A technical eplanation of paddling ...

[paddlesurf.net]

I'm with Shawn Michael- I like Jim Terrel's stroke. I've talked to a few racers here in SD and everyone's got their own stroke- so if "punching" works for you- and you're fast- go for it.

[D.Kirche]

That video was weird, Sounds like Brian K. had a lot to say about the boards!

[beaglebuddy]

I use Todd Bradley's ideas and the things I think about while paddling are ;

1. Try to keep paddle verticle, not leaned out to the side
2. Keep lower arm strait, even locked sometimes to remind me to keep it strait
3. Bottom arm is pushing out to create the lever but at the same time is being pulled back by the Lat / rear delt
4. Top arm is cocked to get the reach then pushed forward and down and straitened out
5. Stroke goes, straiten the lower arm, stroke and straiten the top arm
6. Twist the body towards the paddle side as I stroke
7. Paddling at an angle to keep the board going strait, the paddle enters the water further away from the board and as it is stroked the paddle comes closer to the board nearly hitting the board with the handle just above the paddle about where my feet are or behind them a bit.
8. The twisting of the body helps angle the paddle and keep the board going strait
9. Think about pushing off with my legs, mainly my paddle side leg
10. When paddling very hard my body starts to crouch a bit then uncoil up and the paddle starts to go over my head with the top hand being punched forward and the body dipping as the legs push more
11. Concentrate on keeping the shoulders square and pushed back not rounded forward
Any comments ?

[JC50]

Having an OC paddling background where I was extremely analytical in stroke mechanics to primarily SUP this year (Kanu was packed in storage), I'm currently settled (for now) on a combination of lower arm pull (primarily powered by the twisting of torso(lats) than bending of arm(biceps)) and top arm drive (triceps, pecs) with some levering at lower hand being fulcrum and also some leg & hip rotation, and probably a multitude of other micro-movements in body that I'm not yet even aware of.

To that end, I agree with Todd Bradley that using the standard OC paddle techniques are incomplete when applied to SUP, because of the significantly further distance of the lower hand from the water and that you're standing not sitting. OC is a great base of understanding though, especially due to the amount of research that has been put into paddling stroke mechanics, but IMO, definitely incomplete for SUP.  One thing about TB is that he comes from an extremely successful OC career, so when he is explaining his stuff (and I don't think he is very good at explanation, at least in the vids I've seen) his references and base is the standard OC technique (which in reality is rather elusive still depending on school of thought...)

But after all that, I believe that mileage is the real key. Everybody is different in terms of height, weight, body composition, flexibility, and natural style. As you put more time into this, your body increases it's efficiency in your natural way, using your particular strengths. Some will use more arms if a lot of natural strength comes from there, others will use more torso. I don't think we want to strive for every SUP athlete at the top of their game looking identical in terms of stroke style. So when I see clips of paddlers (like the natives from remote regions where paddling is part of life) looking different, I enjoy those differences. Last year I saw a vid of Nappy just killing the competition on a SUP race and he was hinging at the waist so dramatically it looked like all his power came from there, his head was practically level with his waist at end of stroke...and he was smoking fast.  I love that stuff. It means that while all this analysis is good, that nerdy analytics like me should just shut up and go paddling!! 'Cause it's the actual paddling that will make me fast (and not the sitting at PC wailing at keyboard with a mouth full of coffee!)

[beaglebuddy]

JC50, I agree with you completely, what works for one person may not work for another. For instance I am 6'5" tall and my orangatang arms probably allow me to do things different than a short armed person especially in regards to the lever effect.
People should be aware of the different subtleties available in a paddle stroke, I see people with both arms locked strait, hacking at the water and I have seen videos on the internet teaching this technique, if it works for you fine but I don't believe that is the right way to instruct someone else

[JC50]

The problem with pulling with the lower hand is that it's hard to engage anything more than just arm muscles, which are pretty wimpy compared to shoulders and legs. Twisting your body when punching down with the upper hand engages shoulders and core. Punching out can engage some shoulder muscles, but probably is most effective in lengthening the stroke in front of your feet by letting you get the paddle into the water further forward, The far forward reach lightens the nose of the board in the early stroke, which seems to help many boards accelerate. It also lets you extend the stroke, engaging different muscles as he stroke progresses, thus applying more WORK, which means higher speed.

One carryover from OC that still works for me in SUP is that drive forward on the reach with lower hand. I'm actually trying to twist lower-arm shoulder as far forward as possible, punching forward and stretching my lats as far as they can go, even to point of trying to overstretch the lats a little bit to get that blade in as far forward as possible (without hinging at waist). Once I slice in and plant the blade, the top of the stroke is almost like the lats are relaxing back to normal shorter length before actively flexing them. Analogous to stretching a rubber band then letting it shorten passively. Think I got this technique from an OC book written by Steve West (great instructive writer on OC). It seems to work for me and guarantees significant lat involvement. Pull from lower hand comes largely from rotation of shoulders. I try to envision my lower arm just as a cable attaching paddle to core, and I still pull a lot on that lower hand during power phase. I'm still working out how much effort to put into lower attachment (ie: twist) relative to top hand levering. Mileage, mileage, mileage. And it's mountain season around here so water time has suffered.   After all this analytical talk I can just imagine next time on water I'll start off all arms and elbows until I get back into the groove.

One caveat of all this though is that I'm talking stroke rates at around 60. Once I get towards 70 and above, well, I dunno what happens but it happens quick, forward, and short.

[chipmonk]

I think it great that we do have people on the internet who geek out on this as hard as they do.  We get to sit and watch different techniques broken down on video for us for free, to order to help us figure out what works for us. 

I got the itch to go back to the TB stroke after watching one of the more recent vids. Something clicked for me when he was talking about about trying to not "compress the hull" with your stroke. My stroke noticably would compress the nose, especially when I was starting to panic or crank hard.  I started to practice the top hand stroke and notice that it does seem to help with that. Less compression of the nose helps with glide,and also the stroke helps keep my body weight balanced on the board. This is because I'm reaching out without my body weight going as far forward, like it would when I reached forward with a straight top hand, trying to stack the hands on top of each toher (hope this makes sense...)

Anyway, the only other thing I wanted to mention is that I kept noticing how short Todd's paddle is in the videos.  He mentions at one point that you want to feel like the top hand punch is coming from your chin. I am not a fighter but have the sense that punches are thrown similarly. If you throw a punch from around your forehead, you aint getting much on it. So my point is, most people's paddles are gonna be way too long for that. So doing this stroke is gonna feel weird ! If the top hand is too high, it doesnt seem like you would be able to easily engage the back muscles.

I kept cutting my paddle down, a leap of faith.  My paddle is now only 2-3" over my height, and the top hand stroke feels good for me.  It did take a few sessions, but it does work for me personally. Its more about being balanced on the board than more power for me, although I feel plenty fast with it. 

Geekness + individuality = creative diversity

Geek on.

[mik911]

Quick newbie question: how far past your feet should you pull the paddle?  I've read not to paddle past your feet, but that seems like a really short stroke.  What's the word?
thanks

[chipmonk]

Yep, regardless of which of these styles you use, I think everybody will recommend you stop your stroke by your feet, as you wont be getting much power past that point. Yeah, its shorter than you woould expect...BUT, dont forget you're supposed to be starting as far forward as you can!