Technique is essential
If you paddle a lot then having a good technique is essential. Not only for efficient progress on the water, but also to prevent injury when paddling. And our stroke is always changing, when we change board, paddle or even fins, our SUP system changes, and we are the engine in that system. When you add in changes in conditions: wind, waves, surf or flatwater, we subconsciously change how we paddle all the time, which means that getting our base technique right is important.
Getting a SUP Stroke review is a good investment in ourselves, and who better to check my stroke than multiple SUP world champion, Michael Booth.
Boothy has looked at my stroke before, at his Danish SUP clinic in Copenhagen in May 2024, you can read about that on this blog here - Copenhagen 2024
Copenhagen SUP Clinic
At that session, Boothy highlighted some areas where I could do better. Here is what I said in my previous blog
The two hours passed quickly and I am sure I will forget some of the things he showed us but the two main improvements I can, will make are to recover the blade closer to the board which will help with tracking, and to recover the blade sooner, my stroke is a little too long, this will also improve tracking.
You get no prizes for working out that I didn’t do a great job on the things he picked up in 2024, but before we get to that, let's fill in what happened in the 18 months in between analysis sessions.
In the months after that session, I spent considerable time trying to dial in my stroke, particularly on recovering the blade closer to the board, but as I did that, I lost stability and, importantly, speed. I also found that I caught the blade on any small bump during recovery, and, reluctant to shorten the paddle length, I eventually regressed to my old stroke. Occasionally, I would try with a shorter paddle but never felt comfortable with the length or blade size, and, inevitably, I went back to version 1,0 of my stroke. I was faster and faster is better, right?
If anyone had asked me, I would have confidently stated that the one thing I successfully implemented was to recover the blade sooner.
I was confidently incorrect!
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| My GoPro platform - Wall:e |
Video Stroke Analysis.
With the arrival of the NSP Carolina and NSP Vivace paddle, things had to change. My new SUP system was now very different to the system I had 18 months earlier.
The smaller blade size of the Vivace has forced me to reassess my technique, and the difference in the way the boards handled was significant. Over a few weeks of messages, Michael suggested a few things I could think about until I was happy to get some video and send it over to him.
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| Using my GoPro platform in the middle of the lake |
That took a while, compounded by a niggly shoulder injury and seemingly never-ending windy days, but eventually I got to the lake on a sunny day with Wall:e, my homemade GoPro platform. I spent over an hour paddling back and forth at the lake, keeping an eye on the camera, then spent much longer cutting that into two video files, one for the left and one for the right. Or at least that was the plan, but it seems that I have trouble with left and right some days!
And then the call. 45 minutes of constructive instruction and discussion, and things to work on.
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| Boothy on the right of the screen |
My SUP stroke.
We started off with the things I am getting right: paddle vertical, loads of power, looking ahead, good stance, great weight distribution, lower body position good and using my legs.
Then the things that could improve and, importantly, why they will improve my stroke.
Here I will cover five things we discussed, but not in detail. Your stroke will not be the same as mine, and Michael will be more than happy to discuss your stroke with you as part of the coaching services he offers at Booth Training.
https://www.michael-booth.com.au/booth-training/technique-analysis/
It is worth it.
Five steps to improve my stroke.
This is important for many reasons but the two big ones are tracking and looking after my shoulders. One of the first things Michael picked up on was that I have started to hunch my shoulders, which means I was using my lats and core less than I should and might be the cause of my shoulder niggle. I have been given some work to do at home, stretching and shoulder exercises, and something to think about on the water.
2. Lower hand position
Michael pointed out that my lower hand was not in the best position, and I needed to make a small change.
3. Drop my shoulders
This one seems so easy on land and on water; it makes a huge difference when I get it right!
4. Top arm position
My upper arm was too straight, impacting on 1, 2 and 3 above. And my top hand was far too wide during recovery.
5. Stroke Length
This one surprised me a little as I was confident that I had improved my stroke length. But Michael explained that my stroke was too long at the front… I was reaching too far forward. Too much reach has an impact on the entire stroke, so I am working on shortening it. I was also ending the stroke too late, not as late as in Copenhagen, so I had improved a little, but not enough!
How is it going?
It is tricky! My first paddle was the afternoon after our video session, and I immediately forgot about one important bit of advice from coach Michael, “don’t try to fix it all at once”. That session was incredibly frustrating with several stops so I could have a word with myself. I’m sure you understand …
Day 2 was better as I remembered his important advice and concentrated on three of the five points, my lower hand, my shoulders and stroke length. It felt clumsy, but after an hour of longer intervals, I estimated that the majority of strokes were improved. I could certainly feel my shoulders were aching in a different way and that my lats had been working more than usual.
I chose to work on my lower hand position because that has the biggest impact on my stroke from the five points: if the hand and my lower arm are correct, then the blade will be closer to the board on recovery, the reach will be reduced, my top hand will be in a better position and my top arm will be less extended. The SUP System: everything is connected.
Several weeks later and I am still not there, it takes time to relearn something that I have done millions of times
https://rideandpaddle.blogspot.com/2023/08/sup-training-with-michael-booth-one.html
Looking back at that blog post, I got curious about my current stats.
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| Data Driven |
Between 22 February 2022 and 21 October 2025, I paddled 928 times covering 8 105,66km, which equates to 2,607,417 strokes and 17,698 intervals! I have been paddling for 43 days, 18 hours and 53 minutes. Plenty of time to develop bad habits!
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| Carolina Evo and Vivace |
The Carolina Update
Board and paddle make a huge difference to our stroke. My previous board was a fantastically fast thing, but I was several kilos heavier than the paddler it was built for, and it was a little too narrow for me. To accommodate the board, my stroke adapted, for example, the wide recovery swing for balance.
The Carolina has a similar volume and width to the Nebula, but that volume is used differently; there is more in the nose and more at the tail, but less, far less, in the middle. The board, with me on it, is therefore more stable, albeit with wetter feet, and this helps with my stroke improvement. The extra volume in the nose makes it easier for me to commit to sinking the blade at the start of the stroke, allowing me to get more power earlier, and encouraging the earlier recovery of the blade.
The Carolina is also better in harder conditions, since it arrived, none of my other boards has got wet. This also helps with stroke; using the same width board all of the time means no subconscious adapting to wider (or more winter-friendly) boards.
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| Danish Michael admiring the Evo on a typical October day in Sweden |
Foot position.
It’s not just World Champions that can help paddlers; a recent visit from Danish Michael has changed where I stand on the Carolina, a little further forward than I was. On flatwater. I thought that I had dialled in ‘where’ to stand, but I had never considered moving that far forward, and I think it makes a difference. I seem to be a little faster on the flat, and it seems to be a little easier with my stroke. Maybe I need to spend more time with more SUP-Michaels!
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| Work to be done |
What next?
With the arrival of the NSP Carolina and because of the imminent arrival of the Swedish winter, we have changed my training a little. Shorter sessions allow me time to concentrate on what I am doing, and I think I am getting there. In the next few weeks, I hope to get some good weather and take Wall:e back to the lake and get some updated video for Boothy to look at again, then we’ll see if I’ve been a good student.
Investing in yourself is the BEST upgrade you can make, with no exceptions. And that is what this series of blog posts are all about, investing in this paddler with the help of World Champion Michael Booth.
You can find out more about Michael's training on his website Booth Training, from his Booth Training Instagram account and on his YouTube channel BoothTV.
You can find me running the Facebook group SUP My Race and now, occasionally, on Instagram.
You can read the previous training logs here Training Logs and you can get to individual blog posts using the labels in the sidebar.