Improving Technique

I am fortunate to be able to introduce a lot of people into paddle boarding, inspiring them to the love of the sport. Within two hours of beginner SUP session, people get a flavour of SUP and learn the basics.

In terms of progression, some people might just stay at basic level, with knees slightly bent and pootling along on a social paddle. However it’s advisable to up it to the next level to develop technique further, prevent injury, avoid sloppy habits, and to be able to paddle longer distances and adapt for different environments.

The most common weaknesses in paddling often come from coping tactics. This is where a technique is learned that enables a paddleboarder to achieve the very basic paddling quickly with less perceived effort. They get a kind of result and are happy, but they haven’t learned the best way or process of paddling. The paddleboarder can practice their coping tactics so frequently that eventually it becomes reinforced. It is possible to hide behind coping tactics when the water is flat and the environment not too challenging but when put under pressure, these tactics are seldom a sufficient substitute for good technique, and ultimately the coping tactics and consequently any future skills built on them, are likely to fail.

“ Noise is a waste of energy. Aim to reduce noise so that all the energy you spend is directed to making the board move forward efficiently. ”