4 basic drills for stability.

[downriver]

4 basic drills for stability.

Bring your feet together.
Instead of having your feet at shoulder width, bring them in till there are only a couple of inches between your heels. 
Why?  This narrows your center balance point.  Side waves/chop will make the board pivot side to side under you at the center.   The paddle keeps the board under your center.  Think Hula dancing not sumo wrestling.

Sculling
With the top arm straight and the paddle vertical and the blade in the water, make the blade draw the same motion your hands do when treading water.  With this motion pull the hull towards the side the paddle is on.
Why.  This drill helps teach the basic brace.  It shows you where the helpful force of your paddle is at any angle.  It teaches you that a tilted paddle moving sidewise through the water is your friend, a friend you can lean on.
Why 2.  Sculling shows you right away that your paddle is no where near vertical, so bend more and push your upper arm a bit further over the edge of the board.

Back Sculling.  Same as sculling but tilt the paddle blade the other way so that the strokes push your hull away from the paddle side.
Why?  This helps you from falling to the off side as it teaches you how to grab and hold an "up brace" on your paddle side.   

Sheltered surf treadmill paddle-out.  To do this drill you need to find a sand bottom beach where the bottom inclines very slowly out to sea.  A place where the waves break a ways out and then diminish in size to less than a foot as they approach the shore.  A double point break often has a sand bottom like this between the 2 points.
Start in water just deep enough so your fins don't touch the bottom, point out and practice going over each wave.  Move slowly out, going over hundreds of waves till you are challenged and tired.   This drill works well when you need to keep an eye on kids who are learning to surf.  Kids + small mush + balance training = a good day on the beach.

Cheers Marty

[Bulky]

I like it, Marty.  Thanks.  I have noticed the value in keeping my feet close together.  My problem is I don't like to do any drills once I'm out on the water, but I try to work the Indo Board regularly.  Bringing feet close together is a very helpful drill and I do that one a lot.  Hula dancing vs Sumo is a good analogy.

30 min on the Indo Board has done me wonders.  Not allowed to sit down and watch TV until I've done that.

Another practice I really like is just moving feet constantly--to break the "cat claws" syndrome.  I did it a lot early on, but now notice when I get tired there's a reflex to maintain balance by just trying to plant my feet "harder" than move them to a better spot.  Tough one to break.

I also like the surf treadmill.  I knew I was really progressing when I got to where I could handle the oncoming whitewater.  Just curious as to where you find much of that in rural Colorado.

[NoSaltSuper]

All good ideas, thanks.

I like the sculling idea the best. It's taken me awhile to fight the instinct to balance with the paddle in the air, instead of the water. Surfing small choppy waves has reinforced this more than anything.

[stoneaxe]

Good tips Marty. Pulling the feet in doesn't work for me though. I need the broader stance for balance and have learned to roll the board over side waves and chop.

The paddle is always your friend and only works when in the water. I need the stability that a paddle gives more than most and learning to brace has been key.

The treadmill is my favorite workout. I love to play in the whitewash. Another variation is to fight the chop in a high on shore wind day. Fight the whitecaps and wind for 1/2 mile and then turn for a fun short downwinder...repeat until you can't.

[ADKSUPr]

Great exercises to try. 

I've been wondering how I can improve my balance since I don't have easy access to waves or chop.  Narrowing my stance in what little chop we get should help me deal with bigger chop.

We have a lake about an hour away that has a ton of boats that create disorganized chop and provides a good challenge.  We went there last Sunday to practice in the chop, but a few rain showers scared all the boaters away.  Go figure?

[downriver]

Bulky Paddler wrote:
"Just curious as to where you find much of that in rural Colorado. "
Here in Colorado I do the whitewater treadmill.  I paddle in place in the current at the bottom of the biggest rapid.  The water is low volume now but still pushes you around so you have to keep on your toes.  I practice walking and sweep-ups in the current.  Even though you are sloshing around the fins in the current give a lot of stability.

Plus I would never have the motivation paddle that hard on the flats.

Cheers Marty

[downriver]

stone ax wrote:
"Pulling the feet in doesn't work for me though. I need the broader stance for balance"

Hi Bob,  I have read many of your technique posts, thanks for all the info.
Here in Colorado it is fruit picking time.  We pick pears by spreading a tarp and shaking the tree.  Helmet optional.  You can fill a #40 box in about 3 minutes.  The trees are not to thick, so when I shake one the tree goes back and forth about 12 inches and my body goes back and forth only about 2 inches.

Now if I were to shake a stop sign post using the same vigor as used on the pear tree, then, since the post won't move, all the applied force would make my upper body and head move.   I naturally assume, and you might also, that my feet would stay planted, stuck to the ground.  All the movement would be up top.

If the stop sign was planted in 2 feet of water, and I was standing on a paddle board, then the board would go sideways through the water banging against the pole, out a foot or so then bang again.

I use this motion to keep the board under me.

They say to "pull your board past your paddle",  In this case you push pull your board to and away from the paddle.  If you can generate sideways movement on the board, then you can use this to keep the board under your center of balance.

For me it is better to have a single, or narrower point of balance (feet close) because I can counter rotate my body like skiing, a "C" shape. And I don't have my center switching from one side of the board to the other when I get pushed around.

Maybe like water skiing on one ski vs 2.

Cheers  Marty