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Using your feet So now you have a rough idea of where you should be and how to paddle for waves , what ’ s should you do with your feet ? If you recall my first article , ‘ Footwork ’ ( SUP Mag UK June 2021 issue 29 ), you may well remember the ‘ Ready ’ stance . All too often , I see beginners out in the waves stood in their normal paddling stance until they are just about to catch the wave . They then do a big jump back into a surf stance , fall off the back or side of the board , and miss the wave more often than not . So what ’ s happening here ?
If you are just about to catch the wave , you are more likely to miss it if you make a sudden big movement . As a rule of thumb , the bigger a wave gets , the faster it travels , so you have to be paddling faster as well . A big jump will suddenly stall the board as you apply downward pressure with your body weight , effectively hitting the breaks . The wave then passes under the board , or if you get it slightly wrong , you can fall off sideways as you lose your balance .
The Ready Stance Using this stance instead allows you to keep your balance , control the board and keep paddling until you have fully caught the wave . From this stance , you can quickly move forwards or backwards depending on if the wave flattens out or peaks up tall . The