If you are looking to dive into the world of watersports, paddleboarding on an Inflatable Stand Up Board (often shortened to iSUPs) is a great way to start for beginners. Paddle boarding is a brilliant sport that can help you enjoy the great outdoors in a different way and experience some of Britain’s best aquatic scenery up close. It’s also a gentle way to workout without feeling like you are in a secondary school PE class on a Monday morning at 9am.
Welcoming to beginners
Paddleboarding has a relatively easy learning curve for a beginner to pick up the basic technique of paddling through the water.
Getting on a paddle board
The first stage of paddleboarding is getting on the iSUP. For someone who is not used to balancing yourself on something in the water, paddleboards with their flat surface are relatively easy to board.
The process of learning
A large part of any sport is trying and failing, learning through your struggles; and this is no different with watersports. Luckily with paddleboarding on an iSUP, getting back on board after falling into the water is much easier than getting into a kayak’s cockpit; where you have to orientate the kayak, grasp the kayak’s cockpit rim and then swing your legs over the rim and into the cockpit, then emptying it of any water.
Balancing on the board
Whether it is surfing, sailing, or paddleboarding; the key worry many beginners have is struggling to maintain their balance whilst on the water. A good tip though for beginners is to begin your paddleboarding journey by reducing your centre of gravity on the iSUP by kneeling down rather than standing up. This is a technique that many people use when they are just starting out so you can get used to the paddle board and its movements. This is one of things that make iSUPs approachable for beginners.
Navigation
Once you have got past the worries about staying upright and being on the water, then comes the matter of navigation. For someone who isn’t used to being on the water, the raised position you have when standing up on a paddleboard makes it easier to navigate that being right above the water like you are in a kayak. With a much greater field of vision, you can follow landmarks or natural features along your planned route.
Athletic ability
Another thing that makes using an iSUP approachable is the fact that you don’t need to have a body that looks like it was chiselled from marble to be able to have a good time. Whilst paddleboarding does expend energy, it is not necessarily the most intense sport. Paddle boarding is less intensive than other high adrenaline watersports, so it can be said requires a lower level of athletic ability and overall fitness.
Hopefully this article will help convince you that inflatable paddle boards are brilliant for beginners, and you can start your journey of exploring the wonderful stretches of water that the United Kingdom has to offer.
