Stand Up Paddle Discussion with Pro Surfer and Jim from Tropical Blends Surf – Video Part 2
We hear from this two-part video a discussion between Jim of Tropical Blends Surf and a Pro Surfer about stand up paddles. They talk about the different aspects of the paddle — from the grip to the blade — and even the history and global influence put into the stand up paddle.
I think the bottom line here is that stand up paddle surfing is still in its early stages and it’s good that people are out to try new stuff for the sake of the development of the sport.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
Jim: So it’s all good. It’s all good stuff and I carry them all. And I try to…
Man: This stuff is impressive. That’s good forward-thought. I always believe in reducing the blade size. Because look at this, it’s way bigger than this still. You know what I mean? Look at this, it’s way bigger than this.
Jim: And look at how efficient we are with just our hands. But now you do have a part of your forearm that’s working too right. That’s exactly what the thought process was there. “Let’s stretch it out a little bit. Let’s…” I tried the Infinity one, the one that is upside down, and I like that one to a certain degree too. But I felt like I needed to be a little more consistent with what I get in the water.
Man: It’s weird, like, it’s all these paddle influences from different paddles around the world. Because if you look at Infinity’s paddle, that’s like a very African river paddle.
Jim: It’s like the…
Man: The Amazon River paddle, that’s what it is.
Jim: Yeah, yeah. And when you look at it, it’s like a shape of a leaf, right? It’s so cool. And you know, they have been paddling like that for forever. Tens of thousands of years.
Man: And I think another thing with those things, the African river paddles, I think they’re shaped like that too to push off the bottom, like, to (_____).
Jim: That makes sense too, doesn’t it? It’s just cool that there are that many different things. But anyway…
Evan Leong: What equipment are you riding now?
Man: I ride Dave Parmeter’s shapes. C4 paddles, but I have been trying a bunch of different stuff, a bunch of different paddles. But I’ve always been riding Dave’s boards.
Jim: Yeah, Dave is a really really talented guy – very very talented guy.
Man: He’s just my friend – and like started with him and just keep on going. We have like, “That’s my crew.” And we have development coming there then we have all of our little brain tank then we go show up at places then we see what other people are doing and then we see what Dennis is doing, and then we see maybe when Leo comes over, see what his trip is. And now that there is more flair, there are more guys coming out of wood work too, different shapers taking all there own interpretations.
Jim: I think that’s the beauty of the sport right now too. We’re such in an infancy stages that we’re just going through all these things. Take surfing back 50, 60 years that’s where we are.
Man: For sure. That’s why it’s so exciting. And it’s even way more adaptable than surfing because if you think about it, I surfed this morning on pure swell over shallow reef. And it was flat. It was like nothing. It was just like a bump but you could still do it. And then you get the whole downwind aspect, like once you get downwind stuff; you know you expand into downwind. That’s almost as fun as surfing if not more fun.
Jim: I live in (____)…
Man: Yeah, you know the grounds are right out there.
Jim: So I just go right out behind my house, about three times a week I paddle out to the (____). And everyone ask me, “Do you paddle back?” You got to be kidding me I paddle back.
Man: You drive back.
Jim: 20 mile an hour trade winds. I’m not paddling against that for 5 or 7 miles. The wife gets to pick me up.
Man: We did a ton of Hawaii Kai runs. Same thing. The only thing that limits us is the shuttle. So we have the little tide… I’ve been getting down with some paddle boarders and just with the shuttle, you know…
Jim: Well, we have to hook up, like I said, I go down three or four times a week. And it’s just an after work kind of thing. Just before dark a lot of times. But it’s something I can get in the water and go 5.30 or whatever I still got time to go do it.
Man: And even the paddle shapes, me and Brian were talking like after the Molokai this year, we were just like, “You know we might look in to next year is have a quiver of paddles for long distance stuff so that you’re not using the same group of muscles over and over again.”
Jim: That’s a really good idea.
Man: So you have three different paddles and you switch it up so you’re body is going to get less tired because you’re not using the same muscle group the whole 31 miles. You’re changing muscle groups because you’re changing paddles.
Jim: I think that’s a really good idea.
Man: So it’s less energy expended or just different. It’s spread out through more of your body. Because that’s what happened to the shoulder blow, it’s just that repetitive thing.
Jim: You know what I found when I do it this way? Any kind rubber or whatever. I’m going this way, it actually is helping me rotate… this one we made as an experiment and actually I like this in the downwind runs because you’re not working that hard.
Man: You’re tapping on to them…
Jim: You’re just tapping, yeah.
Man: You’re being smart, efficient.
Jim: You can just kind of fool around with this big blade and it just helps you along the way.
Man: I’d love to try something like this downwind because that’s the whole thing with downwind. It’s not like the strongest guy, it’s the smartest guy who like taps in to stuff and reads the ocean. Because the (___) can just keep on going and you’re like, you just pass them by because you catch a little run.
Jim: And I like the ones where you go inside or outside, right? “Well, let’s see this. What could be better, inside or outside?” So there’s a decision, and once you make it, you commit to it.
Stand Up Paddle Discussion with Pro Surfer and Jim from Tropical Blends Surf - Part 2 [4:55m]: Download
Stand Up Paddle Discussion with Pro Surfer and Jim from Tropical Blends Surf - Part 2 [4:57m]: Download
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