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A board 360
Paddling fin first , upside down with one leg in the air
Body and paddle 360s For the body and paddle 360 you ’ ll be jumping into the air , on your normal paddling spot , and spinning 360 . The aim is to land back on your board , in your paddling stance with the board remaining as flat as possible . You may find a 180 is more achievable to begin . In which case practise that before heading for the full twist .
Pilot your SUP upside down Flipping your board onto its deck , standing on the hull ( fin up ) and paddling this way is amusing . It forces riders to focus on their footwork as with no deck grip the hull ’ s PVC bottom is akin to an ice rink . Also , your SUP ’ s rocker isn ’ t designed to be paddled this way so you ’ ll need to employ some positive paddle strokes to push it forwards .
Paddle one legged This is a great one for improving your overall balance as well as forcing you to rely on your paddle more . It ’ s also slightly trickier than it looks . Once you ’ re comfortable and in your normal paddling stance take one foot off the deck . As you get better and more confident you ’ ll be able to raise your leg higher and stay like this for longer . Using your paddle as a ‘ crutch ’ is one way to stay dry .
Combo moves If you can do any one of the above ( or something you ’ ve come up with yourself ) it ’ s great to try and combine some moves . Maybe get a SUP freestyle repertoire going where the idea is to flow between tricks - without falling . As an example you could try walking to the board ’ s nose and paddling backwards with one foot raised before running back to the middle and spinning 180 . That ’ ll certainly get the giggles going as well a few splashes !
There ’ re no limits to how creative you can get with SUP freestyle . And as I said at the start of this article it ’ s a way to potentially spice up your regular flat water paddling sessions as well as improve your overall skillset . Have a play and see what you can come up with !
ONE LEGGED PADDLING
One footed tail sink pivot turn