PADDLER 86
PADDLER 86
Paddlers : Devan Crawford and Richard Sant . Photo : Jim Miller - just having fun on a Spey descent
If you were to not cross deck or swap sides , then the downstream edge would catch , and you would end up going for a wee swim . Admittedly , swapping sides works well as well – it just takes a little longer and adds things into the mix , like moving your hands on the paddle .
Paddler : Honza with a cross deck . Photo : Jim Miller
REALISING THE POTENTIAL
So why is it then that not a huge number of paddlers on SUP use cross-deck strokes ? Well , in all honesty , there probably aren ’ t enough people pushing the sport yet to truly realise the potential for them . And you don ’ t need them unless you are operating at that point where balance is crucial , and swims are not necessarily wanted , or time is of the essence , i . e . making a tight eddy at the last minute . So , the majority of people don ’ t really need to cross-deck . They can paddle on both sides and are probably all the better for it .
A THIRD OPTION
But there is a third option – this option comes with neither swapping sides nor cross decking and instead thinking more about edge control – you could shift your hips or your weight distribution through your feet to edge the opposite side to the board you are paddling which can help to cross eddy lines easily – this option is one that can help to balance you much like a swap of side or cross deck ( because those options both engage the opposite edge to the board as well ). But it does not help with board drive necessarily – as if you wanted to use the paddle for stability on the side of the board , it would be slightly less efficient on the opposite side of where your weight distribution is . And in all genuine honesty , it can look a little weird if you take your hips to the opposite side of the board than you are paddling on .
INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED
In short , in the author ’ s opinion , cross-deck is definitely a stroke that is good for SUP , but it isn ’ t necessarily all that great for beginners . It is more of an intermediate to advanced paddler technique , which comes in handy when we are operating at max capacity in the river or when we want to swap the edge control / minimise swim time .