Increasing grip width without reducing forward reach?

[FloridaWindSUP]

Often when I see myself in photos after a sup race I cringe at how my form looks compared to the really good riders. In particular, it seems that my "feels natural" bottom hand position on the paddle shaft is usually a lot less far down than it should be.

This is what I want to look like: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100887526277097&l=52212607e0

And this is actually me: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100887526341967&l=a5f2f44466

I did the Jim Terrell paddle overhead with bent arms thing to find where my bottom hand should be, and I marked that spot on the paddle with a pink sticker. But it's tough for me to get there. (Even since I cut my shaft shorter and re-glued the handle so the sticker isn't even the full Jim Terrell distance from the handle anymore.) In particular, I feel like my reach and catch suffer a lot when I try to grip the paddle lower. With the "proper" wide grip I can't get that good-feeling positive blade angle that lets me load my weight on the paddle nicely.

Are there some secrets I'm missing? Twisting and stacking shoulders more? Bending top arm more? Are there some practice drills that help with this? Thanks.

[Kaihoe]

Hi Florida,

  I did camp with Travis Grant a while back one of the things he talked about is that lots of us (even the elite guys) are over reaching. So don't worry about loosing reach, if your getting better gearing by lowering your hand and you can still apply power you'll be onto a winner

 There are lots of really useful tip[s on the video Robert posted in this thread http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=29988 at one point he talks about overreaching and how you can loose your weight on the paddle. There is also a lot of info about blade angle and loading the paddle.

  One of the big things I got from Travis was to try an keep your top hand closer to the body, this gives more angle on the paddle.

  Looking at that photo your top (left) hand can probably come  further across your body and closer to your shoulder. If you add a bit more rotation on your right side (hip and shoulder) you should get a lot more angle on the paddle.  Then drive it in with your top hand and weight. So easy to say... so hard to do

[TallDude]

My theory on the hand width has always been to grab it dead center of the shaft. In my earlier racing years I notice as you are from pictures that my hands seemed too close together. I put some tape that I could feel further and further down the shaft for a point of reference. I realized the the point where I felt the most power was pretty much dead center. If you have a longer wing span then you should have a longer shaft. From your picture, I'm thinking you may need a longer shaft.

[pdxmike]

Often when I see myself in photos after a sup race I cringe at how my form looks compared to the really good riders. In particular, it seems that my "feels natural" bottom hand position on the paddle shaft is usually a lot less far down than it should be.

This is what I want to look like: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100887526277097&l=52212607e0

And this is actually me: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100887526341967&l=a5f2f44466

I did the Jim Terrell paddle overhead with bent arms thing to find where my bottom hand should be, and I marked that spot on the paddle with a pink sticker. But it's tough for me to get there. (Even since I cut my shaft shorter and re-glued the handle so the sticker isn't even the full Jim Terrell distance from the handle anymore.) In particular, I feel like my reach and catch suffer a lot when I try to grip the paddle lower. With the "proper" wide grip I can't get that good-feeling positive blade angle that lets me load my weight on the paddle nicely.

Are there some secrets I'm missing? Twisting and stacking shoulders more? Bending top arm more? Are there some practice drills that help with this? Thanks.

Great questions that relate to a problem I'm having also.  I know from feel that my stroke looks exactly like the one in the first photo, but for some reason, in photos of me, the camera makes it look more like the one in the second photo.


One thing I found--I put hockey tape on the correct grip area to prevent slipping, but its main benefit has been that it reminds me to grip lower, so I can feel the correct area without looking.

[zachhandler]

Paddling with a lower bottom hand requires a more bent forward and less upright body position at the catch. The bend is at knees and waist, not in the spine. The pics you linked to show that pretty well. I don't think you can grip lower and be successful without changing body position as well.

[FloridaWindSUP]

Thanks for the tips, y'all. That top-hand-closer-to-the-body thing sounds like it could help. I may also need to work on hamstring flexibility to be able to get into the right position. Just now looking in the mirror as I try to bend at the waist with a straight back I'm struggling to get 45 degrees.

[TallDude]

Our family is all tall. My nieces are both 6'1. My daughter just hit 5'11 and going. My son is 5'7 and totally going. No one but me at 6'7 can touch their toes and I work at it everyday. Inherently tight hamstrings. I told my son, the day you can touch your toes will be the day you can dunk the basketball. Stretch every day.

[Eagle]

My pic is shown in my avatar - taken after paddling SUP for about a month.

Had my wife take pics and shoot video footage very early on  Which definitely helped a ton.  We always try to get forward and sink our paddle deep before pulling hard.  This is an excellent JT video that we have linked before -

[PonoBill]

Arm spacing isn't the only thing you don't have going in that picture. No shoulder stacking, no torso rotation, you're not pressing down with the upper hand to set the catch. It looks like it's all arms, unless this is just a bad shot at the wrong time. Having your hand spacing right is more a function of all those other things than it is just sticking your hands in some particular place. In OC6 practice today I was focusing on catch, body position, and rotation. When I got it right my lower hand was buried in the water and the feeling of unwinding was wonderful. Felt powerful. When I got it wrong my hand was up the shaft, my body timing was off, and I could feel my paddle slipping and splashing.

The first picture shows all of that, great extension, weight on the upper hand, paddle vertical, stacked shoulders, torso rotation and a good amount of body bend and knee bend. With all that other stuff there's one more thing to concentrate on, and that's bend over quickly, straighten slowly. Hard to get that working, it seems impossible, until it clicks in and you say "oh, THAT"S how that works. The difference is small, but real. I'm getting it about one out of twenty strokes now, which is better than never out of whatever.

Talldude--you're a genetic freak with arms longer than most people's bodies. In that picture if you straightened your lower arm your hand would be below your knees at the end of the stroke. My hands only get below my knees when I drop something and try (and fail) to pick it up. I don't think your thumb rules apply to humans. Then again I'm a fat old guy with everything busted, so my advice is more relevant for the geriatric crowd.