it can't, it is it's own thing.  I also notice that my balance progresses when more of the balance becomes relegated to subconscious automaticity and anticipation. What I struggle with consciously probably doesn't even enter the mind of the balance studs, their bodies can do the work without effort.

Never having done balance stuff much when younger, it is a strange and interesting phenomenon.

[headmount]

I bought my new SIC Bullet 17 V2 because I've been getting pitched off my V1 with a bit too much regularity. The new board did exactly what I thought it would--handled a lot like the V1, but the extra width made it roll a little slower and I could catch extreme tips that would have put me in the drink on the V1. The nose is cool too for lighter conditions, It punches in a lot, but nothing much happens when it does.

Then it started really nuking here. Suddenly the V2 was a bit too slow to react, and the nose was getting buried. I couldn't turn it quickly enough to avoid the wave backs. I stuffed it completely into a shoulder-high swell to the point that only the little bit of tail I was standing on was still above water. It came back up without drama, but that was a bit much.

So I took out the V1. Suddenly it feels totally stable. What's this all about? I'm catching screw ups that would have tossed me off a few weeks ago. How could a more stable board, make my less stable board feel stable?

Just for the heck of it, I did an upwind/downwind on my 12'2" X 25.5" today, the ancient starboard. It's generally a handful. Nasty conditions paddling up, very messy paddling out to the middle of the river, and crossed up and challenging going downwind. No falls. Not even close.

I don't get this. I thought I was taking a step down the geezer path--next step--some kind of walker frame. Anyone have any insight?

Insight?  Stop drinking brandy.  But yeah what you described matches what I've experienced.  Big water the V1 is best.  Epic here right now.  No surf, you can go anywhere.  Perfect surface.

[ukgm]

I notice that balance is a very short term thing for me too. I have to switch training from time to time between my Naish Maliko 26' 14 footer and my Naish One 30 12'6 inflatable.  Its hell going back to the 26 (and that's a very safe board) for a good 2-3 paddles.

[burchas]

It could be the weight you're dropping has something to do with that as well.

Over the winter I've gained 8 pounds and the first time I stepped on my
Blackfish it felt weird. All of a sudden I had to add twins for conditions
I could easily go with just a medium center fin.

Now that I'm back in form that is no longer the case.

[Area 10]

I think a lot of how difficult it feels to balance on a board in choppy waters is about predictability of the way the board reacts. Some boards that are "more stable" in one set of conditions react differently in another set, and this wrong-foots you, especially if you aren't used to the board or are switching between boards where you are more familiar with one than the other.

I've downwinded on narrower boards that feel more stable than wider, objectively more stable, boards of similar design. The difference was that features of the narrower board made the handling more predictable. So my brain knew how the board was going to react, and I could compensate.

Features such as big fat rails, the wrong rocker for the conditions, standing high above the water, not having the perfect fin/rudder for the conditions, abrupt changes in rail shape in the design, or big volume differences fore and aft etc can all reduce the predictability of a board's handling in difficult conditions and make a board hard to balance.

But there is also a second factor at work IMO. This is that paddling different boards helps build generic balance skill/knowledge sets that you can carry from one board to another. So switching between very different boards trains your balance more than just training on one board.

And then there is the cross-training type effect. Balancing on boards of different designs will stress different physiological systems to different degrees. This has an effect on your fitness a bit like cross-training between different sports disciplines. You can end up improving performance on two boards by switching between them more than paddling each in blocks of training on one or the other.

So, yes, balance is a very complicated thing indeed. IMO there are many more factors going on than how "objectively stable" a board is (eg. as measured by a static load).

[JP4]

I can relate Bill, but going the other direction in width. My old Bullet 14 V2 was very stable, but on occasion I'd get pitched off, probably once a run on average. It always felt a little too buoyant and corky for my weight. My 14 V3 is significantly tippier and lower volume, but also lighter, faster, and much more responsive. I almost can't fall off of it. Even on the big days, I only fall once every three or four runs on that board. I think Area 10 nailed it in that a more responsive board is easier to keep under you when it gets sporty.
I've had a ton of times when I think I'm going swimming and the the board is always right where I need it. With the super pulled in tail it's effortless to turn before getting to the trough. The extra speed definitely helps stability as well. I experienced a similar thing downwinding my old 2011 Javelin tippy canoe. That thing was super tippy, but also very forgiving because there were no rails to catch. You could slip and slide it up the river very predictably.


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[Tom]

Balance is weird indeed. It is learned through practice, but can not be taught. I have the same issues with surfing. When I go for a week or more without SUPing, the first time out I need to be on my more stable board. After several days  in the water I can then switch to my smaller less stable board. If I first went out on my smaller board, I'd be falling all over the place.

[Eagle]

Yeah have to get out there and just do it.  Seems for me the more different boards in varied conditions I paddle on the better my balance becomes.  Probs has something to do with CNS adaptation that somehow helps improve balance overall.

[PonoBill]

I don't think it's the weight unless my ass is a counterweight. I popped up about three pounds lately. Irritating.

[stoneaxe]

Sorry...I have no idea what you're talking about.......

Too many variables to know what causes it....it may have absolutely nothing to do with the boards. Inflammation (or lack thereof) in the semicircular canals, double vision clearing up (for you), lack of fog (for me), allergies, yada yada......I have days when I have a hard time standing, followed by a day I can do no wrong. Hard work in tough conditions...like you seem to have been doing a lot lately, makes a massive difference for me.

[TallDude]

I was paddling my 19 x 24 the other day and when I finished there was a guy there with one of those green 9' Costco Sups. I asked him if he want to swap? He had never paddled a race board, let alone an unlimited. I jumped on his Costco special, and immediately had to adjust to one of the wonkiest boards I'd been on in a while. He said it was new, but it felt waterlogged. It would bob side to side as I paddled it. The deck pad looking patch is more a graphic with a slightly different texture, but basically the same material as the rest of the board surface. Personally, I liked the older 10'6 wave storm better. I'll certainly pass on buying one, but would be fine for a family beater. It took a few minutes for me to get used to it, but it still felt weird.  The guy came back on my unlimited, and said he has never paddled a board that fast before. He asked how much one costs, and I gave him the bad news.   

[DavidJohn]

''Suddenly the V2 was a bit too slow to react,''.. Was it the board.. or was it you that was slow to react ? .. 

[Eagle]

"The guy came back on my unlimited, and said he has never paddled a board that fast before."

Haha!  That is exactly what my son's friend said when he got back from testing my AS23.  Think his parents have a couple of  boards to play on but are wide draggy surf nosed shapes.  Told him and my son I was quite impressed they paddled that board so easy never paddling narrow boards before.  Made me think how crappy my balance must be.  Told them it must be an age thing. 

[TallDude]

As a rule of thumb, don't use kids as a rule of thumb.