Paddle 2 Fitness

Following on from podcast #18, this month we will help you turn faster by using the same lateral control you have been practicing this past month. We will show you how to turn without using your pedals, have better control, tighter angles and much much faster. This will help with 180 degree turns as well as in downwind conditions. Happy Paddling.

As beginner paddlers, our only focus is to stay upright. Improving lateral balance is the difference between staying dry or swimming. As your skills improve, lateral balance is a skill which will help you paddle faster is rougher conditions. In this month’s podcast, we teach you how to do this. We talk about how lateral control will enable you to paddle with your surf ski at a 20 degree angl...

What is ‘Core Activation’ and how do you as a paddler turn it on and off? Welcome to 2019, in this episode we discuss the importance of activating your core not only when paddling but how to and why you need to activate it when paddling through the surf and catching swells during a downwind. We have included some exercises so you understand the feel and then we explain how to use this...

Ever wondered why you fall in at the exit of your paddling stroke? In this month’s podcast, we explain why this happens and what you can do through your paddling stroke to ensure it doesn’t happen again. As well as this, we are going to help you produce more power, be better balanced through your stroke and be set up correctly for the next stroke. It’s all about being able to tra...

This month’s Surf Ski Podcast is all about producing more power through the activation of our lat muscles. We at P2F see a lot of paddlers lifting their shoulders towards their ears when they pull the paddle past. This action deactivates the lat muscles with paddler switching to their trapezius muscles. In this podcast we teach you how to activate as well as control your lat muscles from the...

“Grip It and Rip It” what does this mean? In this month’s ‘Surf Ski Coach’ Podcast we explain the difference between gripping and grip pressure around the shaft both in the pull and push parts of the paddling stroke. For us at Paddle 2 Fitness with concentrate on two things … hip rotation & grip. The correct grip will shorten your catch length but in return...

We have had an enquiry from one of our listeners about how to re mount their surf ski from a surf beach. So this month’s Surf Ski Coach Podcast is all about how to mount your surf ski from a surf beach and how to re-mount your surf ski from open water. Our Paddle 2 Fitness way might be similar to others but we add an extra step so you are better balanced before you put your feet in and start...

When we start, balance is being able to simply sit on a surfski or kayak however, at all levels, poor balance will also effect your ability improve technique and produce power. This month we discuss the three different types of balance; lateral, footplate and internal. It is important to know which balance affects you most and how you can improve it. We trust this month’s Surf Ski Coach Podc...

In part three of our downwind surfski paddling podcast series, we are moving to catching the swell. This month we teach you some drills on how to paddle in overdrive. This is the ability to produce more power when already going at 100% of race pace. Sound impossible? Not when you know what you are meant to feel and how you should train your body so you can catch the swells like the pros.  Remember...

All the best surf ski paddlers are able to see and link the swells effortlessly, how? In our second part of Downwind Paddling, we talk about seeing the swell. Once you know what to look for and maintaining your average pace (Podcast #09), you will be dancing between the swells like the pro’s in no time.    

This month we thought its time to start teaching our listeners how to paddle the perfect downwind. For us, there are several main fundamentals all paddlers first need to understand so over the next couple of podcasts, we are going to break each of them down so you can master each one before moving onto the next. This month’s podcast is all about ‘maintaining an average pace’. Too...

Are you breathing correctly? Do you have a rhythm when you paddle slow or fast? In this month’s podcast, we’ll be talking to you about the importance of breathing and how we can get more oxygen into you body without changing the process but by increasing (or decreasing) the rhythm in which you breath. Please don’t forget to leave us a star rating and a written review. Happy Paddl...

This month we would like you to think about your footplate connection. A solid, forward pressure connection will improve your balance, control and handling of your ski or kayak. Our coaching advise is that you should always have some forward pressure from your toes and heels and simply apply more pressure to the single heel when leg driving. We trust you enjoy and get benefit out of our latest pod...

With the 2018 Australian Surf Life Saving season in full swing and a number of surf ski paddlers around the world having to paddle off a beach to get access to open water, we felt that this month we would discuss ‘Paddling Through Waves’. A simple skill once mastered, can be performed on any size wave. Its all about the 1, 2, 3 / L, R, L and for you to keep paddling no matter what size...

All great coaches find / have a number of different ways in which they communicate to their athletes, while I would not say I deserve ‘great’ tag, I am always looking to find new way to communicate technical advise to my athletes. This month, I would like you to STOP focusing on leg drive. The action of leg drive ‘DOES NOT’ assist with rotation. It is in fact the twisting o...

For us at P2F, to be a great downwind paddler, you have to find your catch. We have coached, and see, a number of paddlers on the water and the one thing we have noticed is the same paddlers are almost always riding the wash, never taking a lead. While these paddlers feel that they are going faster and keeping up, to us, this is a sign that they struggle to find a solid catch and need the wash&#82...

Ever wondered why a 6’2″ paddler has the same paddle length as a 5’10”? This episode of Surf Ski Coach will explain why and give you a way to work out your own paddle length depending on your paddling height and what model of surf ski you paddle. A correct paddle length will enable you to produce more power, give you the ability to rate higher when needed i.e. downwinds and...

Before we start talking about technique, lets make sure you have the correct paddle angle. Over the years I have seen too many paddlers, paddling with the incorrect angle for the type of paddle they have or due to physical limitations. This podcast will show you how to set YOUR correct paddle angle, giving you a 100% catch and setting you up with a more powerful stroke.   Here you see a paddl...

I see a number of development to elite paddlers always looking for that 1% that will help them go faster. When I ask “where do you place your hands on the paddle shaft” they come back to me with a blank look or some type of 90 degree rule when you rest your paddle shaft on your head. At P2F we believe in a balanced approach and this podcast will have your hands in the right position, p...

On the 1st July 2017, Paddle 2 Fitness launches a new surf ski coaching podcast, called Surf Ski Coach. The podcast will be a world first with tips on how to become a more efficient surf ski paddler, exercises to assist and paddler interviews. Our aim is for you to either listen to the podcast on the way to training or while paddling on the water. Our coach, Julian Norton-Smith has a combined elit...