Do you paddle with a purposeful, even and steady rhythm? Or do you swing your arms like a Mississippi paddleboat loaded to the gills on methamphetamines?
Or, do you paddle like a sinking ship, hands barely slapping the water while your board tombstones like the Titanic? Paddling is oftentimes overlooked in surfing, as most of us believe it’s what happens while you’re riding the wave that counts. This is light years from reality though. For every perfect barrel clip you see online, there is an inordinate amount of paddling behind the scenes. Sure those tubes look enticing, those airs look pristine; but the surfer in each well edited clip probably paddled his mielie off to find the one wave worth uploading.
“Surfer paddles towards waves” by thaths is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
Kelly Slater swears by paddling with one’s arms under the board, rather than parallel to either side of the rails which is the more intuitive technique for most of us. But this is the man who won 11 World Titles so Trident wouldn’t dream of arguing with his proposed method.
A bonus of paddling is it gives us the V-shaped shoulders and lats that makes surfers more attractive than anyone else in the universe. Unless of course, your face resembles a walrus’s ringpiece. No amount of paddling can change that, nor can any amount of gym – which is why you see muscle-bound guys the size of minibuses with faces like Sloth from the Goonies. We digress.
Some surfers paddle with their legs wide open, like someone preparing themselves for a tsunami enema. This is often how beginners paddle, and is a horrid technique as the legs akimbo position creates drag in the water and is about as effective as a speedboat made of concrete.
Paddling can be roughly divided into general paddling – and the art of paddling for a wave. Both are equally as important, and require a certain level of fitness. Effective wave paddling requires explosive power, as well as experience in approaching the wave from the most favourable angle. Late, gnarly takeoffs look the best – but can result in something like the above-mentioned tsunami enema if you blow it. Here’s a free tip from Trident – always paddle an extra stroke or two for extra speed as you take off.
“Surfer paddling in wild water – Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear” by Glen Bowman is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
As for general paddling, us surfers require about 10 minutes of paddling for every 10 seconds of actual waveriding. Jeez, that sounds like pretty kak odds to Trident but that’s the math apparently. So keep your fitness up folks – and ensure you can duck dive properly, but that’s a skill we’ll dedicate another to article.
Bottom line is folks – if your paddling technique is below par – don’t expect your surfing to be above par. In fact, to paraphrase a famous saying – you’ll be up a certain creek without a paddle if you can’t paddle.
