Supboardguide.com coach Bill Dawes details the 10 most common beginner errors that he sees on the water…
If you teach yourself to paddleboard, you’re almost certainly going to pick up a few minor mistakes. Some aspects of the sport are just not intuitive, particularly when it comes to the actual action of paddling. Nearly everybody gets them wrong! So if you read through this article and check the accompanying video, and realize that you’re making some of the errors described here, then don’t worry – you’re in good company. We see these mistakes every time we go paddling, and indeed, we probably made them ourselves when we started out.
Many of these mistakes may not in themselves seem particularly serious. Indeed, you may well be thinking: Do they really matter? The thing is, they reduce efficiency. You’re doing more work for less reward, or in some cases the mistake means that you will never be able to paddle with any speed or power. Which can have quite profound safety implications. If you need to get back to the shore in a hurry, perhaps because the weather has changed or some other problem has arisen, then being able to paddle efficiently can make all the difference, particularly if you’re now needing to paddle into a strong headwind.
So if you’re new to the sport, then see if you recognize any of the mistakes that we describe here. Your paddling will instantly improve if you correct them.
Pre Launch Mistakes
A couple of the most common beginner errors occur before the board has even made it to the water. The first two are only applicable to inflatable boards, so if you’re riding a hard board you can skip straight ahead to #3.
1: Not closing the valve
It seems logical that to inflate the board, you want the valve open, right? So that the air can go in. It would indeed be logical, but it’s wrong. It’s vital that you ensure the valve is closed before you begin inflating the board. The valve doesn’t need to be put into the open position, because it’s actually spring-loaded, so when you switch on your electric pump or push down on the plunger of your hand pump, the air pressure is sufficient to push the valve open so that the air can get into your board. The valve then closes once the pump pressure stops.
The problem is that if you leave the valve open, then when you disconnect the hose from the board, the air is now free to rush out. This is something that every paddleboarder will experience at least once. (Even pro’s sometimes forget to close the valve – we’ve all been there!). You instantly know because things suddenly get very noisy. Get your thumb in there quick and push down on that central spigot in the valve to try and close it, so you don’t lose any more air. And then reconnect your pump and get the board back up to full pressure. Because even if it was only open and venting for a couple of seconds, you will have still lost several PSI of internal pressure!
What you absolutely mustn’t do is to try and seal the valve by putting the valve cap on. That is not how the valve is designed to work. Air will still leak out around the valve cap. The valve cap is simply there to keep water out of the valve cup. It is NOT intended to be an air seal.
2: Using your board under-inflated
This question comes up almost daily on the facebook and reddit SUP pages: My board already feels completely rigid, do I really need to keep pumping until 15psi? The answer is yes, you do.
While the board in the picture above is comically under-inflated, we do quite often see boards like this on the water. More commonly though, it’s not quite so obvious to the untrained eye – the clue is that the board is just flexing too much, and the rider’s feet are low to the water (or even in it). You do need to inflate that board to its full pressure, or it cannot work properly.
3: The paddle handle is not properly aligned.
We regularly encounter paddlers who have their paddle handle the wrong way around. Pretty much all SUP paddle handles are asymmetric, i.e. they have a natural front and back. Your handle should fit comfortably into the cup of your hand so that your fingers wrap over the top. If it’s the wrong way round, it won’t feel as comfortable.
Equally commonly, we see paddlers where the handle and blade are not actually in alignment at all. If the extension section of the handle doesn’t have an alignment groove (i.e. there is only one way that you can actually even put the top section of the paddle into the shaft), it is very easy for the paddle handle to become misaligned when you’re adjusting the height of the paddle. However, it can even happen on some paddles which have an alignment groove; sometimes the groove itself is not actually aligned correctly. You should be able to look down your paddle from the handle to the blade, and see that they’re in exact alignment. Anything less – even just a couple of degrees – is incredibly bad for your paddling.
If your paddle doesn’t align correctly, it may well be that the blade or handle has rotated within the shaft, or it may be a warranty issue with your paddle, which you should raise with the manufacturer or retailer you got it from.
On the Water
Ok, so you’ve got your board inflated to the full pressure, the valve is closed, your paddle is the right height and properly aligned. Now let’s get onto the water and look at some of the classic traps that beginner paddlers can fall in to.
4: Paddle the wrong way around
This is one of those non-intuitive ones; pretty much everyone who picks up a paddle for the first time instinctively assumes it works with the blade angled backwards. It just seems right. However, it isn’t. The blade needs to be angled forward. This is another one that comes up time and again in online discussions, because unfortunately there is still some incorrect advice kicking around out there. Trust us on this; it’s rake forward!
To be fair, it’s not always easy to tell which way the blade is raked on many paddles, particularly the more budget-oriented ones with plastic blades. In this case the clue to look for is the scoop, or ‘spoon’, on the blade.
This scoop needs to be facing backwards. Imagine that your paddle is a huge spoon scraping ice cream out of a huge tub. As with any spoon, you hold it with the scooped face facing in the direction you’re scooping, so that you get maximum ice cream. It would be weird to do anything else! So, think of your paddle as that ice cream scoop, and that will ensure that you have it facing the correct way around.
5: Standing in the wrong place on your board
This is an easy mistake to make, since there is no indication on your paddleboard as to where you should be standing. As a result, many beginners simply end up standing wherever it is that they actually happened to be when they stood up.
However, it is actually quite important to be standing at or close to the balance point of the board, which is generally where the carrying handle is. Boards are generally designed with this in mind.
If you’re standing too far back you will have the brakes on because you’ll be sinking the tail, and the nose will be high and catching the wind, as you can clearly see in the picture above.
Whereas if you stand too far forward, you’re pushing the nose down, which really puts on the brakes. It also lifts the tail up, reducing the impact of the fin, as you can clearly see above.
Stand one foot either side of the handle, and you’re going to be pretty much in the right place.
6: Incorrect stance
For beginner/intermediate paddling, there’s really only one stance to be using, and that’s the ‘square’ or ‘straight’ stance. One foot either side of the handle, equally distanced from the centerline, shoulder width or hip width apart (whichever is wider), in line and facing forward. Imagine that you’re standing on railway tracks; try and have your feet aligned with the centreline of the board.
Avoid having your feet splayed out, so the toes are out towards the side. We call this ‘duck stance’ in paddleboarding, and it greatly increases the chances of you falling off.
As your skills develop, you can experiment with staggered stances, where one foot is further back or forward than the other. But to start with, stick with the straight stance, and you’ll find it by far the most stable, natural and easy position to be in. Indeed, anything other than this is likely to cause you problems.
7: Head Position
This is another absolute textbook beginner error, and fortunately, one of the easiest of all to fix. Don’t look down when you’re paddling! For some reason, it’s a trap that we all fall into. Why, I really don’t know. People don’t stare at the steering wheel when they’re driving, or the handlebars on their bike when they’re riding. So why is it that everyone tends to stare fixedly at the front of their board when they’re paddling?
The problem is that it’s actually deeply destabilising. If you’re having balance/wobble issues then it’s really the worst thing you can do. Having your head up, looking ahead at the far horizon, allows your balance to work properly. Plus of course, you can fully enjoy the scenery, and pleasures of being on the water – and keep an eye out for any oncoming traffic. Whereas when you’re looking down, not only are you hindering those balance processes, you also tend to have straighter legs which also reduces your stability. So – keep your head up!
Paddling Issues
Proper paddling skills take a long time and effort to develop. So we’re certainly not going to be calling out inexperienced paddlers for having less-than-perfect technique here. If you want to learn how to paddle properly then check out our other videos and articles, in particular this vid, which will definitely set you on the right track. For now, we’re just going to concentrate on a couple of fundamental errors which really should be nipped in the bud as soon as possible, because they’re really not doing you any favours at all.
8: Lifting water
Another classic beginner error that can be spotted literally a mile off. If you’re lifting water at the back of your stroke, you’re committing a whole bunch of cardinal sins in terms of paddling technique, but most importantly, you’re really not doing your lower back any favors at all. Imagine going out into your garden with a shovel and trying to dig a hole behind you. That’s what’s going on here. If you didn’t have any back problems before you started, you soon will.
The reason that so many people do this is because it actually feels like you’re generating some good power; it feels grunty and like you’re really getting some oomph out of your stroke. But you’re not. You’re literally just flinging some ocean into the air. And signaling to all the other paddlers around you that you’re new to the game. And that you’ll soon be making an appointment with your chiropractor. Honestly, don’t do this. Check our other videos on paddle technique, and learn to put the paddle in much further forward, and put any pulling power on the paddle once it’s gone past your feet.
9: Not using all your paddle blade
Your paddle cannot work properly unless it’s fully submerged. If the blade is only half into the water, it creates about 25% of the power of a proper stroke, if that. It’s also far more splashy and noisy, and again signals that you’re really new to the game.
The honest truth is that you can’t push your paddle in too deeply. Don’t ever worry that you’re pushing it in too far. Watch the top pros in action as they race, and see how deeply they’re putting their paddle blade in. They’re doing that for a reason. Only when the paddle blade is fully immersed can it grip properly and provide maximum propulsion to your board.
You might think, yes but I’m not out there to win races, I just want a relaxing potter around on the lake, who cares if my paddle isn’t fully immersed? The problem will come if you get caught out by an increasing wind, or you need to paddle a bit quicker for whatever reason, maybe to paddle with others. You simply cannot get any grip to make headway into a strengthening wind if you aren’t paddling properly, and you’ll always be going at about a quarter of the pace of people who are paddling properly. It’s not because you’re on a slower board, it’s just because you’re ‘scraping’, rather than properly paddling.
A great way to train yourself to get this aspect of your paddling right is to put a ring of tape around the shaft of your paddle a few inches above the blade. Check that your paddle is going into the water at least up to the tape, if not beyond. If it isn’t, push that paddle in deeper!
Safety Equipment
We’ll finish with a discussion about safety equipment for beginner paddlers, which is actually a whole topic in itself, indeed we have several great videos all about your safety equipment on our youtube channel which we’d really recommend you check out.
10: Incorrect use of PFD and/or leash
It’s not uncommon to see paddlers cruising along, with their leash in the water behind them, splashing around in their wake. When we were filming the video for this segment, our cameraman did not actually believe that anyone would ever do this, but it literally only took about 5 minutes before somebody paddled past committing exactly this safety crime. Because really…??? This one does seem perverse. Wearing a leash is just common sense. It’s all too easy to lose your board if you fall off without one. Even the lightest of breezes can blow your board away faster than you can swim. However, there are some people who consider a leash to be an assault on their personal freedom. Fair enough, but in that case just take it off the board – paddling along with it flapping around behind, catching weed and slowing you down just makes no sense at all.
Incidentally, if you’re worried about the waist-leash vs ankle leash issue, and the risk of your leash getting caught on something – it’s only a consideration if you’re paddling on fast moving water, such as a river or a strong tidal current in a harbor mouth. If you’re paddling on a lake, as shown in our vid, open ocean or harbors not subject to strong currents, then any leash is fine. Your board almost certainly came supplied with a coiled or straight leash that attaches to your ankle, so please please please wear it. Leashes save lives.
As for buoyancy aids. This is always a tricky one. On a hot summer’s day, putting on a hot sweaty PFD may well feel like an unnecessary imposition. If you’re a strong swimmer, paddling in shallow water with lots of people around, you may well feel that you can get away without one (assuming that’s a permissible option; in many parts of the world it’s a legal requirement to wear one on a SUP). Essentially, it’s a judgment call. PFDs save lives. If something goes wrong, you’ll be glad you’re wearing it.
Don’t make the mistake though, of assuming that carrying your PFD on your board is the same as wearing it – it’s not. This is another classic beginner mistake! The most likely reason for needing your PFD is because you’ve lost your board – not much good if your PFD’s attached to it!. Or you’re in the water, incapacitated by a sudden injury or medical incident, and the chances of being able to get your PFD off your board and onto your body are low to zero. If you’re going to take a buoyancy aid, wear it. Anything else is essentially useless.
A quick note on beltpack PFDs. They’re great, and do away with all those issues of discomfort, chafe etc. However, they’re only for competent swimmers, and if you decide to get one of these for yourself, you really need to learn how to operate it before you end up needing it in an emergency. Practice at home opening it, donning it and inflating it orally (you don’t need to trigger the CO2 canister), so that in an emergency you’re entirely comfortable with using it, whether or not it inflates automatically when you pull the toggle. For this reason, we generally don’t recommend beltpacks for beginners. You’re best off having that extra comfort and security from knowing that your buoyancy is always there, automatically working for you every time you fall in.
In Summary
So there you have it. Have a think about whether any of these classic beginner mistakes might be relevant to you. If you’re already getting all these right then good for you! If not, you know what you need to work on for your next paddle session. We hope you found this article useful, and once again, please do check out the video because it’s so much easier to understand these mistakes when you can actually see them.
Bill Dawes has been coaching SUP at all levels for 15 years, during which time he has built up a vast amount of knowledge and experience in understanding how to teach the sport. Check out his other videos on our channel, which cover everything from beginner mistakes to advanced paddling technique. If you’d like to book an online coaching session with Bill contact him at www.supcoachonline.com
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