Answer: Hey fantastic job on the first place win!!!!

As far as commenting on your SUP technique you must be doing something right because you were 1) able to get through the race and training without injury and 2) you won the race. Be really careful with gurus (including us) who tell you that there is a perfect technique or only one way to do something. if you look at Connor Baxter and Danny Ching you will find that there is clearly two ways to skin the SUP cat.

To take that one step further, even if it was somehow determined that Danny or Connor had the ideal SUP form – that form may not work for you. Maybe you have a back injury or are not as flexible as they are so you cannot use their technique. You need to develop your technique in a way that works for you. Study the masters then adapt to your own situation.

Getting back to you…it is extremely difficult to comment on still images because we cannot evaluate things like your turnover rate, recovery, the angle of your paddle shaft as it enters the water etc. so take my comments (and anyone else who wants to comment on still images) with a grain of salt. We just started up our SUP stroke evaluation service so if you can get a video, we would be happy to help along those lines.

With all of that, one comment we can make based on our experience is that you might consider keeping your knees a bit straighter during the power phase of your stroke. You really only want a slight bend in your knees. Bending your knees too much while paddling is sort of like running on sand. When you run on sand, the sand cushions your impact and absorbs your “power” so you run slower. With paddling, when you bend your knees, rather than transferring your power to the paddle, you are letting the power get absorbed by your knees.

You might want to ditch the adjustable paddle. Although we do not know which paddle you are using, as a general comment, adjustable paddles are heavier than fixed length paddles. In most cases fixed length paddles are also stiffer than the adjustable paddles. Decreased weight and increased stiffness will help lead to better performance in the long run*.

Anyway, we really appreciate the email and hope I did not over interpret these images. Please send on a video if you get the chance. I think we will be able to do much better work if we have a video.

*Werner Paddles is a Riding Bumps sponsor. Please be sure to check out their paddles and support the companies that allow us to support you. Thanks.