Your Thoughts on: Learning Technique

At one point or another, we have all spent time learning to drive a car. If you recall, there were two steps: First, the "lesson" and then came the "practice".

I don't know too many people who were dropped off in an empty parking lot with a car and told: "just figure it out" - "good luck" - "I'll be back in a week or so".

Meanwhile, when it comes to SURFSKIS, people think they can figure it out on their own. Sure, you'll be able to paddle some (if you don't give up before then), and sure: eventually you'll figure out a few things to get going a bit. The fact is, more often than not: When starting out with a surfski, you won't even know what you are missing (you won't even know what you don't know).

GOAL
Point out what you should know. Perhaps this will be motivation-enough to seek instruction.

INTRODUCTION
You don't need to know about combustion to drive a car, but it's useful to know a little bit about the car you are planning to drive. Here's the first set of what you should know:
ski history
ski design
material & construction
equipment handling
safety equipment
accessories

BASIC TECHNIQUES
Following the same analogy, you had to learn to drive, and even park your car. I hope that you had some experience and instructions before you had to change your first flat tire. Here's a list of skills you will eventually have to learn:
forward stroke
reverse stroke
brace
straddling
remounts
turning
self rescue

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
They include a series of skills that will have you have more fun on the water.
advanced rescue techniques
beach start
beach landing
endurance
boat wake
drafting surfskis
downwind techniques
backwash
surfing

After years of teaching students to surfski, I have observed two types of people:
Paddlers seeking instructions AND people who didn't.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, but people who didn't seek instructions on a surfski have more (more often than not) given up the sport. I believe this to be true in HI, CA, FL and even more obvious France. Perhaps we can learn something from that.

I hope people will add to the list… most importantly, I hope people will realize how much they need to know and why Instructions are so important - especially with SURFSKIS.

So now we know: Surfski instructions do not play an important part in the sport.
Clearly, people would rather struggle.

So sad… so VERY SAD.

Thanks for many good points. I am coming back to a ski (Stellar SR) after being out of the sport for 15 years. Design has changed a lot and I realize paddling faster is more fun than slow and often tougher on your body so I am happy for all the tips I can get. When I got into paddling an SUP some of the YouTube videos from some of the best in the sport helped a great deal, particularly on paddle techniques. Not as much of the skis but hope this will improve.

As a relative newbie to the sport I think it is sad. Unless good instruction is given the sport for a lot will never amount to more than a passing fad.

I will honestly admit that I need work on most of the items on your list. I do struggle with some of the basic when the conditions pick up.

Instruction is not necessarily that easy to find. I'm in Northern California and am not aware of classes/lessons other than the occasion private ones that are available or the rare clinic from a pro passing through.

A lot of this may have to do with the organizations in charge.
In North America, we have ACA (American Canoe Association).
In France, we have the FFCK (French Federation Canoe Kayak).
Neither have a "real" surfski program to offer their instructors, so how do we expect instructors to offer a concise program for their students ?

The extent of ocean paddling referred to by both above organizations is the touring in the ocean with a touring kayak. While a touring kayak has its purpose and can be quite fun, it cannot be compared to a surfski. This would be like comparing an ocean touring kayak with rafting.

The solution is to seek people who have years of experience teaching surfski techniques. Seek anyone else, and they are just trying to re-invent the wheel - at the expanses of their students.

It may be harder to find surfski instructions than judo classes… but after spending $3000 on your boat, you owe it to yourself… plus, you really will get more out of your surfski (any day, any time).

So I’ll chime in as a newbie here. I have been paddleboarding for about 4 months now and paddling my Epic v8 for about 3 months.

I think the average person really needs to know how to handle there ski, what safety equipment they should have and what cool stuff they can add (accessories). To be honest, I would guess that your average fitness paddler doesn’t really gain anything from knowing the history and design of the ski itself. They just want to paddle fast, far, or both.

With regards to technique, I agree that a coach would be helpful, however in my instance (live in central PA), those opportunities just don’t exist. Instead, I have watched many videos online and plan on getting a go pro to video myself for comparison. I’m also fortunate that having come into the sport with a good athletic base, I have a very good sense of body awareness which helps in correcting technique.

All this said, I have a feeling that many of the people who get into the sport and quit do so not because of a lack of coaching, but because a lack of physical ability, personal drive, perseverance, or just thought it looked cooler than it was when they got on the water.

As for the sport being a passing fad, it might be. I don’t think it will ever die, but without institutional support (soccer, football, lacrosse in schools), I don’t think it will ever become big by any means. Especially given the cost to play.

With all of this said, I’m hooked. Just did 5 miles this morning on a dead flat lake (glassy flat). Not exciting like the ocean by I love it regardless.

Welcome to the sport.
I was in WV (West Virginia) for several years… you could have stopped on by for multi-day clinics

The average fitness paddler may also be seeking instant gratification. Too bad, they may always wonder how to approach a pier sideways, or how simply and fast a swimmer can be rescued with a surfski. Not too many videos on that, really. I agree that the average paddler doesn't really care about boat design, but after spending 10 minutes on the subject, I found that they were delighted to be in the know.

You could say the same thing about scuba diving. If someone lacked athletic abilities, they used to be banned from the sport. Today, things are different: we want to make the sport more accessible - a V8, for instance, was built for the average person to get used to paddling a surfski. 10 years ago, there were no V8 - or anything similar to a V8. You had to learn using a V10 or similar - which is difficult for novice paddlers.

Time has changed, and our views must continue to change too. I don't think surfskis are only for Elite paddlers or elite athletes or … for stubborn people.

I believe instructions are at the reach of everyone.

I've been SUPing for a few years and would love to add surfski to my repertoire. I have no kayak experience, so an instructor seems like a great idea. Anyone here know of any good instructors in the Southern California, Marina Del Rey area?

Thanks
Dennis