When thinking of stand up paddling many imagine the warm, clear waters of somewhere tropical like Hawaii, Tahiti, or Florida as the perfect, most beautiful places to get on a SUP and explore.

Want to know the key to success when it comes to performing well during a stand up paddle race? Look no further because we've aggregated improvement tips from some of the best SUP racers on the planet. Stepping up your game and performing at a higher level takes more than just a lot of time on the water. Here are the top 5 tips on how you can improve your performance during a SUP race.

With the SUP racing season right around the corner we thought it best to supply you with some tips that can help you have a successful race come race day. We checked in with the best-of-the-best stand up paddle boarding pros including Kai Lenny, Mo Freitas, Chuck Patterson, Connor Baxter, Lina Augaitis and Annabel Anderson to name a few. We took what they had to say and came up with 5 tips to help you have a successful race.

In stand up paddle boarding, having a good paddle stroke is crucial to seeing results and improving skill level. Many of stand up paddling's top athletes stress that the paddle stroke is one of the most important, if not the most important, tool to master when paddling. We caught up with many of stand up paddling's best athletes to get some tips on how to have a great paddle stroke. See what they had to say...

At one point or another we've all been beginners to the sport of stand up paddling. As one of the world's fastest growing sports, paddle boarding is seeing more and more newcomers to the sport and every newcomer could use a few lessons and tips in the art of paddle boarding. We've talked to top pros in the sport and asked them to breakdown their top tips for beginners.

The 32nd Annual Santa Cruz Paddlefest was one for the books as stand up paddle surfers and racers took to the waters in Santa Cruz, California. The 10k Pro Elite race for both the men and women were the talk of the weekend as the results had everyone buzzing.

At a time when races are disappearing or scaling back their ambitions, the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival just keeps growing and getting better every year.

Nor Cal SUP is pleased to announce that world renowned SUP paddle boarder, Slater Trout will be joining Nor Cal SUP’s 2017 PaddleSplash Festival (SUP, Kayak, and OC) on July 28-30, 2017 at Lake Natoma, in Folsom, CA.

Big Sur is one of the most beautiful and desolate stretches of coastline in the world. Big Sur is a beautiful place to visit, especially via paddle board, but be wary, the waters off of Big Sur are home to a ton of great whites. Last month, on August 11 & 12, a diverse team of six men decided to tackle a two-day trip along the coast and explore the beauty that it has to offer.

Check out Boardworks and FCS team rider, Slater Trout's, top 3 SUP Racing Events.

Check out the highlights from our live interview with Slater Trout.

This coming Tuesday, April 15, 2014, FCS and Boardworks athlete, Slater Trout, will be doing a live interview at the Supconnect studio in San Diego at noon.