All you need to know before buying a SUP board

Below we will give you a few tips for choosing the correct board. There is a lot of talk about the volume in a liter of Stand Up Paddle board and the relationship that must exist between this factor and one’s weight. But actually, it doesn’t matter after what we will say.

These are some of the factors that you must consider before buying a SUP board. We’re going to explain them but if you need more info in different perspectives, visiting Onyx Motion Paddle Sports will be very helpful. 

Weight – Volume (liters)

The relationship between your weight and the liter volume of the table can be debated by various factors such as where you will practice, your training time and how often you will practice. Let’s take 2 examples. In both cases this applies to walking and exploring small waves.

Take for example a beginner who weighs around 80 kg, without prior knowledge and who only has 1 or 2 days a week to practice SUP, he will not always do it at the appointed time (with the best conditions), then this person must look for a board with 2x weights fold from the weight in liters, that is, he has to look for a table of at least 160 liters.

Now we put ourselves in someone’s place (also weighing 80kg) who just started SUP but who practiced SURF and will only have 1 or 2 days a week to practice SUP. When practicing SURF, the knowledge and mastery of our standing position on the board are much better. We must look for a table with a ratio of 1.5 times the weight, that is, at least 120 liters.

Shape (table shape)

Tables with thin rails and narrow ends are usually much more unstable but with better performance.

Schedules, conditions and scenarios.

This is another factor to consider, for example if you are going to practice at night, when the sea is slightly more moved by the wind, in this case you might have to raise around 10 or 20 liters for this ratio. If you are going to practice on a lake where the water is sweet and there is a little floatation you should also add 10 or 20 liters based on what you need.

Frequency

You also have to take into account the frequency of using the board, if you are only going to come out a few times a week, then most likely this board will last 1 or 2 years before lowering the volume a little and using something lighter and more dynamic. But if you will use it more than 3 times a week, maybe in less than 1 year you need to look for board changes.

Walking or running waves?

In terms of walking, the comfortable ratio in weight and liter will never be less than 1.5 x the weight of a person.

To run a wave, everything changes when you start using a table with a ratio of 1.5x to a person’s weight down to the most ‘pro’, which is a ratio of 1x to 1, which is the same amount as the person’s weight

We must remember that here balance is more likely to wave performance than the comfort of rowing. That is why the volume is always sacrificed a little to have a board with fewer liters but with maneuverability in waves.

Running waves is not like a trip. It requires more practice and dedication because it does not only involve the waves but you must have a good reading of the sea, currents, wind, waves and tides, something you only get with time and lots of practice.