Learn Surf Ski Technique
Last weekend I paddled in a 12 km ocean race at Byron Bay in Australia. It was a lot of fun – it was my first distance paddling race.
I was actually coming off 3 weeks of illness, so I was not very competitive, but I enjoyed participating and love collecting the t-shirts you get in these races.
One thing I thought was interesting though was the observations of my wife, who was watching from the beach with our 2 year old daughter. She made 2 observations:
- At the start of the race, my technique was terrible – I looked like I was bobbing up and down like crazy
- At the end of the race, so many competitors had terrible technique, they were such different paddlers to what they were at the start of the race.
I can remember the start, I tried to stay out of everyone’s way at the back of the pack, thinking I’d pick up people as I go. It is not a great strategy. All the people in front of you really churn up the water, making it super bumpy. I am sure this is what gave the “bumpy” view that my wife saw. When paddling through these bumps, you really need to rate up your stroke.
At the end of the race, people are getting fatigued and as they do, they lose correct technique, paddle inefficiently and subsequently fatigue faster. It is a great argument for the long sessions in flat water, honing technique while improving fitness. He who paddles efficiently over the course of the whole race has such an advantage over he who loses efficiency as he gets tired.
My final observation is that surf ski races are so different to running races. If you participate in a half marathon or similar distance race, you always get the non-runners participating, the punters having a go. You don’t get this in surf ski races due to the costs involved in buying equipment and the dedication involved in learning simple balance. In surf ski races, everyone competing is a paddler. So don’t be embarrassed if you find yourself down the back at the end, just work harder for the next race.
