Pros and cons of different techniques

[Pureadrenalin]

I have watched so many videos regarding techinique and always they seem to all differ. Especially these two I realy like Todd Bradley's and Jim Terrell's. What would you prefer and why?

[diesel]

Sorry nobody replied to you.  I like Todd Bradleys style because it is more like a canoe stroke which is what I am familiar with.  Even with Todd's stroke, he doesn't do it exactly like he explains it.  There are a lot of variables in a SUP stroke and everybody is a little different.  The sport is so new so nobody has totally figured it out like with canoe and surfski.  I am still working mine out as well.  I feel there is no right way for everyone and you have to watch them all and figure out for yourself what works.

[Pureadrenalin]

I come to realize it is trial and error and helpful tips as such videos is very helpful. I really like Todds explanation of technique and it does take less energy from your overall body. I guess from less body movement. My main problem is trying to paddle on my strong side more often with trying to get less of a yaw. I also tried a larger fin and moved it forward but the yawing problem is less but it does'nt go away completely.

[chipmonk]

I have looked at both videos too, and I agree with you that Todd's technique is a pretty efficient style although I find I have to really think about it. It seems to work well for me if I  I am starting from a dead stop and suddenly realize that I wish to be elsewhere.  I can quickly get a burst of speed up using the punch style cause you can get in lotta reps quickly, but  find that I like to use the Terrell style stroke for most of my paddling. The other thing I noticed for me is that I couldnt  do Todd Bradley's stroke until I cut my paddle down!  I dont think it works unless you have a pretty short paddle (2 - 4" over your height). Cause if you're paddle is any longer than that, then you cant easily clear the water on the front end of his stroke.

Nothing wrong with using styles at differnet times.  Someone here once mentioned that pro bike racers usually have a couple slightly different techniques they use to use slightly dif. muscle groups. This has been my experience with mountain biking. It is one of the advantages over trad surfing, that you can alter the stroke a bit....