Ideal SUP Paddle Length – Discover yours NOW!

Finding your ideal SUP paddle length might feel like a waste of good paddleboarding time, but it shouldn’t. The benefits of a properly sized paddle to your paddleboarding AND your health are numerous, and it only takes a little time and effort to enjoy them. We know, because we did it. And if we can do it, so can you.

So, go grab your paddleboard paddle now. Because, with our help, you’re going to finally show that thing who’s boss and bring it down to its correct size once and for all.

SUP Paddle Length Chart – Scrollable & Mobile Friendly

Scroll along the TOP HORIZONTAL ROW until you find the column containing your physical height. Height is shown in feet & inches, inches and centimetres.

The numbers in the column cells below it show the recommended SUP paddle lengths for touring, racing and surfing for that height. e.g. If I, or one of my children, was 4 ft 4 inches tall (52 inches/132cm) and we were SUP surfing today, our recommended SUP paddle length for surfing would be approx 56 inches or 142 cm.

Adjust your SUP paddle to that length and then follow the step-by-step guide later on in this post to make further ESSENTIAL fine-tuning.

Your Ideal SUP Paddle Length

There’s an ideal SUP paddle length that’s perfect for me? Really? Surely all I need to do is what every other beginner SUP paddle boarder does? GUESS!

Well, that’s exactly what we used to do until we discovered, there IS a science to sizing a SUP paddle. And, once we discovered what it was and how to apply it to our own paddles we have to admit, just like finding the right psi for your paddle board, it does make a REAL difference.

Now, every time we head out for some stand up paddleboarding, all we do is run through a few quick and easy steps and swoosh, our SUP paddles fit us like watery gloves.

We’re not fighting with our paddles anymore. We’re not straining and stretching to control them. We’re not tickling or completely missing the water. And, we’re not loudly cursing the person who used our paddle before us.

In fact, you could almost say we feel more at one with our SUP paddles than ever.

And, as some wise paddle boarder somewhere must have said…

When you’re at one with your paddle you’re at one with your paddleboarding.

Recommended SUP Paddle Length – Beginner’s Advice FROM Absolute Beginners

Look online and you’ll find loads of websites hinting that they know the best SUP paddle length. You’ll get advice from:

• SUP paddle manufacturers
• SUP paddle board suppliers
• SUP paddleboarding champions
• SUP instructors
• SUPposed experts
• SUP forums

Plus, advice from blogs like this.

If you look at that advice carefully, however, you’ll also find that nobody ever agrees on a specific number. Every SUP expert has their own opinion. Every paddleboarder has their own ideas. Every paddler does it their own way. Which is a little disappointing.

Because, as a SUP beginner, you just want the BEST information that gives you an EXACT answer so you can ACT ON IT quickly. And, when it comes to the perfect paddle length, you just won’t find it.

Sorry!

There is, however, broad agreement around the best METHODS to use to find your ideal SUP paddle length. And that’s what we’ll attempt to lay out here, just to save you the trouble of paddling through that measuring minefield yourself.

Fortunately for us, the methods and techniques we found are not overly complicated, nor are they particularly time consuming. Which means you can have your SUP paddle correctly adjusted and ready for action in no time. Believe us, if we can do it…so can you.

More importantly, though, you’ll begin to appreciate why paddle length recommendations are only broad guidelines, why they’re not super-specific and why absolutely nobody anywhere can give you that “best”, “exact”, “ideal” or “perfect” SUP paddle length answer you’re looking for.

Nobody that is except YOU.

Paddle Long… or Paddle Short? That IS the question.

Get this. Your ideal SUP paddle length will differ from mine even if we are THE EXACT SAME HEIGHT.

What? How can that be?

It’s because correct SUP paddle length doesn’t just depend on height alone. It depends on a number of factors unique to you and me. Factors such as:

• the type of stand up paddle boarding you’re doing
• the type of SUP board you’re on
• the type of paddle you own
• your arm length
• your mobility & physique
• your overall fitness & paddling technique
• water & wind conditions
• what you feel most comfortable with

All this might seem daunting at first, but it’s really not. The paddle boarding payoff is more than worth the time spent prepping and setting up your SUP paddle itself. Believe us. We know. And you can too.

But first you’ve got to try it.

To make it easier for US to understand, we worked out a simple step-by-step paddle-sizing process to follow.

It’s a mash-up of all the online SUP paddle length recommendations and guides we found useful.

Every time we go paddle boarding we run through it quickly just to help us get in the right paddle length ball park.

After that, it’s up to each of us to make more specific adjustments and carry out some fine-tuning based on our own unique paddleboarding style and physical makeup.

Then it’s all about practice, fine-tuning, more practice and more fine-tuning.

That’s the stage we’re at right now and we’re only a few months into our SUP journey. We know we’ve a long way to go before we reach our own perfect paddle length paradise.

But we’ll get there.

Still, because it’s not always practical to spend time going through a detailed checklist (and because we’re lazy and eager to just get on with some stand up paddleboarding) we also took a look at what other methods we could use to get to a super-quick SUP paddle length approximation.

We pretended we needed answers FAST without charts, tape measures, laser surveying equipment or 20/20 vision.

Let’s see if any of those paddle-sizing shortcuts work too.

So, there you go, your SUP paddle is now a reasonable fit/length for someone of your height. Simple!

It would be awesome if you could just stop there and, if you’re not too fussed about getting your paddleboard paddle length spot on, you probably could.

However, if you’re like us and you really want to be at one with your paddle, you’ll want to consider some important additional fine-tuning.

Making these extra adjustments will bring you ever closer to your own elusive “ideal paddle length”. Let’s see what they are.

Up a little. Down a little. PADDLE!

Every technique can be seen in this SUP race above. It’s thrilling, fascinating and hilarious in equal measures. Look out for the moment (about 13 mins into the race) when 9 SUP racers are riding the same wave into a tight turn.

Awesome!

So, there you have it. That’s how to calculate your ideal SUP paddle length. That’s what we all, as stand up paddleboarders, should aim for. You’re now an expert. And now you know the tricky task ahead of you. To find your own paddle length sweet spot.

The sweet spot that enables you to, regardless of conditions, make your most energy efficient stroke, whilst generating the most forward thrust, whilst causing the least amount of physical discomfort.

And, to do that, the paddle blade when it enters the water, mustn’t be…

• too deep
• too shallow
• too far forward
• too close to your body
• too far off vertical

Which for beginner’s like us, who are already struggling to stay upright on what feels like an inflatable ironing board, is far easier said than done.

Still, now you know all that, it should hopefully explain why there isn’t a perfect one-size-fits-all ideal SUP paddle length for every height. Every paddleboarder is physically unique. Every paddler is technically different. Which is why every SUP paddle length ends up being bespoke.

Because of this, all that stand up paddleboard suppliers and SUP paddle manufacturers can do is recommend a broad paddle length range for every height.

It’s up to us, as novice/beginner paddleboarders, to adjust within and around that recommended range, rather than force our paddling technique to fit.

And, when you’ve got better at paddling and once you’ve begun to develop a more permanent long-term technique, what then?

Fine-tune your SUP paddle length further. That’s what we’re hoping to do, anyway. Though we’re aware it’s going to take time.

But wait! 

What if there was a quicker way?

Quick Tips & Techniques for Sizing a SUP Paddle Fast

If you follow the simple step-by-step paddle sizing process above, you should reach a good approximate SUP paddle length that you can continue to fine-tune.

But, what if you don’t have access to all the info, or just don’t have the time or patience to make lots of fiddly adjustments?

Are there any quicker methods you can use to help you get close to a similar answer?

Alternative Methods For Approximating your Ideal SUP Paddle Length

Sizing it up