We had 8 participants and two coaches: Dennis Pang and myself.
If a picture says a thousand words, video says even more and seeing yourself paddle is very helpful, so I focused on getting everyone's stroke on video both from land and from a wide angle camera mounted on the front of the board. The video is intended mostly for the 8 participants to understand their stroke better and find small things they can work on. I think anyone trying to make their stroke more efficient, fast, and powerful can benefit from watching this.
Refining your stroke is not something that happens overnight, you need to put in the time and practice and the more you do it, the more efficient your stroke will become.
There is no right or wrong way to paddle but one thing that all good paddlers seem to have in common is good reach and catch.
Thanks to all the participants, I hope you had a good time and enjoy the video, please leave a comment!
Video stroke analysis at the Blue Planet SUP race workshop on Aug. 21st, 2011.
If you are confused by the terms used in the voiceover, please read the technique posts here- parts 2,3,4.
In retrospect, I should have added some video of a pro paddler with good technique.
In the photo below, Danny Ching shows excellent form during the power phase: shoulders stacked, paddle vertical, arms straight, transferring the power from the core and back directly to the paddle.
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| photo: Chris Silvester |
Blue Planet and Wet Feet now offer weekly race/ technique coaching followed by a time trial, every wednesday at 5 pm in Hawaii Kai. Click here for more information on the weekly coaching/ time trial.
Links to the paddle technique series posts:
Paddle Technique Part 0: Introduction to SUP
Paddle Technique Part 1: Choosing the Right Paddle
Paddle Technique Part 2: The Three Ingredients of a Powerful Stroke
Paddle Technique Part 3: Stacking the Shoulders
Paddle Technique Part 3: Stacking the Shoulders
Paddle Technique Part 4: Reach and Catch
Paddle Technique Part 5: Recovery, Paddle Length and Grip
