We put together a list of gifts for your wide-eyed, crazed and obsessed paddler!
Always shop at your local SUP shop or click on the text or image for online purchase! ALOHA!

1. Go Pro
2. Paddle Monster Subscription
3. Rinsekit: West Coast Paddle Sports
4. Indo Board 
5. Books: "How to Increase Your Stand Up Your Stand Up Paddling Performance" by Suzie Cooney, Steve West’s “Stand Up Paddle: A Paddler’s Guide” (aka The Bible Of SUP) 
6. Waterproof iPod Shuffle 
7. 3 Piece Adjustable Paddle for Travel
8. Speed Coach SUP 2
9. TRX Rip Trainer
10. SurfStow SupGlo 60 Underwater LED Light Tube

Stand Up Paddle Boarding, or SUP boarding, is a great workout and a lot of fun. But you already know that since you’ve been doing it a while. So why aren’t your kids paddle boarding? It doesn’t take much to learn how – come on, you learned how – so why not let them get in on the fun, too? Here are 5 great reasons why you should bring them along next time you SUP board.

1. It’s a healthy outdoor activity. So much is being said these days about how kids aren’t getting outside enough and they spend too much time on the computer, glued to their phones or sitting in front of a television. Well? If you are going to spend some quality time in the great outdoors enjoying nature, then why not take them along and make them leave their tech at home? They will learn to appreciate nature, time away from all those tech gadgets, and also get a bit of exercise.  It’s not too difficult to teach your kids how to stand up paddle board, but you can also invest in some SUP lessons, so they get the hang of it sooner. Just make sure they are wearing a leash and lifejacket any time they are on the water.
2. It’s a social activity. ​Because this can be done with friends, it’s also a very social activity. You get together and stand up paddle board with your friends as well, right? So have your friends bring their kids and all the kids will have people to talk to their own ages and they can all splash around in the water, have races, and learn how to Stand Up Paddle Board at the same time. All of those activities like watching TV and sitting at the computer are definitely not social and the only place kids really do get to be social is at school and let’s face it, that’s kind of forced. So, if you get them together to do something fun, they might actually see the benefit in being social once in a while. This can be a lifelong lesson.
3. It’s great exercise. You can train your body to learn better balance and coordination, plus you will become stronger and have more endurance the longer you practice your SUP boarding skills, so encourage your kids to keep going at their SUP boarding, especially if they are showing even the slightest inkling of interest in it. It really is good for their bodies and their minds. Building up muscles the proper way will ensure that they keep better posture even when they aren’t on the board as well. 
4. It’s just fun. Who wouldn’t want to do something that was fun? Playing in the lake or calm river is always fun but when you get to stand on top of it and paddle your way around, taking in the views of nature? And then, when you become more advanced, SUP boarding the waves of the ocean? The taste of the salt water and getting beaten by those waves as you ride them is the best feeling in the world – knowing you can dominate nature in some small way. There are so many ways you can SUP board so find a way that you enjoy it best and go for it!
5. ​It’s a great family activity. If you’re looking for a way to get the family together, then this may just be it. Forget sitting around the dining room table after dinner to play Scrabble. Get out and do something. Have some fun! Plus, get some exercise and work off that picnic meal you brought with you to have at the park before you launched your boards into the lake. It’s important for a family to spend time together and there’s no better place to spend it than on the water. If the family dog likes the water and can handle standing or sitting steady on a SUP for short periods of time, then by all means, bring him or her along for the adventure. I’m sure they will enjoy getting out for a bit of outdoor fun as well.  

Oh, and one last thing… Be sure to take lots of pictures when you bring your kids, and possibly the family dog too, along for a SUP board adventure because you’re going to be making memories you’ll want to remember for a long time. (Just make sure it’s a waterproof camera!). There’s no reason why the kids can’t come along to SUP board with you and when you take them once, you will want to bring them along for each and every trip after. They will be begging to come with you so you won’t be able to leave the house without them!


Blog Author: David from Stand Up Paddle Boards Review

PADDLE-“BORED” OR PADDLEBOARDING?? Paddle”bored”.  Definition:  an adjective to describe someone who tried SUP for their first few times and didn’t find the thrill in it, but rather finds themselves bored with the whole experience.  It doesn’t happen often in my experience when dealing with newcomers to SUP, but it does happen. And sometimes it can even occur after the initial “shiny new experience” of trying it has worn off.  Why?  Let’s explore the difference between paddleboarding, and paddle-boredom.  
“I thought it would be more fun than this.”
“I don’t feel the workout everyone talks about.”
“I don’t feel it in my core.”
“It was fun for like, the first 2 minutes.  Then it was just paddling.”
Recently I was listening to a podcast where a fitness professional went on a vacation and tried SUP for the first time. While his travel partner loved it, he found it (and I quote)… “boring”. And the reasons listed above are heard now and then as well.  
More than likely, this is all due to improper technique.  These folks either rented a board with no further instruction on how to utilize it, or bought a board with no instruction ahead of time and began paddling anyway they could figure out how to.  They began with, what we in the industry call “arm paddling”, just as you would in a canoe, and the elusive “core work” was no where to be found. In addition to that, just limiting one’s self to only paddling on a SUP is really a sad state of affairs with so many avenues, and fun ways to use your SUP – and I’m about to show you just how many ways you can!
So if you have suffered or are currently suffering from “paddle-boredom” after trying SUP just one or two times, perhaps its time you give it another go, and make sure to follow the tips below!  This will ensure the fun-filled, and core-focused workout SUP experience you have heard so much about!  
*Note: This issue is very rare, yet it is happening.  Those of you who are like me, and constantly blissed-out by SUP, might already be utilizing the tips listed below and may not find these tidbits useful,  however, you might know someone who would find it useful, so help me end paddle-boredom once and for all and pass this along. 

5 SUPer Tips & Common Sense Approaches to Fun Paddle-boarding versus “Paddle-boring”. 
TIP #1 – FIX YOUR BLADE  The flat edge of your blade should be facing back.  The beveled edge should be facing forward.  I know, I know, it’s counter-intuitive to what you may think when you are paddling with it, but as I always say, “if it feels awkward, you are doing it right.”
This will allow the blade to push the water down away from the front of the board, allowing it to plane out on top of the water better. And for Pete’s sake, cover up that blade!  None of this “wussy-paddling” where your blade is half-assed in the water.  Cover that mother up! You won’t have very much fun, or get very far with the corner of your blade in the water. Every stroke of your paddle should find your whole blade completely invisible beneath the surface of the water. This allow for maximum power of the entirety of the blade so that you have the most push forward. 
TIP #2 – ARM PADDLING IS NOT COOL SUP is cool, and you want to look cool doing it right?  Then, lose the arm paddling.  More than simply looking cool, using your core when you paddle as opposed to just your arms, will allow you to go farther, and endure longer.  Why?  Your arms contain fewer muscles than the vast array of muscles that make up your mid-section, thereby causing you to wear out faster than if you were to use all the many larger muscle groups in your core.  
Instead of bending at the elbows to take a stroke, practice keeping you arms relatively straight and bending at your waist as kind of a “Hip hinge” to reach the blade forward as far as you can. Then imagine pulling yourself to the paddle rather than just puling the paddle to you.  Just the beginning stages of practicing this will give you more purpose (and core work) on the water!
TIP #3 – TAKE YOUR WORKOUT TO THE WATER  More than just paddling around leisurely, SUP offers you the total body benefit of making your board the best gym you’ve ever stepped foot on or in, and your body your machine.  Whatever workout you currently do in the gym, take it on board your SUP and open up a whole new world of core-focused resistance training and cardio!  
From pilates to sport conditioning for balance and agility, the sky is the limit when it comes to training your body and toning your body in a whole new way.  Find a nice quiet cove with some calm water, and try some basic yet effective moves like squats, calf raises, push-ups, sit-ups, and yes, even “Burpees!”.  Not sure where to start?  Check out my free PaddleFit audio workouts on iTunes and Hipcast.com, where I guide you through some quick but fun and definitely effective on the water workouts, guaranteed NOT to leave you with “paddle-boredom”! 
TIP #4 – COMBINE YOUR LOVE FOR SUP WITH YOUR LOVE FOR FOOD All sup’d up and no place to go? Nowadays, there are so many great dining venues on or near most local waterways, and so perhaps making your SUP adventure with a stop-over at your local floating cafe for a bite to eat, or a cup of coffee with a friend, and your sup starts to look like a whole new way to get around!  
How about packing a picnic basket or cooler and strapping it on board, for a nice paddle out to a little island? I call that a “picnic paddle”.  Or, fill up a carafe of coffee and a few of your favorite breakfast items and paddle out to nice calm cove and create your own Coffee shop on the water!  I call that “sup and a cup!”   Perhaps there is a new restaurant on the water nearby and you could earn your dinner by paddling there instead of driving?  I like to call that “SUP to supper”.  As a nutritionist and a foodie, anytime food is involved in my destination, I can’t ever seem to find the boredom in that!
TIP #5 – RECRUIT A PADDLE BUDDY SUP is a community sport, and the ol’ cliche “The more the merrier” really fits here. For safety reasons, it’s best to always paddle out with a buddy anyway, so that in the event of the un-thinkable, you have someone by your side to help get you to shore safely.  But in the case of fun vs. “paddle-boring”, having a buddy to shoot the breeze with, to catch a downwinder with, to grab some lunch at a floating cafe with, and to do some sup yoga with always makes for a better time on the water.
Plus, you are more likely to stick with your fitness and distance paddles when you have someone else out there with you to pass the time with.  A furry friend can be a buddy too!  Dogs love water, and if you don’t already have one, now you have good reason to rescue one from your local shelter and give him a new “leash” on life…on your SUP.  
Like I mentioned earlier, “paddle-boredom” more than likely is a result of improper technique, but can also be due to limiting yourself to just simply paddling out and then paddling back in.  There is so much more in store for you on your SUP than just paddling.  Learning technique is key, so I encourage any beginners to take a couple lessons with a well-qualified and experienced instructor to “get more out of your core”, and then imagine the possibilities of what you can do with your SUP and where the next adventure is that it can take you on!  Bottom line is: if you are bored on the board, you are doing it wrong.  Because this sport is SUPer fun!!!
Article written by Jodelle Fitzwater