Finding your feet when you are learning to paddle board can be hard when you first start, but practice a few simple tips to improve your balance and you will soon be feeling more confident balancing on your paddle board.
"DO YOU NEED GOOD BALANCE TO PADDLE BOARD?"
...is on the questions that I am asked a lot as a SUP Coach. It helps to have good balance naturally of course, but if you don't, I always say that learning to paddle board could be just the thing you need to help improve your balance. If you know that balance is something you struggle with, this could be the best way to strengthen your core and challenge your body, but you have to be prepared to practice, practice, practice... (and get wet in the process!) Although SUP has its name from Stand Up Paddleboarding, I actively encourage you to get confident and balanced sitting on your bum or on your knees - however you are most comfortable.
WHAT to DO BEFORE GETting ON THE WATER
Practice coming up from your knees to standing on land, so the motion starts to feel like second nature.
Consider your board. For inflatable sups, make sure it is fully inflated to the recommended PSI to give yourself the most stable platform. Is the length and the width of your board going to give you the right level of challenge? Lower volume and narrower width boards will challenge your balance more.
Pick a day with the best conditions on the water for you - if you are learning, choose somewhere sheltered and flat, if you want to improve your balance in waves, pick a day with some slow rolling waves or a bit of wind to challenge you.
TOP TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR BALANCE on a paddleboard
I team up with Red Paddle Co to share some of my favourite tips to help you feel more balanced whilst out on the water...
Make sure you are standing or kneeling in the middle of your paddle board (often where the centre handle is) and position your knees or feet directly underneath your hips, as you would stand on land.
LOOK AHEAD
If we look down, we can fall down! Whether you are standing or kneeling, it can be really tempting to look down at your board when you're concentrating. Instead, try and look ahead, and fix your eyes on something ahead of you that is not moving, or keep your gaze about 5m in front of nose of the board.
KEEP YOUR KNEES SOFT
When you feel unstable and not relaxed, your body can stiffen and tense up which doesn't help keep your balance. A bit like the motion of skiing, if you are standing up on your paddle board, you want your legs feeling soft underneath you, so you can absorb the bumps of the water (like you would with snow).
Try not lock your legs out and actively bend your knees a little as you start if you are struggling to keep them relaxed. If you get the leg shakes, it's totally normal when you first start. Try and ignore them and I promise they will ease off a little more each time you paddle.
ROCK YOUR PADDLE BOARD
Often it's the little wobbles of the board that catch us off guard and make us think we are going to fall. Starting on your knees and building up to doing this standing up, actively rock your board from side to side as much as you feel comfortable to. This time, it's moving underneath you but you are in control. This can help us realise the boundaries of our paddle board, and actually if its moving, it doesn't mean we are going to fall.
KEEP PADDLING!
When we feel unstable, it's often our natural reaction to lift our hands in the air and straighten up, bringing your paddle out of the water. Fight this urge! Try and keep low with your body and keep your paddle moving through the water. A bit like a bike, when you stop cycling you are less stable than when you keep pedalling. So keep paddling and the rhythm, speed and movement will help to stabilise you. If you want to really challenge your balance, try closing your eyes or lifting a leg as you continue to paddle - it's suddenly got a whole lot harder!
I hope that these tips help improve your balance on your paddle board. If you are still struggling, get in touch and I can share a few other pointers that might help you. Like anything though, you need to practice, practice, practice and the more you do, the more comfortable and balanced you will feel.
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