What is land paddling? Land paddling is propelling a longboard or skateboard using a long paddle with a rubber tip, instead of pushing with your foot. Both feet stay on the board. The stroke closely mimics stand-up paddleboarding — plant, pull, follow through — which is why the sport is also called street SUP, SSUP, or paddle skating. It was popularized in 2006 when Kahuna Creations introduced the "Big Stick," and it has grown into a category with a handful of manufacturers and a devoted...

There's a specific conversation that happens in every skate shop. Someone in their fifties or sixties walks in, looks at the longboards for a while, and eventually says some version of: I used to skate. I don't think I could anymore. They're usually not wrong about the reason. They're wrong about the conclusion. Why skateboarding gets hard, and why it's usually not what you think The barrier is almost never balance in the abstract. It's two specific mechanical problems: 1. Pushing requires...

Land paddling looks gentle. It is not, on your joints. Every time the rubber tip of a rigid aluminum paddle hits pavement, that impact has exactly one place to go: up the shaft, through the handle, into your wrist, up your forearm, into your shoulder. Do it four hundred times over a three-mile cruise and you understand why a lot of people try land paddling once and then leave the stick in the garage. Riders describe the same three complaints: Wrist and shoulder soreness that shows up the next...