So why bother with an article on paddling? surely it’s as easy as breathing, no one could possibly get paddling wrong could they? Well bluntly, yes they can in fact we all do half the time. If you spend an hour in the water it will be a mind-blowingly epic session if you are actually up and surfing for five minutes of it yet for a good 20mins of that hour you will probably be paddling and if you’re spending that time employing bad paddling habits you’re going to waste a lot of time and more importantly a lot of energy. Here’s a few things to look out for:
Calm down and glide
You have to let your board glide between strokes if your stroke is too short and rapid you will expend excess energy and you won’t actually go any faster. The motion should be Pull > Push > Glide (repeat) The length of the glide should be as long as the length of the stroke. This gives you both recovery time and a better flow through the water. Also the longer the craft the longer the stroke and the longer the glide. It all goes hand in hand.
Get in sync
Look at what the water is doing, the pulses, the surges, the chop and adjust your rhythm to that so that you’re working with the ocean and not against it. List your hand up and over the chops, don’t punch through them
Keep your fingers loose
Some of the water has to go through your fingers if you cup your fingers too tightly you have less control over the stroke as the pressure will push the hand all over the place. It also means that the pressure it creates put tension on the forearms so you’re burning much needed paddle power.
- Technique
