NSW
17 posts
Hi,
New to the sport and just did a one-on-one training session with Stu of Sup Explore, being a prize from entering the Cockatoo cup in Sydney.
He introduced me to the concept of Gears (Differing paddle styles to match the conditions.) I guess it's not a new concept and I heard Danny Ching talking about it on You-Tube.
If anyone's willing to share, how many "gears" do people have, say in a Flatwater race as opposed to a downwinder and briefly describe the paddle style/technique and when employed.
Cheers
VIC
627 posts
I'm pretty new to the sport too, but it's a matter of how many gears you can fit in your gearbox really. From what I can gather there's techniques for upwind, downwind, flatwater, choppy water, cross-chop, long powerful strokes, short sharp strokes and combinations of all those. Looking at recent video's of the flatwater championships in Adelaide, everyone's stroke is different in the same conditions. All I can suggest is watch carefully and ask heaps of people lots of questions and some things will start to resonate with you...
NSW
148 posts
Yep, Stu just mentioned to me a couiple of years ago that idea of different "gears" for different contexts. Opened my mind to different approaches for paddling in the surf. My blade technique & stance varies a lot in chop, cross wind, etc. It works.
20 posts
I think te size of the blade work like geares on bike you could have good cadance with less power and the power on our bady is bettr i like paddle thar isnarrow and long and the size is90 to 100 forbig man
NSW
55 posts
Last Saturday, Naish team rider, Toby Cracknell and the female assistant (apologies, I cannot recall the ladies name), held a paddle clinic at Lake Macquarie (Newcastle), sponsored by a couple of the local SUP retailers.
We covered paddle technique involving stroke correction, turns and racing starts.
For the 20 ? 25 people who attended, the 90 minute session was relaxed and very informative.
Basically the racing start involves quick short strokes, at a high cadence to get you moving prior to settling down to your natural stroke.
It is all about getting up to speed as quickly as possible by using a different stroke technique, choked down on the paddle, with the top hand 6"-8" under the top handle grip and concentrating on quick short sharp strokes.
Toby demonstrated all techniques. His balance on a 23 inch wide board is ridiculous, he walks around on it like it's a swim platform. He has tremendous speed across the water, which is more likely attributable to his a high cadence, relatively lightweight and power.
It was an amazing experience to witness just how fast a SUP can move across the water with the right engine.
