5 Great paddling tips and some exercises!
These 5 great paddling tips will help you to build a foundation to spring from. Learning bit by bit, with everything being woven together at the end. Paddling tip 1 - Look for a channel to paddle out in. It will save you huge amounts of energy that are better spent paddling after great waves. White water paddling is extremely tiring and will lead to unnecessary fatigue. Paddle tip 2 — Practice. Practice. Practice. Find a safe, uncrowded place where you can practice paddling in and out. This will perfect your timing and save your energy in the long run. Paddling tip 3 — Avoid paddling through the line-up. This is highly important. You can consider the line-up to range from the point where people are taking off on the waves to where they finish the ride. Not heeding this advice will result in getting run over or ruining someone else’s wave. Even if you see others doing this, do not follow their lead. In order to build respect as both a beginner and a girl you must show respect. Paddle tip 4 — Sprint. This is the surf version of interval training. You want to paddle as fast as you can for about 20 meters or yards. Doing sprint style training will give you the paddling strength you need to catch waves. Paddling tip 5 — Paddling endurance. Like the tortoise, slow and steady may not be glamorous. But practicing for 200meter or yard stretches will build the endurance you need to get back out to the break after you catch waves. |
Paddling exercise techniques will develop the skills that you need to hone your surfing ability. Just like the “wax on, wax off” it may seem tedious at first, but it pays off. Here are a few paddling exercise tips: Exercise 1 — Practice turning your surfboard 180 degrees. The best way to do this is to sit closer to the tail of your board until the nose is at about a 45 degree angle. This basically gives you a pivot point to rotate on. Hold the rail with one hand and pull the board in that direction by paddling with the opposite hand. Work from both left and right sides while you are practicing. This will help you catch a lot more waves. Exercise 2 — This is a mimic of what you will be doing in the water when you are actively catching waves, hopefully very soon. Paddle 200m, stop and do your turning exercise and paddle full speed 20 m. This is exactly what you will be doing when you come back out and try to catch a new wave and will build both your timing and endurance. Important Safety tip!
As a safety tip when you are waiting for waves, always sit with your board pointing towards the waves and not parallel. This is extremely important. The force of the water hitting your board when it is parallel to a wave is amazing. It can knock you unconscious. For your safety, always point your board into a wave and do not begin a turn if you risk only half completing it and ending up parallel to a wave. |
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