The paddle stroke in Stand up paddle boarding isn’t really difficult, but you have to take correctly the right movement. In fact, if you learn a bad paddling technique, it’s tricky to go back and correct it.
Today, we’ll give you our advice to learn how to paddle in SUP.
These techniques are taught by Soulkite in our SUP lessons in Perth :
1)On the Stand up Paddle board, be positioned close to the handle (too much in the back of the board is a typical mistake) and find your balance with your feet wide apart. If you need, you can begin on your knees and stand up slowly. take your paddle in the right side. keep your knees bent.
2)You need to look where you are going so your board travels in a straight direction. To go straight you need to place the blade as far in front of the board as possible, keep your hand that is on the handle straight and your other hand which holds the shaft bent so you create a push and pull motion.
3)You have to paddle from the front to the back, keep your paddle close to your board and keep your arms straight.
4)Stop your stroke when the blade is close to your feet, this is where the blade should exit the water to begin recovery. The efficient area when you paddle is in front of you.
5)At this stage the blade exits the water, you have to do quarter turn with your paddle, it helps the board to go straight and you to bring back the paddle in front of the board.
6)Bring the paddle as far forward as possible and put the blade back to the starting point before to entering into the water.
7) After a few strokes (3 or 4), change the side of the strokes. Don’t forget to reverse your hands.
8)The more you’ll progress in SUP or the faster you want to go, the more you will have to engage your body when the paddle enters the water. You could also play with the frequency and the amplitude of your strokes.
By applying this advice to paddle efficiently in SUP, you could progress faster. You just have to exercise and have fun. SoulKite give stand up paddle lessons or hire SUP gear.
