A FEW PADDLING TIPS
Whether a beginner or an experienced shredder, improving your basic paddling skills translates into catching more and better waves.
The idea is to find how to up your wave count by paddling into waves correctly and efficiently. From making sure you’re in the right position on your board to how to control your timing, speed and position on the wave, these paddling tips will have you pocketing more waves each session.
Optimal Paddling Technique
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Minimizing Resistance
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Maximizing Propulsion
- Minimize Resistance (or Drag)
Minimize Resistance to paddle to your full potential.
It’s simply a waste of time to focus on “paddling better” or “paddling harder” until you understand the concept of “Resistance” or “Drag”. To minimize drag is to “glide efficiently” on the water with the minimum of elements “resisting” your propulsion forward.
Many things can create resistance to water: your surfboard’s nose, your legs, your arms, your surfboard’s rails, etc. Lots of resistance means you are slowing yourself down and paddling to a fraction of your potential.
How to Minimize Resistance? Positioning.
To minimize resistance or drag with the water, you need to have the right position on the surfboard. It’s about finding the “sweet spot” on your surfboard: being at the right place on the surfboard, both vertically and horizontally. The spot where your chest lays down on the surfboard and how your body weight is distributed on the board will make the difference between creating tons of drag or “gliding” on the water efficiently.
Optimal Position: Keep your back arched and your surfboard’s nose slightly out of the water. You should pretend there’s a soccer ball under your chin. This will ensure your head stays up and still and keeps the arch in your back. Keep your legs together and a bit up. Align your spine with the stringer of your board.
Keep your head and upper body still when you paddle. Moving your head and upper body from side to side while paddling will “rock” your surfboard from side to
side, creating more resistance.
- Maximizing Propulsion
Maximizing propulsion is done with the correct paddling technique.
Maximizing propulsion is about getting the most power out of every paddle stroke. The goal is to maximize the surface area (hand, forearm & arm) that pushes water underneath. The greater surface area reaches for, the more water you push, the faster you paddle and the more waves you catch.
- Paddle full-range motions. Arms fully extended so your hand may penetrate the water far in front of you. Your backhand pops out of the water only when fully extended in the back, after a full range motion.
- Penetrate deep underwater and vertically. When your hand and forearm go deep underwater and stay vertical, you can hold a greater surface area and propel yourself forward with more power.
- Elbow high at the moment your hand penetrates the water. This is the best way to make sure your forearm stays vertical once it goes underwater.
If you want real honest feedback about where your surfing is right now – and what you need to do to improve – then you’ve got to get some footage of yourself surfing.
