Hello,

a friend of mine, involved in the sup industry told me that relly good paddlers can paddle 100m on one side without changing the paddle and going nevertzeless straight. Even on waveboards. Could this be true, and has anybody an idea how this could be achieved? I need to learn this technique. I never paddel more than 3 strokes on one side.

Yes it is possible.

My hints:-
Its about technique not strength.
Make sure your paddle is the correct length.
The paddle goes up and down.
Correct stance is important.
Watch videos of the correct action, heaps available .
Get some good instruction or personal coaching.
Practice, practice, practice and practice some more.

ET.

I personally don't mind switching sides a lot because it keeps my hand action clean for when I need to switch the paddle quickly for cutbacks while on the wave. However, sometimes I will play with adjusting my stroke to be able to stay on one side, and these are the three tricks that work for me.
1. Really cross your top hand over the blade so that the paddle is at least vertical, if not leaning slightly away from you (opposite of how all beginners paddle).
2. Enter the blade really out wide from the nose, so that you are pulling the blade towards the side of the board, not parallel to it, as the blade moves back towards your feet.
3. This is the big trick; turn the blade slightly at the entry so that you are pulling water slightly toward the board instead of parallel to it.

The three of these all counter the natural row affect, and should be able to keep almost any board going straight, or even reverse curving towards the paddle side.
I find that it feels like more work for less efficiency, but it is a good trick to have sometimes like when you are stroking for a wave and cannot afford to curve off your current course.
Give these a try.

I can paddle a mile or more on one side if I want to, and I'm not a particularly good paddler. It's pretty easy once you get the basics right, and know your board's handling well. Even being able to paddle just a few more strokes each side will make a big difference to your average speed.

Lots of this on the net.....

Swapping sides probably reduces overuse injuries. However reducing swaps is good for maintaining rhythm

What do you guys make of the second part of the video (re angle of paddle) ?



First part of video is a bit much

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obijohn said..
I personally don't mind switching sides a lot because it keeps my hand action clean for when I need to switch the paddle quickly for cutbacks while on the wave. However, sometimes I will play with adjusting my stroke to be able to stay on one side, and these are the three tricks that work for me.
1. Really cross your top hand over the blade so that the paddle is at least vertical, if not leaning slightly away from you (opposite of how all beginners paddle).
2. Enter the blade really out wide from the nose, so that you are pulling the blade towards the side of the board, not parallel to it, as the blade moves back towards your feet.
3. This is the big trick; turn the blade slightly at the entry so that you are pulling water slightly toward the board instead of parallel to it.

The three of these all counter the natural row affect, and should be able to keep almost any board going straight, or even reverse curving towards the paddle side.
I find that it feels like more work for less efficiency, but it is a good trick to have sometimes like when you are stroking for a wave and cannot afford to curve off your current course.
Give these a try.

This is right on the money.
The blue planet video is spot on with good tips also.
This Larry Cain tips has some useful tips too. (larrycain.blogspot.com/2012/09/steering-without-changing-sides.html).

Next time you got for a paddle I would try those tips progressively:
- Paddle shaft straight
- Blade angle (angle the front of the blade way you want the nose to go)
- Combination catch phase of stroke away from nose and pull nose to blade as well as top hand more over past vertical
- weighting opposite foot of where you want to go (nose steering) and or try opposite foot to paddle side slightly forward of other foot (I use this is cross-winds).

Practice Practice :) good luck

FYI - I would try avoid watching the above video. The start of the above video is terrible and no one uses a cross forward stroke or whatever they call it! The video gets a bit too technical for beginners in the second part but similar advanced strokes with a similar effect.

Thank you very much. This was what I was looking for.

One way to improve your ability to paddle straight on one side is to only let yourself paddle on one side. Just say to yourself, "right, I'm gonna only paddle on my left for 100 metres". Then follow the advice above. It's hard at first. But in no time at all you'll be able to go as far as you like without changing hands. In normal training, I tend to not let myself change hands until I've done at least 13 strokes on one side. Dunno why it is 13, but it just seems to work for me. If it's flat and no wind though it can often be 20 or 30 strokes each side even when I'm not thinking about it. As Larry Cain says, changing sides should be a choice not a necessity.

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Area10 said..
One way to improve your ability to paddle straight on one side is to only let yourself paddle on one side. Just say to yourself, "right, I'm gonna only paddle on my left for 100 metres". Then follow the advice above. It's hard at first. But in no time at all you'll be able to go as far as you like without changing hands. In normal training, I tend to not let myself change hands until I've done at least 13 strokes on one side. Dunno why it is 13, but it just seems to work for me. If it's flat and no wind though it can often be 20 or 30 strokes each side even when I'm not thinking about it. As Larry Cain says, changing sides should be a choice not a necessity.

Don't claim to have any great paddle technique, or know anything about it, but I just try to keep it as vertical as possible.
I often run a video camera on the back of the board, and am disappointed to find what I think is a near vertical quick cadence paddle looks like a near sideways slow row. Side to side my magic number is 12, no idea why.
But I also find boards randomly steer one way or the other for no obvious reason.
This morning was all paddle on the right for the first 20 minutes, in no wind, but on a ruddered board, convinced the rudder was off centre. Pulled in to the beach, looked at it, did nothing, continued, it was balanced for the next hour and a half. I have had this on non ruddered boards too.
But 12 one side, 12 the other. I like to swap to even out pain from elbows, shoulders, tendonitis etc.