Chris Smith, “Balance” Patagonia Lake, Baja Arizona
I am a PaddleFit Pro certified standup paddle boarding coach (https://www.paddlefitpro.com/pro-coaches/), Brand Ambassador for Neil Pryde Water Wear and dealer for Infinity SUP. Since I started standup paddle boarding it’s not that I haven’t stopped, it’s that I can’t stop. It’s the fluid motion. It’s the feeling of gliding through the water. It’s surfing the Sonoran desert.
Let’s back up. After playing hockey and tennis in high school, I settled into running as my main way to get out, get going, and stay in shape. Eventually my knees made the decision for me to stop, and I got back into mountain biking, but then I read about standup paddle boarding. I had to try it. My wife bought me a board for Christmas and I was again gliding over water, except this time it wasn’t frozen.
I love teaching, the surge that runs from showing to applying to improving. After I learned to sail, I started to teach friends and then became a US Sailing certified small boat sailing instructor. I also started showing to friends the basics of standup paddling in Martha’s Vineyard, California, and the Caribbean. It was time to get certified. On the recommendation of a friend—you’re going to make a lot of friends standup paddle boarding—I took Brody Welte’s PaddleFit Core certification course and learned more in a weekend than I had on my own since starting. I recently took my paddling and coaching to the next level by taking the PaddleFit Pro level certification course in Florida.
As I learned with sailing, training on and racing a stand up paddle board has made me a better paddler and turned up my stoke for this incredible lifestyle.
I believe that learning something well enough to teach it helps not only the student but also the teacher. The learning gets deeper, the improvement continues, and the glide goes on and on. Let's get going!
