Give me a place to stand....

[Easy Rider]

As Weasel posted - should we all stop evolving?  No.

Just like snowboarding to skiing - SUP is not going away.

[Weasels wake]

Weasels,
Your garbanzo beans likely won't mind if you switch to an electric opener.   If you've spent any time on the teeter-totter, as I have, then you've had some experience in the importance of having leverage on your side but realizing that if you don't respond well to Buster, Buster, Buster Brown, soon no one will want to teeter (or is that totter?) with you.

[headmount]

You got to make it happen for yourself out in the water just as in life.  I usta think that the ocean was a different world where different rules applied but now with all the people out there and the supply and demand issues involved, it becomes just like everything else.  You create the vibe that surrounds yourself and the experience you take away from a session.  My goal is to always exit the water clean... that's why I got into the ocean to begin with as a kid and realize even now that the song remains the same.

[raf]

Telling a Standup guy he's cheating by using a paddle is like accusing a bird of cheating for using its wings.  It borders on the absurd.   

[PonoBill]

I don't know guys, I think you've wandered afield with this. First let me check--am I still supposed to be a democrat? Just wanted to know how many weasel words I should use.

I think what you're really talking about is "why are there so many embarrassing kooks wobbling around on stand up boards? Yes? No?

Or were things getting a little too quiet and you decided to dump a big chunk of softwood on the fire?

[CB1]

 No getting around it, we are cheating.  That, of course, doesn’t make it any less fun, but it is an important admittance.

Interesting discussion and good to read all the different perspectives!  However do we need to admit we're cheating, even if we don't realize or think we're cheating?  IMHO, many of us have come from different water sport backgrounds, thus have a different perspective and take on things.  I'm a windsurfer first and foremost, and SUP was a natural progression for me.  I've always "stood" on the water, so I don't follow the logic. I do my best to respect everyone using the ocean, as we're all out there to have fun and personally I do not care what anyone chooses to ride.  If they have a big grin on their face, they are doing what they love!  It's all good!

[headmount]

Sounds like a big chunk of softwood to me.  Now a hollow rock thrown in for an explosive stir it up.  Admit nothing.

[808sup]

[quote auth
One thing for sure--it's a lot easier on back and neck muscles.
[/quote]

  I don't think I have an advantage on a sup. Not yet... I am no where as confident on it as I am on either a shortboard or a longboard. Therefore, I  sup only breaks that I would never prone surf. There are so many spots better suited to sup. IMHO

[Chan]

I think a little constructive critique is a positive thing.  It is helpful to keep in mind that we do have a mechanical advantage and if we use it in crowded surf breaks to catch more waves than other surf craft…

[Rolf]

Ya we do have advantage over the proners a good deal of the the time catching waves , is it cheating I think
not at least not to me it is not, but I never go for every possible wave I can catch  I always pass of a few but
take my fair share and had never had a problem in a somewhat crowded spot with the proners maybe a funny
look once in while.
I am no expert sup surfer but I do alright in the surf and have had proners commented on how fun it looks,
we will have more converts as time goes on I believe, and this maybe will ease some of the tension we have
with supsurf and prone surfing, having said that they are a few very localized spots I simply stay away from
but they are not really that great for sup anyways except maybe a very skilled expert.

[Subber]

Hmmmmmmmm........., depending upon how you look at it,
using a board or even just swim fins could be considered cheating!
 

[PonoBill]

I think a little constructive critique is a positive thing.  It is helpful to keep in mind that we do have a mechanical advantage and if we use it in crowded surf breaks to catch more waves than other surf craft…

...then you're a kook, same as you are if you use your superior swimming abilities to take every wave in a shorebreak with spongers. It's not the device, it's the person.

[Strand Leper]

Who is John Galt?

Was not sure who was gonna go with the classic... I should have guessed Pono...

Chan,

Yes, an SUP has more volume, but is not always advantageous.  In fact, yesterday, when a certain kook kept paddling under me, and basically hassling me... as I didn't want to hurt him with my SUP, (much harder to hassle on a 27 inch wide SUP) I took a wave in and paddled out on an indestructable board (Aviso Bessel Eliminator 6'8") and decided to show him how to properly hassle.  He won't be using his board for a few weeks as the rails have a few contact marks.  I wish that I could have just hassled him on my SUP, but I really did not want to hurt him... both because I don't like to hurt people and it would have been bad for the local SUP community...

It was a crowded spot, a small takeoff zone, but I have been surfing it since 5:30 under the moonlight...

As Pono said, it's the dude or dudette...

Tim

[VB]

I think PonoBill pretty much sumed all this up with the above comments.  Don't be a kook.

[Chan]

Sure, there are problems in other sports as well, but I’ve never heard about a wave hogging body surfer (fins or finless) and certainly not by a chorus of voices.  No argument about individuals, but I don’t think it ends there - our gear plays its role.   Please do a search for the word cheating on this forum.  This is hardly new territory here, with users accurately stating a variation of, “XXX board was so XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX that it makes me feel like I am cheating.  Moreover, we hear, “now that I am Stand Up Paddling I get XXX times the waves I did prone”.  Where do those waves come from?  Some come from a machine…but not most 
Please note, this is not a SUP good / SUP bad thread.  The sport is great fun!  Still, it is a strength to see things as they are, not only as we would like them to be.

Happy Festivus to all!