Surfing Waves

Today I saw several guys doing a two armed paddle, so I tried it myself. It seems to make me go much faster, which is good, because I have issues catching waves early due to lack of speed. Is this ok, or should I just keep up the one arm until I'm good at it? The two arm seems to be more efficient, as I flail less.

Ive never found to arm paddling to be quicker. Its not the recomended technique for paddling and usually only used by people who are not used to balancing on a surfboard and who have difficulty paddling properly.
You should perservre with paddling one arm after the other.
If you're not convinced try swimming without using your legs, first doing the front crawl and then doing the butterfly. You'll soon discover which is faster and easier.

KS

What about when getting on the wave, for that last bit of speed? Me tired of missing waves.

LOLRuss wrote:What about when getting on the wave, for that last bit of speed? Me tired of missing waves.

If you find it works for you then go for it.

KS

i used to think when i started surfing that the 2 arm paddle was better, i'd often find myself really tired in the water and find paddling 2 arms was easier but i think it's about perseverance too, once you get used to the ordinary paddling i reckon it's more effective. With 2 arm paddling you lose your momentum between strokes whereas one arm at a time paddling allows you to maintain a good speed.

When catching the wave i reckon try and get used to the ordinary paddling technique and then maybe use the 2 arm technique when you need that last burst of energy to catch the wave, if you feel that works for you!

I think alimac2411 is right. One armed helps you keep up speed and is recommended for most situations. The speed makes it easier to keep going and also lifts your board a little, making it easier to paddle. Two armed can be useful for that final boost when you feel you are on the wave but you have not really caught it yet.

Who is faster, a freestyle swimmer or a butterfly swimmer?

2 arms when your almost on a wave more for throwing your mass forward for a last push.

Ok. Thanks guys. Yeah, cause sometimes I get on a wave but am on the top/back of it and need that extra boost.

haven't been surfing all that long... but found when i moved to a shorter board i needed a little bit more aggression in my paddling to catch a wave and one or two quick two armed strokes at the last second worked wonders!
like kitesurfer says if it works...

i use two arm paddle in gutless or thick waves to give me the extra boost. its no good in hollow breaks as you could over paddle and have a white ending

If you paddle in the prone position, laying flat on your board, just as you feel you're about to catch the wave, kick up your lower legs so that they provide a bit of inertia forward. This may be all you need to get that little burst of energy to push you into the wave. I do it all the time.

Good idea on the leg thing. a friend told me that, but I forgot to try it.

I paddle normally first and if I am on the brink of atching a wave but just can't get enough speed I give one or two 2 armed paddles, useually it helps since when a wave is pushing you you can't execute much more force than the wave with one arm, but with two arms you might be able to give that last bit of push for an early take off, plus it helps with geting both arms at the same place for the popup.

RJD wrote:Who is faster, a freestyle swimmer or a butterfly swimmer?

2 arms when your almost on a wave more for throwing your mass forward for a last push.

for some there's not much difference. top swimmers can be within two seconds for 100 meters of each stroke, though the freestyle is generally faster, mostly due to the continuousness of the kick.

I personally try to avoid the 2 armed paddle as it is harder on my shoulders, many years and yards of swimming butterfly have given me a bum shoulder.

SDCali wrote:

RJD wrote:Who is faster, a freestyle swimmer or a butterfly swimmer?

2 arms when your almost on a wave more for throwing your mass forward for a last push.

for some there's not much difference. top swimmers can be within two seconds for 100 meters of each stroke, though the freestyle is generally faster, mostly due to the continuousness of the kick.

also, the mechanics are a bit different between surfing and swimming, yeah?

Butterfly is faster at the point of stroke as both arms are pushing forward at once but between strokes it is slower, and therefore the overall speed is slower than front crawl/freestyle.

Front crawl/freestyle is slower in terms of strokes but because you have constant propulsion by alternating arms your overall speed is faster than butterfly, the flutter kick isn't what makes front crawl faster.

The same goes with surfing. You want to have a fast constant speed, using a two armed paddle you are slowing down again every time you raise both arms out of the water.

The only time it's useful is the last stroke, I guess on a long board it may be more useful but on a very small shortboard you want to be alternating, or you won't get many waves at all.

I just returned from a refresher course of a couple of private coaching sessions from a guy who has coached top international competitive surfers for more than two decades, and he advocates, if needed, no more than 1 or 2 strokes of the two armed paddle for that last sudden burst of acceleration to catch the wave. Certainly no more than that one or two strokes of the two arm paddle should be used, according to what I was taught. Any more than those 2 strokes would use up the endurance energy. It works for me.

I see hell lot of long boarder and gunners use two armed paddle to paddle out, why is it faster when they are using that on a long board??

Aloha wrote:The only time it's useful is the last stroke

That about sums it up I think.

reckon i definitely put more aggression into the last push two armed paddle.... but that could be just psychological and poor technique.