Foundational stand up paddle training, racing and technique articles and information.
The key to any successful paddle training program (and most things in life!) is setting goals. Once you have assessed your physical fitness and paddling speed, you need to set goals for your paddle training and racing. Setting goals is one of the first things we do with members working with Paddle Society coach's to create a customized
In order to achieve maximum paddling performance, it's important that you understand what goes into forming SUP and outrigger paddling training plans. You must take into account your experience, goals, lifestyle and events you are competing in. The objective of this training article, and all of our training content, is to give you a foundation of training knowledge. This way you
A good portion of the specific preparation phase and the Paddle Society customized training programs involve interval paddle training and Fartlek paddle training. These kinds of SUP and outrigger paddle training workouts are built on alternating short, high intensity bursts of speed with slower, recovery phases in a single session. Interval Paddle Training Interval training for stand
Training at the appropriate intensity is a key element to improving your performance and staying injury free. Harder is not always better. A majority of workouts should be performed at an easy to medium intensity with short intervals of high intensity. Use the information in this article to help gauge your intensity during your training sessions.
Sport specific paddle training is important and highly efficient, however, endurance cross training for paddlers off of the water can also be a valuable paddle training tool. Paddle Society coaches will often write these kinds of workouts into member's customized training plans depending on their goals, athletic background, time constraints and ability to paddle through the winter.
The essential elements of fitness that help create a well-rounded paddler include cardiovascular endurance, strength, power, speed, balance and mobility. Before learning how to optimize these elements to paddle faster, we must understand the energy systems that help them function. Without properly training the energy systems, improvement on the water cannot be maximized and you
Rest is the most under-rated training tool at your disposal. Rest during paddle training and racing is critical for peak performance, yet it is often used improperly. A common approach from endurance athletes is to think, “more is better.” For example, "If paddling four miles is good for me, seven will be better!" Not exactly.
Learning how to paddle straight is probably the biggest hurdle for beginner paddlers. Employing a technique known as the J-stroke will help you learn how to stand up paddle in a straight line and become an all-around better paddler. The J-stroke paddling technique is important whether you are a beginner or an elite pro. Paddling in
If you perfect your stand up paddle technique and find your optimal paddling stroke, but using poor body positioning, your technique will suffer through a loss of power, balance and efficiency. Stand up paddle body positioning is an area of technique that often gets overlooked, but is extremely important. As in almost any athletic endeavour,
Before you get on the water for any kind of stand up paddle training, we need to talk about your performance foundation, stand up paddle stroke technique. There is no point in training hard throughout your SUP season if you are using improper stand up paddle technique and creating bad habits. Not only will you
