3 Ways to Paddle Faster | Paddle Boarding Tips from SupBoardGuide.com

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Paddling faster isn’t just for racers; every paddler benefits from being able to step it up a bit when they need to. So is it something you need to learn how to do, or is it something that you just do? It seems kind of intuitive - you just, well, paddle faster, right? But what does that look like in practice? For most people, trying to ‘paddle faster’ actually tends to end up as ‘paddling a whole lot more inefficiently, with a bunch of splashing and loads of effort’, with only a very slight change in speed achieved. Or it manifests as a crazy high-tempo paddling style with a huge number of inefficient short little strokes per minute, which very quickly has your heart-rate at red-lining levels, and is utterly unsustainable for anything other than short bursts.
So how do you go faster, in a sustainable, efficient fashion? In this video, we’ll go through the various factors one by one and help you understand what’s going on, so that you can go out and experiment for yourself on what works best for you. Because that’s the first important point right there, and one we’re constantly banging on about - there is no one right way to paddle. The best approach for you to go faster may be totally different to the best approach for your mate.
There are essentially three things you can do to paddle faster:
1 - Improve your efficiency - so for the same amount of effort you’re actually achieving more speed
2 - Do more strokes per minute
3 - Get more power out of each existing stroke
Or indeed, any combination of these three; they’re not mutually exclusive. However, to properly understand each factor and how to apply it, it really helps to consider them in isolation.

[@didierplouhinec4899]

Very clear explanations . Thank you ,I will share this video with friends. You could have said many paddlers use too long paddles and too wide blades which make difficult to keep a high frequency. I began with 567 cm2, then 534 cm2 now happy with a 494 cm2 and faster strokes.

[@yes2cookies651]

Lurking on your videos to learn how to downwind sup foil. Really helpful info for us wing foilers learning how to paddle. Thank You.

[@adylp7818]

This is absolutely superb! Thanks for sharing your in-depth knowledge 👍

[@fromtherubble6890]

I'm loving the 2-sided SUP paddle... Could we see a video on proper use of the 2-sided paddle?

[@Mark--Todd]

Another well explained video, filled with quality content.

[@wildgoatmtb5361]

Brilliant as usual. Thanks

[@ringo70]

I have the same board as you're using, the Generation iSup and I love it. The best inflatable I've ever had. I use this one for touring and my All Star Carbon Sandwich for racing.

[@martyleroy5307]

Nice Bill.....look forward to coffee catch up next week🤙

[@scotts1409]

Key insight from this for me was the idea of NOT paddling metronomic. Seems so obvious now.

[@serginevski9566]

Thank you

[@doctor19741]

That’s very useful, thanks. I’ve been out on water here in Ireland as much as possible but the summer has been poor, unfortunately. I was traversing our bay locally tonight while trying to beat the fading light to get back to my entry point! Naturally, I was increasing the power, more tik than tok and trying to focus on my technique while battling the incoming tide ‘rollers’ and fortunately, a mild cross wind! I wondered about the position of the head, eyes also despite the underfoot changes… how much emphasis do you put in this aspect of the stroke? Thanks

[@billdawes123]

Ok that's a really good question, and (as always!), complex to answer. There are many who stipulate that the head should always be up, as it's more stabilisiing and it opens the chest up more. However, it's almost invariably super fit young paddling athletes saying that. Forcing the head up while you're bending forward isn't the greatest thing for your posture and creates a lot of neck tension. It's well understood that a 'neutral spine' position is the best for engaging your core, which (I think) in paddleboarding terms translates to keeping a fairly long neck, keeping the head in line with the body. This makes sense to me and is a comfortable way to paddle. It also amplifies the 'hammer effect' from your body weight onto the paddle. (I know my head position is all over the place in this vid so don't pay too much attention to that; I'm too distracted by ensuring that my paddle is definitely doing what I need it to do to illustrate the point being made in that particular section!). Hope this helps a bit?

[@aspirin28]

Mislim da vozim najbrze sup dasku na Jadranu,ko sumlja neka dodje u Risan na takmicenje

[@milosgrujic9118]

Ne sumljamo.

[@carlphil450]

If you want to be efficient and powerful, you have to coil and uncoil the upper body.

[@MyW1feNowDAVE]

I find it gets harder with each stroke