Archive for April, 2010

Basic Surf Ski Skills: Sidesaddle Remounting

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Learn To Surf Ski

Regardless if you are just new to surf skis or if you have been paddling for some time, you need to be familiar with and be skilled at remounting. Especially if you’re a beginner and you find yourself spending more time falling over than actually paddling out, you’ll find that mastering surf ski skills like remounting can really make your life easier. Some intermediate paddlers even lack some basic remounting skills that they make up for late in their paddling game. So it’s best to know about remounting now—here’s the sidesaddle remount for you to look over.

The generally faster straddle remounting method may not work in extreme situations where the wind blows the ski sideways; making it virtually impossible for you to hold it’s nose towards the wind and waves. In such situations, the sidesaddle remount works best.

First, don’t fight the ski and let it drift sideways at right angles to the winds. Grab the foot strap and paddle with one hand and grip the far rail of the cockpit with your other hand. Pull yourself up from the water (as you can imagine, this may take a lot of upper body—especially arm—strength, so train your upper body rigorously). As you get up on the ski, immediately swivel your butt onto the cockpit and seat, so that your feet are hanging over the side. In that position, with the ski moving sideways to the wind and your feet dragging below the water, you’re completely stable. You can even just sit there and rest up if you like. Anyways, after that position you need to bring your feet in. During this maneuver you can easily fall off again, because you’ll practically be sliding your butt to the center of the seat from one side of the ski, so be careful, but don’t dawdle and be quick. Once both your feet are in, you can go ahead and start paddling again.

While practicing remounting may not be as cool as the actual paddling, it’s essential. Practice in warm waters first—preferably with the complete gear you’ll be wearing in extreme conditions to accustom your body to it—and don’t stop until you’re confident you can do it almost automatically. Failing to remount a few times can cost you a lot of stamina and sap your strength, so if need be, rest up and catch your breath after every stable position.

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Basic Surf Ski Skills: Straddle Remounting

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Come Fly With Me

New to surf skis? If you are, understandably, you’ll be falling over more than you’ll be paddling. If that’s the case—and in fact, even if it isn’t and you’re already an intermediate paddler—you need to practice and master one of the basic surf ski skills: remounting.

Remounting a ski may seem pretty easy, but it’s a challenge. A single failed attempt to remount a ski can cost you a lot of energy. So fail three or four times, and you might find you don’t have any strength left to remount; thus your surf ski day ends prematurely. You can even injure some muscles or tendons given the proper factors like cold water and adrenaline. So be familiar with these surf ski skills and make sure to practice them as much as you do paddling until you become quite adept at them.  Here’s the straddle remount:

The straddle remount is, in general, faster than other remounts like the sidesaddle. It’s easier to perform on some skis too, though this is true for the sidesaddle as well. Anyways, to do it, turn the ski (be sure you’re upwind of the ski first) so that it points to the waves and the wind. With one hand, grip the paddle and foot strap, and with the other, grip the far rail. Pull yourself out of the water and onto the ski; you should be lying face down in a somewhat diagonal fashion on your ski afterwards. Swing your legs over and across your ski while pushing your body up. Swivel your behind into the cockpit as you do this. You can easily fall right off again at this point, so be careful. Grab the paddle with both hands to stabilize your position. This stability gives you ample time to swing your legs into the cockpit. While controlling your overall balance with the paddle, pull both your legs in, and you’ve remounted. With enough practice (as well as upper body strength), this remount would take only a few seconds.

It helps to stop and pause after every stable position to catch your breath and not fall off. Falling off and having to try again is really physically taxing. Keep in mind that things are easier upwind, as if you are downwind your legs are dragging beneath the ski. If you find yourself downwind, duck beneath your ski and come up on the other side, without letting go of the ski.

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