Sounds pretty simple, right?
Well, we know that is not always the case, so we have come up with our best tips to help you learn how to paddleboard. You have been through the minefield of choosing your board, and you've read our guide for new paddleboarders, now it's time to learn how to paddleboard for beginners. If you have wondered about what good paddleboarding technique look likes…stay tuned.
First question… what is paddleboarding?
Paddleboarding can be whatever you want it to be – floating on the water with a cup of tea, a yoga session on your board, a high cardio paddle, an endurance paddle, catching waves, navigating moving water or a fun social paddle with friends and family.
For those that aren’t as familiar with SUP (stand up paddleboarding), paddle boarding involves an inflatable or rigid board that you can sit on, kneel on or stand on. Originating from surfing in Hawaii, paddleboarding is in the collection of paddlesports – alongside canoeing and kayaking. You move your paddle board through the water using a paddle with a blade at one end. To get moving, you plant your paddle in the water and bring yourself and your board towards it.
1. Set your paddle height & make it right for you
Before you get on the water, check these three things are set up correctly for your paddle:
The paddle is facing the right way round If you imagine that the paddle blade is a spoon, you want the water rolling off the back of the spoon in the water, rather than scooping inside the spoon. When it is the right way round, the handle should feel comfortable in your hand with the finger grips to hold your hand in place.
The handle is straight Make sure the T-bar on your paddle is lined up with the paddle blade so the paddle enters the water straight, The paddle height on an adjustable paddle is held in place by a screw so it doesn’t slide down when you paddle. Use a screwdriver to tighten this if yours is slipping.
The paddle height is set to a hand’s length above your head Let’s set our paddle height right before we get on the water. The paddle height should be about a hand’s length above your head, or if you put your arm up straight by your ears, the top of the paddle comes to where a watch would sit on your arm, before your wrist. As we get more comfortable paddling and use our body more, we can make our paddle height a bit shorter too.
2. learn how to paddleboard on your knees first
When you get started on the water, avoid leaping straight up to your feet. Get comfortable on the board on your knees (or on your bum if it hurts your knees) for a good ten minutes first.
Here you can get practicing with your paddle strokes, feel familiar with how to brake and turn, and feel stable and comfortable on the board by rocking the paddleboard from side to side. Don’t forget when you paddle on your knees, your top hand should only be chest height so you don’t need to reach to the top of the paddle, just hold it where it feels comfortable.
2. Stretch your legs out
Since we have been kneeling, it’s great to stretch our legs out before we try standing up. Come onto all fours, and then stretch each leg out behind you in turn, keeping your toes on the board. This really helps us to loosen up our legs before we try and stand up.
3. DO these three things to help you stand up on your paddleboard
Fix your gaze on an object ahead It’s so tempting to look down at the board, but if we look down, we can fall down! To help us maintain balance, keep your eyes on a fixed object that is not moving ahead of you, and don’t avert your eyes. This frame of reference helps us keep our balance.
Place your feet under your hips We want to end up standing with one foot either side of the handle in the centre of the board, with our feet underneath our hips and knees, hip width apart. Avoid a wider stance than this, as the board will rock more when you transfer weight from one foot to the other. If you find that you are too far back on your board, crawl further forward on your knees first before you try standing up. You can practice standing up at home first, coming up from your knees to your feet slowly, holding a broom or stick on land. If this feels comfortable to do without holding on to anything, you are ready to try it on the water!
Keep your knees soft When we feel unstable or anxious, it is natural to tense up our bodies. This prevents us from absorbing movements and taking them in our stride, so we are more easily knocked off balance. As you stand up, try to relax your body, especially your legs and knees, so that we can absorb the bumps of water underneath us. This helps us to maintain balance once we are stood up.And don’t worry if you get the leg shakes, try and ignore then and they will ease off each time you paddle…we promise!
4. Get paddling as soon as possible
Wahoo, we are up standing – yay! So exciting 😊 When we ride a bicycle, the slower you pedal, the wobblier the bike is and the less stable it feels. Same on our SUP. As soon as start paddling, get into a rhythm and get a bit of speed up, the more stable we feel on our board. Why? Because of resistance on the paddle and the board gaining momentum as it glides. So, the quicker you start paddling, the more at home on the water you will feel.
5. Practice standing up on your paddleboard again and again
Once you are up, it can feel like we dare not move a muscle ever again. It is easy to feel glued here until we get off the water! We challenge you to practice coming back down slowly onto your knees (looking ahead, knees soft), stretching those legs out, and get then getting back up again on to your feet. Each time you stand up, the easier and more natural it will feel, and the less those legs will shake.
6. Relax your feet on your board
Numb feet or pins and needles in our feet is a common feeling when you first start paddling. When we are not feeling relaxed, our feet and our toes can become claws, desperately gripping for dear life onto the paddle board. Whilst paddling (as when we are moving and our paddle is in the water, we are more stable remember!), try and relax your feet, wiggle your toes one foot at a time, and take it in turns to stretch your feet out. If that feels okay, keep paddling and slowly lift one heel up and put it down and then the other, to stretch out our feet. It’s not as scary as it sounds!
7. Keep your paddle in the water
With every stroke you take, make sure the whole blade is fully submerged in the water, as this is what is powering you through the water and keeping you stable. Don’t bring it out of the water when you have a wobble, but just keep paddling and you will regain your balance and gain momentum.
Practice falling off and getting back on
Often our cause of tension is a fear of falling in and this fear can hold us back from feeling relaxed on the water. Take control and jump into the water – as once you are wet, falling off again doesn’t seem so scary, and trust us, you will feel more relaxed on the board. When you learn how to paddleboard, it’s also important to practice your self-rescues, to make sure you can get back on your board comfortably.
Smile and breathe - learning how to paddleboard is fun!
Don’t forget to breathe! If we are feeling tense, sometimes we hold our breath without realising. So take some deep breaths to calm our nervous system (breathe in for 3 seconds, hold for 3, breathe out for 3 seconds), and relax our body and our mind. If you are paddling with someone else, have a chat about something unrelated to paddling to keep your mind off what you are doing, and don’t forget to smile – it’s supposed to be fun remember!
Try and take the pressure off, as long as you are enjoying yourself – life is good 😊
We hope these tips have helped you get started with learning how to paddleboard! If you need some more help, or these tips are not quite working for you, then come and see us! Our SUP coaches are highly experienced with helping people learn how to paddleboard, with all fitness levels, backgrounds, injuries, and fears – we know that we can help you to get up and paddling confidently in no time.
Happy paddling!
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