Beginer's Guide To Surfing Step 2 - The Art Of Paddling
Rodney Lister
The art of paddling
By now you should have chosen a board that suited the outline of the first article, big and stable.
The smaller your board the harder it will be to paddle, you will need to balance it, as well as deal with the added resistance of the board sinking or sitting lower in the water.
Either way, you now need to get feel for your surfboard, big or small, before taking on the surf and swell.
Find a calm section of water, a beach with no swell or even a river, it is not necessary, but if you can get your position right on the board before going out and getting hit by the swells, you will get through the breakers more easily.
When you feel your comfortable to head out in the smaller swells. Walk your surfboard out to about knee to waist height. Then lie on the surfboard so your weight is central, keep your chest just above the middle, then when your ready, and the board feels stable, level out your surfboard by leaning forward and start paddling.
You don't want to lay to far back on your surfboard, because your nose will rise up blocking your vision, and the tail will drag slowing you down.
When you get to small swells and chop, raise your chest up off the surfboard so you don't get swamped, if the nose of the surfboard goes under the chop, you will come to a sudden stop, loosing all momentum.
You should be using deep strokes, and have your hands cupped to get the most speed out of your board. By creating more resistance with your paddling and using more energy on each stroke you will move much faster.
Your deep strokes may use more energy in the short term, but by getting out quicker, and dealing with less waves, you will end up using much less overall, and still have energy to catch a wave.
Alright then, once you got that down pat, the next step is getting through the larger or breaking waves, so read the next lesson to learn how to duckdive and roll.
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