Youtube and social media is full of SUP experts telling you how to paddle – and pretty much invariably they are saying paddle like me. Which is fine if you are the same height, weight, shape, strength and suppleness as that person, and want to paddle the equipment and speeds that they do. But otherwise it’s quite probably not appropriate to what’s best for your own paddling.
The fact is that there is NO ONE RIGHT WAY to paddle! There are all sorts of different strokes that can be utilised, and finding the right one for your physique and goals is what we do best. We start with no preconceptions, we’ll never tell you what is right for you, we will help you find it for yourself. This is a fundamentally different approach than that usually employed by SUP coaches. But we’re not preachers, we’re teachers. We’ve been doing it a long time, and we’re constantly working in improving our coaching skills and methodology. Every time we coach someone new, we learn from it, and we adapt and evolve. SUP coaching is actually extraordinarily complex, simply because there are so many ways to do it.
We’re also pretty good at helping people adapt their stroke to deal with pain and discomfort.
The great thing about modern technology is that coaching can now be done from afar. If you can send us video footage, we can coach you, wherever you may be on the planet. Video coaching is a fundamental tool in our coaching – it’s the ONLY way to understand and improve.
How it Works
Our fees are very modest, we’re not doing this to make our fortune, we just want to help people get more out of the activity that we love. We charge by the hour, at US$50 per hour, and it may literally only take an hour to transform your paddling. The initial phase of our coaching relationship is online – we ask you to fill out a questionnaire so we know exactly what you are wanting to achieve, and we give you some videos to watch to explain some fundamentals. And then you send us a vid (we tell you exactly what you need to show), and we analyse it and give you some work ons. In some cases, that’s literally all it needs. An hour that will revolutionise your paddling. Or it may take a few sessions as we help you develop and explore your own stroke and find out what works best for you. We don’t believe in monthly fees or any on-going commitments like that. The pace is entirely set by you.
So, whether you’re aiming to be the next world champion or you simply want to paddle pain free, get in touch, we’ll be happy to help!
The video below shows some coaching work with a competent paddler who wanted to refine their stroke further. It’s just a small segment of a full coaching programme, there were plenty of other work-ons too, but it gives an idea as to the sort of insight and analysis you can gain from working with experienced coaches.
