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 engagement! The body is divided into seperate sections that work together to perform tasks. The different sections are joints and it’s simplest to understand them functioning like a chain.
A chain will be broken at its weakest link when force is applied. In this instance, energy cannot transfer properly though the joints and onto our paddle blade if these joints are not properly aligned or engaged. In more simple terms, if you have poor posture, you cannot properly maximize the force you produce.
So that being said, now we are looking for the shoulder region to be in proper engagement to transfer energy. We need the shoulder retracted. The photos here shows when the shoulders are not engaged and when they are properly engage from the rear and from the side.
Notice how my entire form from the side view improves, the top hand shoulder is higher, hips are able to rotate better which increases the function of the legs greatly.
This is especially important during the power phase of the stroke (after the blade initially enters at the catch but before you exit the blade from the water.) You rely on maximizing every part of your body to pull the board forward in that small window of oppurtunity.
If those shoulders are out of wack it will hinder performance all the way down the kinetic chain. Video 1 you will see I’m not engaging my back and I’m exaggerating this a little bit to really bow my upper spine back.
Video 2, I simply squeeze my shoulder blades together and perform the same stroke. This is not something you want to really stress about, just feel those upper back muscles contract a SMALL amount. If you consciously think about it, them it will become natural. The issue is many people don’t give it a second thought and suffer through multiple muscle aches simply because they don’t bring those shoulder blades closer together.
23 Aug 2017
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 […]
16 Aug 2017
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 […]
9 Aug 2017
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 […]
2 Aug 2017
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 […]
19 Jul 2017
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. […]
13 Jul 2017
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 […]
7 Jul 2017
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 […]
22 Mar 2017
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 […]
16 Feb 2017
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 […]
