One of the biggest questions I get is, “what is the correct paddle stroke?” The biggest mistake I see, other than people holding the paddle backwards, is people paddling just with their arms. This is very inefficient. When paddling correctly, the blade pulling the board through the water, is coming from a shoulder rotation.
Imagine you are paddling on your right side;
1.Set up your feet, soften your knees, find your balance and engage your core.
2.Hold the paddle with both arms straight.
3.Rotate your left shoulder to the right and towards the center of the board, still keeping your arms straight.
4.Lean forward with the upper body and reach the paddle as far forward as you can on the right side of the board with out compromising your balance.
5.Push down with the top hand to enter the blade into the water while submerging the whole blade. (Another common mistake is only having half of the blade in the water.)
6.Continue the shoulder rotation and let your left hip follow, so that your whole torso is rotating.
7.Finish the stroke at your feet.
8.To exit the blade out of the water rotate your shoulder back to the left and the blade will feather out of the water.
9.You are making a backwards D. The straight line of the D is the blade in the water, keeping the blade as close to the board as you can. The arc of the D, the blade is feathering back out of the water to begin the stroke again.
Practice on land pretending you are on the board and holding the paddle. Practice on both sides. Use your core, it’s the “powerhouse”. Go out and have fun!
Imagine you are paddling on your right side;
1.Set up your feet, soften your knees, find your balance and engage your core.
2.Hold the paddle with both arms straight.
3.Rotate your left shoulder to the right and towards the center of the board, still keeping your arms straight.
4.Lean forward with the upper body and reach the paddle as far forward as you can on the right side of the board with out compromising your balance.
5.Push down with the top hand to enter the blade into the water while submerging the whole blade. (Another common mistake is only having half of the blade in the water.)
6.Continue the shoulder rotation and let your left hip follow, so that your whole torso is rotating.
7.Finish the stroke at your feet.
8.To exit the blade out of the water rotate your shoulder back to the left and the blade will feather out of the water.
9.You are making a backwards D. The straight line of the D is the blade in the water, keeping the blade as close to the board as you can. The arc of the D, the blade is feathering back out of the water to begin the stroke again.
Practice on land pretending you are on the board and holding the paddle. Practice on both sides. Use your core, it’s the “powerhouse”. Go out and have fun!
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