Why are you SUP surfing and not prone surfing?

[Zooport]

Why are you SUP surfing and not prone surfing?  I have my reasons, but I'd like to know what yours are. 

[SlatchJim]

Wave count, fun, ease on body, warmer, wife joins me now, both kids do it, work out, view, paddling out is easier...list is long.

[Socalsupper70]

L4 and L5 full revolt
15 minutes of prone = 2-3 days of agony.
4-5 hours of sup = excessive stoke and smiling for dayzzzzz.
I still love prone surfing-the simplicity-the duckdive-no paddle-i just cant do it anymore.

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

Started out due to injuries over a life of motorcycle racing, snowboarding  skiing  and generally tearing up my body  especially by gardening!!!!
  blew out 2 dscs gardening , broke a foot on my dirt bike , have 2 severely compromised achilles tendons( probably from kicking over big four strokes) left is a partial rupture  looks like a snake that swallowed a rat. the right has  Hagmans (sic) bone spur and it is cutting through the tendon slowly  about 40 percent.  so when I paddled  i could catch the wave  but couldn't pop up to my feet. so i decided if could take off standing  i could still surf. (Best decision Ever)  so  I tried it it became so much more fun, more waves, longer rides, sometimes just a flat water paddle, a little exploration, some more waves,

it brings me joy even from the little things like first time you standup and paddle out over an almost breaking wave made me feel like a combination of a sea captain heading out to sea and a motor cyclist going over a jump with a little down hill slide thrown in.

[Weasels wake]

I'll say it,,,,,,,,,, ya wusses,,,,,,,,,,,, age.

[PonoBill]

Mo fun. Every so often I longboard, and it brings it all back. The sitting around, the waiting for the right wave in the right spot, the irritation of not making a section, the neck ache. the backache, the endless stroking to get back from the reef. the pain the next day.

When I get shit from a surfer I always think "you have no idea what this is. You're on a pony that only knows one trick, and it doesn't know it all that well. I'm on a horse that goes anywhere, does anything. I could aspire to paddle this across the Atlantic, and it might be insane, but it's not impossible. I can fish from it, take it to a lake and have fun, windsurf on it, kite on it, downwind, paddle distance, go camping. And you can surf. And you don't get as many waves as I do. And so you're not very good.

Other than that I think prone surfing is just swell.

[tribalthunder]

Back pain,shoulder pain, better workout, more fun, more waves, I can easily paddle away from the crowd and after decades of prone surfing, it's a blast to learn something new!

[supthecreek]

Rotator cuffs shot.

I simply can't get up on a prone board very easily... so I bought a SUP...

for the small days....

never been on a prone board since.

I frickin' LOVE everything about SUP

[SUPcheat]

Purely accidental SUS. Just one thing lead to the other. My body is in OK shape, I can prone if I want, no orthopedic problems yet.

@62yo when I started, I just never thought I would be surfing at all. I had our place in Santa Cruz for two years before I stuck my toe in the water.  Daydreamed from the pier about the SUPs, thought that it was a great way to tour without boats. Watched the surfers for entertainment, but didn't think I was capable of it.

 I finally decided I would ask my neighbor to take me out to try SUP, bought a wetsuit, floundered, but with idiot persistence kept going. Practiced in the harbor 10 months.  Went out on the ocean kneesing for a couple of months before standing mostly, accidentally caught my first stand up wave last September, or it caught me. More idiot persistence. Now, I can catch waves, but am working on the turning and stepping thing.

I do a modest amount of catching on knees, mostly when I am caught on the inside, then popping up, but I should try proning on a proper longboard someday just to see what it is like from laying down and paddling. It has just never occurred to me to try proning after SUS and the fun and challenge of the stand up modality.

I think kneesing and popping up is becoming more common.  I saw a kid a couple of weeks ago with a kayak paddle on a longboard/SUP?, mostly kneesing and popping up, but also standing up and just paddling by grabbing one end of the kayak paddle.  He would kneesie "kayak" into the wave and then stand up.  He was a decent surfer, so I imagine he was just seeing if the kayak paddle was a better way to engage the waves.

[nj_sup]

Two years ago I tore my left rotator cuff. Had major rotator cuff repair year prior on the right from ice hockey injury. So wasn't able to prone surf last two years or so. Still waiting to have left repaired when I can time it with work. That plus the fact that most times I had the time to surf the conditions sucked. My wife sup's the bays so I recently went and got a Surtech 11'6" Balboa to sup the bays and flat days on the ocean. Was hoping to ride small waves with it too but it's not the best board for that. I recently hooked up with Jim K to do some SUS for the first time. My board was a champ at pearling. I was able to catch a nice one with Jim's JP board though so now I'm hooked.  Next day I got a Fanatic 9'6" Allwave from Jim K at Extreme windsurfing which I'm absolutely stoked about. This week I'm gonna spend some time getting acquainted with the Allwave in the bay and bay chop. Then it's off to the surf again.  Jim K helped me out big time in the surf and with buying the right board and paddle for me. Now I really can't wait to hit the surf to SUS. One last thing I have to say, that I worked much harder sus than prone surfing. It's a lot more work standing up in the swell keeping position etc than sitting on a board waiting. Looking forward to my new life in SUP on my Allwave!

[Surfershane]

I actually feel lazy if not lame paddling prone these days.  SUP is just a superior workout.

Admittedly, I also like the challenge of extra layers of complexity. It is so much fun pushing the fusion of surfing with paddle sports. Somewhat a new frontier?

[ron.c]

For me, all those things plus the strength gained with the paddle.

What makes it all the better is our breakfast club.   A great group that spreads the love around.

I'm not waiting around for winter!

RC

[mrbig]

Another aging warrior broken body story. Three knee reconstructive surgeries, mc crashes, car crashes, snowboard slalom broken leg in 5 places, hockey, baseball inuries, blah blah.

If you can't pop up quick you can't prone - no tow ins here! I had retired, started paddling, surfing and it is soo much better. You can paddle on something somewhere almost every day. Even in slurpee ice in the winter - or not!

My collection of 12 prone boards - gone! A growing assortment of SUPs seems to have taken their place.

I actually prefer it! And there are young hot guys who do too! Mo, Kai and other young guns could prone if they. wanted to..

It's a whole new thing baby!

[Twitchy]

Youtube


I started after being out of the water (not surfing) for way too long after a back injury.  I actually still attempted to prone surf, but I can't even make it past the breakers before I'm in a lot of pain.  After a long break from surfing I came across video after video of SUSs that looked like they were having a blast.  We don't have too many SUSers in the area, so I really only ever saw the typical bambi legged flat water paddlers out past the breakers.  They just cruise up and down the beach.  I figured I'd give it a try and I was hooked.  Now I have a flat water race board and a SUS, so whatever the conditions I can still get on the water. 

I even converted a friend that never surfed.  He ended up getting a barge (10.5'x32") from my advice.  It took a while but I got him catching waves before he could even stand up on the board.  I still remember his first wave.  I felt like a dad teaching my son how to surf.  Hooting and all.  The stoke was good.  He was HOOKED after that first glide.  I have been mentoring him (sort of) and he gets better every paddle.  He now has my old Javelin for flat water.  On our distance paddles I would always have to wait for him, now I actually have to try and not get left behind.  I still have work to do to get him into the SUSing fold, but he's doing good.   


Long story short, watching youtube is what converted me.

[Geoff C]

Well said pono Bill