SUP Tips: Accelerating Strokes to Catch Waves and Bumps with a Stand Up Paddle board

This video demonstrates how to accelerate quickly on a Stand Up Paddleboard by "starting in first gear". Quick, short, strokes create lift and smooth acceleration that will help you get the board on a plane to surf a wave or catch a bump in downwinders. When I first started Stand Up Paddling, I was struggling to catch waves. I was pulling on the paddle as hard as I could and figured the harder I pulled on the paddle and the more the shaft was bending, the more power I was applying and the faster the board would go. Despite pulling as hard as I could I was missing a lot of waves, I also kept breaking paddles. A big breakthrough for me came when Brian Keaulana gave me this tip after watching me try to catch a wave: "You are starting in third gear!" He explained that first gear is short, quick strokes, way up in front, just tapping the water, not long, hard pulls. That was a turning point for me, I learned how to use these quick accelerating strokes and it worked like a charm. Not only was I no longer breaking paddles but my board would accelerate with just a few quick strokes and I started catching more waves. This technique also works well in downwinders, whenever you need to accelerate to catch a bump. Even in flatwater races you can use them at the start, after turns, or to catch up to a draft. So I encourage you to watch the video, try this first gear acceleration stroke, and you will be a more well rounded paddler. Not all strokes are the same, learn to use different gears when paddling and switch them up as needed. We hope you enjoy our videos, please give us a thumbs up, check out the other SUP tip videos on our channel and subscribe for our latest videos posted weekly. For more information on our weekly training group mentioned in the video, please click on this link: http://zenwaterman.blogspot.com/2012/... Also check out our private coaching offerings here: http://blueplanetsurf.com/pages/lessons Thank you for watching, Aloha, Robert Stehlik