I came across this the other day, a clipping I took from Swaylocks, the board-building site, in which Blane Chambers, in his early days of stand up, wrote about his canoe-paddle-surfing technique. Actually, if I’m not mistaken, I think at the time Blane *only* did CPS and eschewed SUP entirely. By now, CPS is anachronistic but it does have its uses. Like when? Like when the wind is howling offshore and the second you stand up to paddle you’re blown over the horizon. Solution? Get on your knees, bro, and go low!

Here’s how Blane described it back in 2006:

Get plenty practice before you head out into the waves by sprinting in flat water. Once you get the stroke down you can head out into the surf… Make sure no one is around… Getting into a wave kneeling goes like this…. Most important thing is to be lined up straight and get that momentum up. Stroke hard! Get that baby up to a speedy glide and maybe even an extra couple strokes for good measure…

From here you can see I’m planting my hands and after awhile you don’t even notice the paddle there…

After photo 6 I get my feet into position right away and start to flip the paddle over…
The paddle needs to be hitting the water with the back side or sticker side up… If you paddled in
on the left side here’s where you switch it over and make the flip…..

Firmly planted, taking the drop and finishing up the paddle flip…. Whoosh!!!

Lay on that paddle hard and into that bottom turn baby!!! Ahwoooooooo!!!

It takes plenty practice! If you’re gonna Stand Up paddle, it takes even more practice…. Be safe… That’s a huge board your swinging around!
I don’t know SH*T but I’m having fun experimenting! SURF WITH ALOHA….

How To Safely Canoe Paddle Surf w/Pics (Swaylock’s Discussion)