The Basics Of Paddleboarding

Red Paddle founder John Hibbard demonstrates the basic skills needed for stand up paddleboarding.

“Before getting to your feet make sure you are in the center of the board with your knees either side of the carry handle,” says Hibbard. “To stand, place your hands on the board in front of you to support yourself while standing one foot at a time.”

Stance

“Both feet should be facing forwards, roughly shoulder-width apart. Your legs should be slightly bent and your back straight. Try to relax and stand tall.”

Basic paddle technique

“Holding the paddle with one hand on the T-Grip (top) and the other roughly a third of the way down the shaft, reach forwards and place the blade of the paddle into the water next to the rail (side) of the board. Draw the blade through the water, bringing it out at your feet. “

Basic turning technique

“To turn, drop your weight in preparation to resist the movement and push water towards the nose (front) on one side and towards the tail (back) on the other side. The further the paddle goes from the side of the board, the faster the board will turn.”

Advanced turning technique

“Paddling on the same side as your leash foot, move the other (non-leash) foot into the center, pointing it across the board. Step back with your leash foot to adopt a surf stance and drop your weight onto this foot. Take wide strokes from front to back to get the board to pivot.”

Tips To Become A Board Master

Stay relaxed

If you grip the board with your feet it makes it more unstable because you’ve got such a solid connection to the board so every slight movement will rock you, whereas if you stay relaxed your feet can move a little bit and your knees provide suspension.

Keep your head up

Where your head goes, your body will follow. If you look down, you will fall over. So try to keep your head up and look ahead, left or right but not down.

Written by Jon Lipsey for Coach and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.