Business Profile: Stand Up Motion, Jefferson Valley
Photo credit: Neal Rentz
Putnam Valley resident Jerry Patterson is not only the owner of Stand Up Motion in Jefferson Valley, he is also its chief paddling officer.
Stand Up is a paddleboard company that opened in 2011. It is open daily from June to October.
“Stand up paddle boarding is all about having fun,” Patterson said last week..“I have a fun title. It’s a fairly new sport especially to this area. And we just want to have fun, fitness and adventure for people.”
“You’re basically standing on an oversized surf board with a vertical paddle in your hand,” Patterson explained. “You’re vertically paddling through the water. It’s kind of a hybrid between surfing and outrigger canoeing.”
Patterson said stand up paddle boarding started in Hawaii. “The origins are that old surf instructors used to stand up on big boards and paddle around to help their students. It kind of evolved into a good workout for surfers when there were no waves or if there were small waves you could still get a good workout and it was fun.”
Stand Up Motion offers stand up paddle boards for sale and rentals, lessons, excursions and advice for the stand up paddle boarding lifestyle. It also provides stand up yoga classes held on the water, as well as paddle board racing.
This year Patterson is leasing a slip of Lake Osceola for his customers. Previously, the company provided its services on a mobile basis, traveling to various waterways in the region to meet with customers, Patterson said.
In the off-season Patterson works as a construction contractor on homes. He first learned about stand up paddle boarding in 2010 during a family vacation in Sarasota, FL. Patterson said he and his family tried their hands and the sport and “enjoyed the challenge of it and the adventure.”
When he purchased his own board local residents began asking him about it and Patterson said he was inspired to open a stand up paddle boarding business. Patterson and the two other instructors he employees are Paddlefit-certified instructor who received training on how to teach paddling, safety and regulations and other aspects needed to be an instructor.
Aside from learning to do stand up paddle boarding for pleasure, Stand Up Motion offers yoga and other fitness programs that are done on the boards on the water, Patterson said.
Patterson maintained it is not difficult to master stand up paddle boarding. “It’s a lot like riding a bike,” he said. “The balance comes from your momentum. It’s fairly easy to pick up. Within the first five or 10 minutes I can usually have people standing on the board and going comfortably.”
Stand Up Motion is located 399 E. Main St. in the Jefferson Valley hamlet of Yorktown. For more information call 845-3375529, visit .standupmotion.net or send an e-mail to jerry@standupmotioin.net.
