The philosophy off crossover sports is not new to standup paddlers; prone surfing, windsports and sup are intertwined. With more sports, the chances for everything are multiplied from days on the water to skills acquisition to self-promotion and one can add the suffix ‘waterman’ to their name, a bit like adding the letters PhD, signifying one has attained a zenith in their field. But is the alignment of standup paddling with these ‘mere’ recreational pastimes selling it a bit short? This is a not-so-serious look at a couple of profound, venerable life pursuits and how they might have a lot in common with the core values of standup paddling…

This winter, I stumbled upon two sports to which led me to believe that standup actually belongs to a much bigger, primal picture than we currently imagine. The origins of these sports stretch way further back in time than any board sport we have today, they began out of necessity first and developed as sports later and both of them take a minute to learn but a lifetime to master. So when you look at it like that, they’ve got more in common with the fundamentals of standup than say surfing, which is purely a recreational cul-de-sac which benefits only the participant, no matter how one tries spin it. I’ve gone on long enough. Allow me to introduce two sports, nay, two ways of life if you will, that have changed the way I will think about standup paddling forever.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SKIS AND GUNS
Before I get into it, let’s have a look at some chronological similarities. Cross country skiing began roughly five millennia ago as a means of transport. Early skiers used one pole to help propel them along, sounds familiar? The two-pole system didn’t arrive till the early 1700’s. Skis have been instrumental in transporting goods and medicine, migration, hunting and warfare (the Norwegians developed biathlon as a substitute for military training) and collecting taxes throughout history. The purely recreational aspects of skiing didn’t emerge till the 1800’s, but that’s not to say people weren’t having a lot of fun on their skis till then. Surely traversing a landscape that would otherwise be impenetrable must have yielded a great sense of accomplishment.

Now on to shooting. Shooting can be reduced to no more than launching a projectile using hand-eye coordination. Humans have enjoyed this power since the first person picked up a rock and threw it at a snake.

All technological evolution of launching projectiles from that first rock right through to the most sophisticated firearm via spears and bows and blowpipes in between has all been in the hope of making the projectile more likely to hit its target. Humans have used and continue to use projectiles and firearms to feed and defend themselves and control the land across the entire planet. Anyone who can appreciate the balance of a high performance paddle would probably appreciate the balance of a sporting shotgun. Both are designed to be used like instinctive extensions of the body as force multipliers.

Keahi harnesses the same trade winds that spread the English language around the world.

So what’s the connection with standup? Well, take a look at the shape of a wooden paddle from say, 6000BC and you can see that it’s very similar to the shape of the slick carbon paddle you’re using today  and I’m sure the method of using it hasn’t changed much either. As about the most basic way of crossing a body of water without getting wet, standing on and paddling a floating craft has popped up around the world through history whenever it was needed from Peruvian fisherman bringing in their catch to Indonesian warriors sneaking up on their enemies to merchants paddling gondolas across Venice. It’s unequivocal that the first time surfing on a standup paddle board was witnessed by a westerner was when Captain James Cook landed on Hawaii but who’s to say that two thousand years ago those Peruvian fisherman didn’t hoot each other into waves or spontaneously break out into a race as they returned to shore after a day on the water?  The commonality between these three activities is that they started out of a basic need for survival via defence and the acquisition of food and have stayed with us through the ages because they still fulfil those primary functions and because they are also intensely absorbing and rewarding things to practise in their sporting guise.

“ When we learn to paddle well, we feel it on an instinctive level that we are improving our chances of survival as we’ve extended our domain and how we travel around it ”

A DOWNWINDER OVER FROZEN WATER
So what about the practical similarities? What can you take from skiing and shooting that will improve your board performance?

In December, some 250km inside the Arctic Circle, I had my first taste of cross country skiing. At first it seemed bewildering, then I began to realise it wasn’t that different to walking with a bit of sliding thrown in. By the end of the week we were knocking out 20km runs and I’d become thoroughly addicted. In between sessions I was fervently researching the best technique and the one thing I found that really stood out for me was that efficiency was the essence of coordination. To develop the best cross country technique that you can, experts advise that you go slowly. This is so that your nervous system has time to wrap itself around the new task and will develop the proper motor unit firing sequences to get your muscles moving in the right way. When you move slowly it is much easier for your central nervous system to analyse what each muscle is doing and adjust accordingly, a bit like having each member of the choir sing in turn so you can tell who’s throwing out the bum notes. It is said that those who try to learn by rushing their technique will develop inadequacies in performance similar to developing a limp when walking. I was soon wondering how this approach would help my paddle stroke back home.

Once we were able to propel ourselves along the trails smoothly enough, there was time to reflect on the journey. The tempo of cross country skiing is remarkably similar to going on a downwinder. You’ve got periods of high intensity linking easier periods of lower intensity glide…and whilst it’s the glide that’s ultimately the most thrilling, the uphills also have their own rewards.

You’re pushing against a surface with little friction, aiming to minimise slip and wasted effort, each time searching for perfect form, relaxing between micro efforts. It’s a full-body coordinated effort from your toes to your finger tips, head level, back straight, hips flexed, knees active. Now does that sound like skiing or sup?

Surely this has got to be getting close to the best day out ever? Imagine going feral with a sup and speargun.

HITTING THE CLAY LIP
Throughout this winter, I’ve been on a few clay shoots and personally I’ve got to say it’s a heck of a lot more fun than playing golf. And it’s cheaper. Again, we’re back at the ultimate hand-eye coordination sport. The best advice I could find is that you simply cannot over emphasise the importance of looking at the clay (just as one might stress looking at the lip of a wave). One has to learn to keep/lock fine focus on the clay throughout the shooting process. It is hard to do, both mind and eye muscles need to be trained. You need to develop a visual strategy – make an effort to look for the precise shape of the clay. Look for the ridges; note if there is any reflected light on the surface. Sustained visual contact is THE great secret of great shooting. That’s a great concept to bring into your surfing –complete visual concentration on the wave ahead to unlock perfect subconscious movement.

Are there deeper similarities with shooting? Right, bear with me on this one – but here’s the theory: the joy you get from hitting a clay or other target is more profound than the joy you get when you execute a trick on a board because innately, your limbic system knows you have done a very good thing, you’ve put food on the table for tonight, or you’ve deterred a threat to yourself or tribe. Doing a nice trick is no more than fluffing your feathers, and if no one sees it or it doesn’t get any ‘likes’, so what? When we learn to paddle well, we feel it on an instinctive level that we are improving our chances of survival as we’ve expanded our domain and how we travel around it. Sup is far more than following trends and adding more degrees of rotation to non-functional manoeuvres. On a more practical note, ever notice how even a first time shooter automatically staggers their stance from a regular front-facing position when they aim for a target? It’s not hard to imagine that two thousand years ago a Peruvian fisherman shifted one foot back a bit without thinking for balance across two planes when he rode in on the swells…

THE ROOTS OF THE TREE
Some of you may be suspending disbelief right now so I’ll move on now to say this has been a way looking at how sports that might not seem to bear any relationship to one another actually arose out of common basic needs, affect and are affected by our brains in the same way, and have been mastered throughout history with the most basic of technologies.

Sup, the most recent ‘watersport craze’ on the block, humbly seeking its place in the line-up is actually older than everything and as closely linked to human survival as sharpening a spear. Sup is the root language; other board sports are regional dialects. If you want to strengthen your global communication skills, you don’t study the Andalusian accent, you study the Spanish language. If nothing else, taking a look outside our own culture and mixing with new groups of people is a positive, and so is learning about how they learn. And, stealing other people’s ideas is often a good way to move forward in life. SUP