Hey TotalSUP readers it’s Robert Norman AKA SUPerman back with another paddle tip. This one is a really easy one to implement into your stroke. Simply looking at your paddle blade will let you know you if you are doing this. I’m talking about having a clean catch.
The catch is the initial entry of the paddle into the water. This is the setup for the entire stroke, a poorly executed catch will hinder your enter paddle stroke. Doing this repeatedly will hinder your overall performance.
This is for a long distance steady race pace.
Plant the entire blade at the catch; don’t splash water. When you extend to plant your blade if you begin pulling BEFORE the blade is fully submerged, there will be an air pocket between the blade and the water resulting in a splash effect (clip one). If you splash water, by the time the blade is submerged you’re missing the oppurtunity to cleanly pull during the portion of the stroke you are strongest.
Video one is splashing and video two is a cleaner entry and submerging the blade. A common issue is people will extend too far, reaching beyond where they will pull. So if you over reach, by the time you lower yourself to the water your torso is forcing itself into a more comfortable position while you’re making contact with the water at the catch.
You can still go pretty fast doing this, but it’s a ton of wasted energy and effort that will ultimately affect your long distance times! Athletes will typically splash at the catch when sprinting at the start of a race but then transition into a cleaner more efficient stroke later and that’s what we are focusing on here.
Thanks for reading! Through TotalSUP, I am offering online coaching that includes a video analysis of your stroke and a workout plan for 25$ if you are interested please contact me at Robertnorman142@yahoo.com.
Hello again TotalSUP readers! It’s SUPerman back with a new paddle tip. This is another simple tip that will help you maximize your body to paddle better. Many of these paddle tips are going to be on better muscle engagement and postural cues to help athletes. Let’s talk about hip engagement and how crucial it is to SUP success. Now, I’ve talked to a […]
Hello again TotalSUP readers! It’s SUPerman back with a new paddle tip. This is another simple tip that will help you maximize your body to paddle better. Many of these paddle tips are going to be on better muscle engagement and postural cues to help athletes. Today, let’s take a step back from our stroke and just look at where we are holding the […]
Hello again TotalSUP readers! It’s SUPerman back again with a new paddle tip. This one is another simple tip that will help you maximize your body to paddle better. Many of these paddle tips are going to be on better muscle engagement and postural cues to help athletes. Today, let’s look at the reaching phase of the stroke. Reaching is […]
Hello again TotalSUP readers, it’s SUPerman back with another paddle tip! This one isn’t exactly a “right or wrong” type of paddle tip… more of something to think about and experiment with. Today we are talking about stroke speed (the time and length your paddle is in the water), and understanding your boards glide. The […]
Hello again TotalSUP readers! It’s SUPerman back again with an other paddle tip. This one is a simple tip that will help you maximize your body to better paddle. Many of these paddle tips are going to be on better muscle engagement and postural cues to help athletes. Today we are talking about upper back […]
Hey TotalSUP readers! It’s Robert Norman AKA SUPerman here with another paddle tip! Water starts are a prominent feature in SUP races. Two easy tips to get ahead of the crowd in your next race or your next friendly sprint with a friend. In the first clip, I take three full strokes then switch sides. […]
Hey TotalSUP readers! It’s Robert Norman AKA SUPerman here with a fun paddle tip. Today’s subject matter is beach starts. This is applicable for a race situation…or just trying to look smooth when you go on your next paddle adventure. The first clip is primarily how many people look, very timid, cautious and unprepared. A slow […]
Robert Norman, the new (and first) Men’s 24 hour SUP Guinness World record holder received a little surprise from QuickBlade’s very own founder Jim Terrell yesterday: a superb commemorative paddle, with the SUPerman sign (SUPerman being Robert’s nickname). Also on it, the inscription “Robert Norman, World Record, 24 hours, 111,8 miles”. Here is what Robert said on his […]
By Robert Norman, new Men’s 24 hour Guinness World Record holder: 180 kilometers! All of the success I have achieved through completing this challenge, has been made entirely possible by my family and friends. Without their support in every possible way throughout the process of visualizing, planning, preparing and executing this event I would have […]
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