You've been there. Floating in the impact zone and your SUP is within arms reach. You look over and see that little loop of Nylon connecting your leggy to the tail, and reach out to hook your finger tip through it.

Nooooooooooo! There's at least four blokes in the country that are screaming at you as your fingertip enters the loop. They have been there before, they got the t-shirt, and they understand the consequences of such an act. What they don't have however; is their finger tip anymore! Scroll down to see some graphic images of what happens when you grab your SUP by the leggy loop.

Seen them? OK, if you're back then you haven't spewed into your morning coffee. Nice one! Read on to see three tips for keeping your board close, without losing a body part.

To hear the first hand reports about how it happened, and how others have had the exact same experience - check out the thread 'Warning - Don't grab the Leggie Loop!' in the Seabreeze.com.au Stand Up Paddling Forums.

1: Hold the leggy itself.

Just grab the actually leggy cord. At least then, if the wave is big enough it will simply rip the line out of your hands. Whatever you do, don't loop that cord around your hand though! You can also try grabbing the tail pad if you have one.

2: Hold the nose.

A proper length SUP leg rope should just be long enough to allow you to hold onto the nose. Grab it with one hand, use your other to swim forward as the wave passes over you. Or to hold onto the paddle.

3: Just let it go.

In many cases you'll be better off with both hands free. After all, you're able to make effective use of the paddle as a brake when you can use both hands! Your ankle, or knee isn't prone to being ripped off entirely by a leg rope. So let it take the strain.

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