Further to our general Paddle Technique Tips, here are the top tips from various Pros.
Peter Bartl (AUT)
Winner 2013 SUP Eleven City Tour
- Train your basic endurance and start with medium length races 5-10km
- Learn to draft, practice drafting
- Nutrition & hydration is key
- Use a weed fin in areas where there is sea grass
- Choose the right Paddle Length
- the more you use use upper body, the shorter the paddle
- the higher your frequency, the shorter the paddle
- choppy waters: longer paddle
- Peter’s Paddle Length:
- Short distance < 3 km (7 cm over head 180 cm
- Mitteldistanz < 10 km ( 13 cm over head) 186 cm
- Long distance (15 bis 16 cm over head) 189 cm
Antony Vela (US) – (courtesy of supthemag)
life saver, prone paddler and surfer
- Practice with Hydration Pack
- so that you don’t loose time fiddling around with it during race
- Include Drills like
- Race Start (e.g. sitting on board like World Series)
- Turns (around buoys)
- Switching stance (from parallel to Race Stance)
- Focus on training your weak side
Chase Kosterlitz (US)
study his stroke in slow motion
Danny Ching (US) – “Fastest Paddler on Earth”:
watch his Lost Mills Fastest Paddler on Earth run (15 km/h average speed!) and hear is tips here
Annabel Anderson (NZ) – Fastest Female Paddler in the World
This video is aimed at beginners, but is shows you the perfect basic stroke
Nutrition Tips for Long Distance Races:
- Hydrate
- Electrolytes
- Start eating early (don’t wait till you are hungry or thirsty)
- Have a caffeine strategy
- Take about 250cals per hour
- Have 1000 calories 2 hours before race
- Practice Nutrition on longer training paddles
- Pre-Pack everything in Zip-Locks
Check out these tips in full at Riding Bumps