How to Turn A Stand Up Paddleboard

Being able to turn a paddle board is an essential skill. The more  practice you get at turning and the wider variety of turns you can do will help in you ability to turn at speed and have a much finer control over the paddleboards. this is particular an importance skill to practice for supping in surf as efficient and quick turning  will hep in catching waves as well as avoid them. efficient turning will also help paddler competing in racing events. There are several easy ways to turn a paddleboard. Some of the basic strokes are

Side stroke:

• One way to is simply to paddle on one side until the nose turns in the direction you want to go. Want to turn right? Paddle on the left. Headed to the left? Paddle on the right.

Back paddle:

• A faster way to turn or reverse direction is to simply drag the paddle or paddle backwards on either side of the board. The backwards paddle is a quick way to turn your board around. Simply reverse the direction of your stroke while still facing forward. This will create a 180 degree turn almost completely in place.

Sweep Sea (“c”) stroke:

• Plant your paddle towards the front of the board and take a long sweeping stroke towards the tail. This is sometimes called a sweep stroke.

Other tips:

Pivot turns:

• This turn is one of the fasted in terms of changing direction works well especially in surf. Begin by paddling on your dominant side (left foot forward, paddle on your right side). Really bend your knees and put more weight on your back foot. This elevates the nose and submerges the tail allowing the board to pivot and turn quickly.

• Stepping back on the board or looking over your shoulder to the direction of your turn also helps in making a turn.