Struggling to catch waves?
The softer and earlier we try to catch a wave the faster we need to be moving. Runway paddles help us set up a coasting speed but if the wave is soft we need to add extra strength and speed to our paddles. We call this turbo paddling.
By dropping our chest and head lower on the surfboard we can help tip the attitude of the nose of the board and increase our speed and chance of catching a wave. We can additionally lift our heels to our bum to add even more weight to the front of the board and increase speed.
It's important that before we start shifting our weight forward in the manner that we are laying on our surfboard in the correct balanced position on the pivot point.
Below we break down each step.
1 - Ensure you are in a balanced paddle position. Weight centered over the pivot point. - Lifting the chest will raise the nose and lowering the chest will lower the nose. Look over your shoulder to check wave steepness and that you have priority.
2 - Drop the chest and chin to the board, and optionally lift your heels to your bum. This will put the board into a nose-down attitude.
3 - Over exaggerate elbow high recovery during paddle strokes to maintain good technique and vertical entry. Since our chest is low we need to ensure we aren't dragging our hands whilst paddling.
4 - Be ready for extra paddle strokes and don't give up on the wave. Keep turbo paddling until you either catch the wave or drop off the back.
5 - Head up, pop up.
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