Top Tips from Haywood Sports
What is the Top Tips Series?
This series is a collection of short videos packed with tips to help paddlers of all abilities progress and learn. Covering two primary areas of safety and skills, these bi-weekly videos focus on a specific element and give you some useful tips and knowledge to either refresh your memory or take away as a new skill.
How did the series come about?
As an experienced paddler, it’s easy to take for granted the knowledge you have built up over the years. With the increasing popularity of SUP and the uptake of Social Media conversation in groups, I noticed a common theme of new paddlers asking similar questions to myself when I was a beginner, so this got me thinking about what knowledge I have gained over the years.
Similarly, I also started thinking about your progression beyond being a beginner and how skills can be learnt or adapted to different environments or disciplines as you take on new challenges. As a progressive paddler, we often stop seeking information and go at it alone, bypassing further learning or mastering of skills.
Putting the two together, I felt it was a good time to start giving back some of this experience and knowledge I have gained. so new and experienced paddlers alike, can take something from the series and keep their SUP enthusiasm up by taking on new challenges and pushing their skills.
Top Tips so far
To date, we have 6 videos focusing on specific skills, environmental knowledge or tips just to make your paddling life easier. Here is a breakdown of each video.
Changing paddle sides
Changing paddle sides is probably the most overlooked part of paddle technique. Beyond an initial beginner lesson, it's very unlikely we will go out and purposely practice this skill, but having a smooth change over is vitally important for many reasons.
Firstly, by simply being more efficient with your changeovers, you will physically move your arms less and therefore reduce the amount of lifting done each time, saving you energy.
Secondly, a smooth paddle change keeps your stroke rate in time. This means you can maintain the board's glide without missing a stroke making you more efficient again saving you energy.
Finally, through practice the stoke before and after your changer over can become very similar to your normal strokes, delivering similar levels of power and efficiency resulting in higher average speeds.
Here is the Top Tips episode with some drills for improving your paddle changeovers.
2. Spotting off-shore winds
Off-shore winds are one of, if not the biggest dangers to stand up paddlers at the coast or on large bodies of water. This surprisingly isn't just limited to strong winds either, as even a relatively gentle breeze has a tremendous effect against a person standing on a board.
The danger actually comes from the false sense of security off-shore winds can give you, as the signs of the wind strength and direction are not always clear from the shore-line. They can lead you to believe it's a nice calm day as close to shore the water will be flat, and even 50m out there may be very little evidence of any wind and waves. However, by the time you have paddled this far away from the shore, you could be picking up more speed than you realise with the wind at you back.
By 200m to 400m out small ripples can grow to be a couple of feet in size. The wind speed may also be increasing due to the local land shape such as hills, cliffs or even tall buildings. Stronger winds generate bigger waves and are harder to paddle against.
The next video in the series gives you some tips to spot off-shore winds before you get on the water. Don't forget to check the forecasts and weather apps and if in doubt don't go out.
3. Managing coastline currents
Currents along the coastline are not so obvious to spot compared to a strong flowing river or a particular wind direction for example. Often during the cycle of the tides, you have currents flowing not only in and out, but also across the shore or even in circular patterns.
This can mean we end up somewhere we didn't intend to when going out for a paddle, simply by the water pushing us along. So when planning your paddle and just before you get on the water, it's always worth checking a few clues to see if there is a current to take into consideration.
The easiest way to spot a current is watching the water flow around buoys. This will not only give you a sense of direction but also the speed in which a current is flowing. The same indications can be seen around stationary objects and even moored boats as well.
Adjust your course so you paddle into the current first so you can gauge the effect it will have on you. When returning back to shore, turn into the current not down with it as well to ensure you end up where you started.
4. Leash Tips for turning and surfing
It's always worth experimenting with your kit choice and set up to find the best solution for your given paddle. A great example is how we wear our leash when doing step back turns, especially in racing or flat water with coiled leashes.
Using a different type of leash cuff or how you wear it can make a big difference in your confidence when going into a turn when it really matters. By purposely going out a practising with your kit set up you may just find a solution that works better for you.
If you ask a board repair shop what's the most common damage they see on beginner surfboards, its a fair bet to say it comes from the leash string. Having a leash string which is too long and wraps over the back of your board can cause serious amounts of damage.
This happens when the board gets caught in a wave and the leash wraps over the back of the board, pulling the string tight and through the boards tail. Simply using a shorter leash string means the leashes rail saver can do its job and spread the load, avoiding any damage during wipeouts.
5. Turn better & with more control
Improving your turns can feel like a very hard task as even the smallest chop on the water can really unsettle a boards stability. So going out and experimenting with your feet positioning and paddle placement is key to finding a style that works for you.
One thing we can use to our advantage is our board's size. SUP's by their design are big boards so when used correctly offer us lots of volume and stability. When practising stepping back, its best to avoid standing directly down the centre of the board as this puts your weight on either one side of the board or the other.
This means when the board gets unsettled you will find it harder to balance the board and adjust the pressure to compensate. Instead, split your stance so you can balance the board through your heel and toe pressure. This stance also works wonders when paddling out through waves and with practice becomes a natural position to go into.
Your paddle isn't just for paddling forwards, so try using it as an outrigger or placing it out to the side instead of close to the board when turning which can help offset any instability in choppy conditions. The best way to find what works for you is to experiment with different techniques so it becomes second nature. This gives you the best chance of staying dry when you are paddling no matter what the conditions. Here is the video on how to turn better and with more control.
6. Paddling out through waves
Getting in the waves on a paddleboard is not only extremely fun but also a great way to learn how to surf. On a SUP board, you can catch smaller waves, earlier, which means you can start progressing into turning and riding clean waves sooner. However, as the waves get bigger paddling out becomes harder and we have to use different skills to paddle out without falling off our board.
Timing is key to getting out past the breaking waves and with practice, you can get past bigger waves than you might think. Instead of letting the wave hit your board and knock you backwards, you should take a paddle stroke just before this happens. This way you can pull yourself over the wave and be ready to paddle after you have climbed over the other side.
Using a split stance will also help you paddle out through bigger waves as this increases your stability as the board is rocked side to side. It's important not to stand with both feet directly down the centre of the board however as you will find it hard to control the board as you paddle over waves.
Using your front foot you can push the board back down once you are climbing up the wave. It also helps to have your front foot placed slightly forwards of your normal standing position as this helps you balance the board. The back foot can be used to help lift the board's nose and climb bigger steeper waves.
Once beyond the breaking waves you can stay in your normal paddling stance and use your knees to help absorb the waves passing under you. Simply bend your knees just as you paddle over a wave to allow the board to come up towards you, using your paddle as a brace to help increase your stability.
How to follow the series
Every two weeks we will be uploading a new Top Tips episode to our social media channels. Simply follow us for posts on the latest video and check out our series collections on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV. If you want to get direct updates on the series then you can follow our dedicated hashtag #haywoodsportstoptips
What else does Haywood Sports do?
We cover everything from coaching, events, training and a lifestyle clothing store. Our mission at Haywood Sports is to help you reach your goals and support you in your constant progression, embodied by our hashtag #nextstopresults
In 2021 we will be running our UK Virtual TT series once again, kicking off in February. This is the perfect benchmark to track your progression through our regular, same distance events run in partnership with Paddle Logger. Supporting this is our weekly free training session so you maximise your time on the water and achieve results.
This year we are also building on our coaching offering, taking advantage of our coastline base in Kent. Keep an eye out for more details as we go through the year.
Finally, if you have a question about SUP just get in touch, we are here to help and offer our advice and guidance no matter what it is.