Men's Journal

Paddleboarding is picking up momentum all over the world. Photo credit: Eric Kiel

Learn to paddle a wave from legend Brian Keaulana, and your vacations may never be the same.

By Chris Dixon

Paddleboarding has exploded in the last four years or so — ever since Laird Hamilton, Brian Keaulana, and a small cadre of surfers began stand-up paddling at spots from Malibu to Oahu — and with good reason: It’s the perfect new sport to pick up in a weekend at the beach. Keaulana, son of Oahu surfer Richard “Buffalo” Keaulana, first saw the sport as a kid, when he watched a crew known as the Waikiki Beachboys paddle on huge longboards with canoe oars. Standing up drastically enhanced their ability to spot distant sets of waves, while broad paddles made catching Waikiki’s long rollers easy. Today paddlers are popping up not only in the surf but on lakes, harbors, even rivers from the Colorado to the Ocoee. “It’s weird,” admits Keaulana, “but I don’t think the sport’s near plateauing. It seems like one big infectious disease.” Here’s how to catch the bug.

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Watch an instructional, step-by-step video on how to stand-up paddleboard:

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STEP 1: WALK ON WATER
For your first forays, Keaulana suggests a pool, harbor, or lake: somewhere utterly calm where you can simply stand in the middle of your board, facing forward, with feet about shoulder-width apart, and learn to paddle on either side. “You have to learn the basics,” says Keaulana, who has consulted on movies and TV shows from Waterworld to Lost. “Crawl, walk, run, then fly.” Next, try walking the board and making quick turns by digging the paddle in behind you. You should also spend a good deal of time just swimming with your paddle, getting used to levering it and using it as a tool rather than a hindrance. “The paddle is a foreign object, and stand-up paddling is an unnatural act,” he says. “Learn to make the gear an extension of your body.”

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STEP 2: BRAVE THE WAVES
Your first attempts in actual waves need to be in uncrowded conditions amid small, easy rollers (with the added security of an ankle leash). Paddle your board directly toward the oncoming waves, then slide one of your feet about 12 inches back to lift the board’s nose up a bit, shifting your weight forward as you rise over the wave. (You might want to learn this first step by paddling on your knees.) “It’s almost like jumping over hurdles,” Keaulana says. “Get your nose kicked up at just the right moment, and then dig in and pull yourself over the hurdle.”

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STEP 3: POSITION YOURSELF
Paddle around the lineup of surfers to get a good feel for where the wave breaks and for how the board behaves when you have swells rolling under you from side to side — a far more difficult balancing act than nosing into them. Because you’re faster with a paddle than with just your arms, you can sit farther out and pick your swell. When you see a promising set, pull a quick 180 with a pivot turn (shown at bottom left) so the wave is behind you. Make sure no one else is paddling for it (you’re a rookie, so allow three board lengths so you don’t hit anyone else, and defer to the most experienced surfers if you want to keep your pretty new board intact), then start paddling 20 to 30 yards before its arrival.

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STEP 4: CATCH A BREAK
If the wave is breaking to the right, paddle hard on your right side first to gain momentum (making sure you’re still pointed toward shore), then, just before the wave reaches you, switch the paddle to your left side to angle your board into the wave. Quickly change your stance from side by side to front to back so you can shift your weight to your back foot once the wave starts carrying you. “If you’re standing side by side when you drop in, you’ll be knocked backward or face-plant,” says Keaulana.

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STEP 5: BARREL DOWN THE LINE
Once you’re moving under the wave’s power, you’ll accelerate rapidly. You can drag your paddle hard behind you, using it as a rudder to make sharp turns, or, if you find yourself on a slow part of the wave, dig in and paddle for a burst of speed. After a few rides, try crouching and planing the paddle behind you, putting varying amounts of weight on it. “It can give you arms eight feet long,” says Keaulana. “You can reach way back there to drag yourself high and tight to the face of the wave — or into the barrel.”

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