The Journey Towards Having More FUN Surfing

Adding more power to your paddling doesn’t involve pushing harder most of the time.  It’s simply using the tools at your disposal. 

In this quick video, we investigate one of the often overlooked tools you have ready and able to use in order to gain more power in your paddling.  

If you've ever felt like you should move faster when you paddle, or felt like waves pass you right by, then this video is a must watch.  

Let me know if you have any questions!  I'm here to help and am stoked to have a chat.  

If you haven't taken the Level 1 Paddling Technique Course, I highly recommend it.  Learn more here (online and in-person training).  

Cheers!

Rob

My friends and I developed a Golden Water Time Rule when we first started surfing.  It wasn’t formally discussed, or written down, but this simple golden rule of ours kept us happy and would guarantee we would get in the water each and every time we went to the beach. 

I grew up about 35 minutes away from the closest beach, an hour away from the closest beginner break, and when I started surfing, I was too young to drive.  At one point, I created a foamboard presentation (that’s what we used before computers) attempting to convince my mother why it was in her best interest to drive me and my friends to the beach.  “You’d get a lot of reading time in, without interruption.” “Sun and relaxing!” (That one was a bit of a stretch in Northern California as the coastline is notoriously cold and overcast).  “We’ll even pay for gas.” (another stretch – I’m not entirely sure we had enough money to...

Paddling shoulder injuries can be caused from several poor techniques.  But one of the first causes takes place in one of the most unsuspecting places during the stroke.  

Have a watch and find out where, make sure you aren't doing this, and how to fix it if you are...

Paddling out to the surf can be challenging sometimes.  It's part paddling technique, and part strategy.  In this video, I provide one of my secrets to getting out that I cover in the Level 2 paddling course.  

It's all about studying the shoreline.  

Have a watch and let me know if it helps! 

Private 1-on-1 Level 2 courses on Positioning, Timing, Sprint, Pop Up and Getting Out are available right now.  But be sure to complete the Level 1 course beforehand.

Please reach out with questions, comments, frustrations, success.  I'd love to hear from you.  

Ever wonder why some waves break fast and hollow, and some waves break slow and mushy?  By understanding how waves break, we can improve our decision making on where to catch them and how to ride them.  

Hope you enjoy!  Please feel free to reach out with questions and comments.

Learn more about Positioning, Timing, Sprint Technique, Pop Up and Getting Out in the Level 2 course.  Prior to taking Level 2, be sure to complete the Level 1 Paddling Technique course on Paddling Efficiency, Speed, and Injury Prevention.  The Level 1 course lays a strong foundation and is a pre-requisite to effective Sprint Paddling.    

I'm just an email or phone call away to have a chat about surfing.  Don't be a stranger. 

Getting barreled is an intimidating act.  Just the fact that you're in a barreling wave situation can be daunting, given that this happens in shallow water with hefty swell and power.  Tucking into that raw energy takes a bit of getting used to.  

Most people say, "you just need to pull in a lot to get used to it."  Good advice.  But here are three more tips to help you enjoy the barrel - to actually have fun in the barrel.  These techniques are meant to help you take your mind off of the technicality required, or the fear of the minutia.  

The best part of it is that these techniques you can practice on a regular, non-barreling wave so that when you get in a wave that begins to barrel, your body will already know what to do.  

So go ahead and watch to see just how simple this can be:

As always, I'm only an email or phone call away if you have any questions.  I'd love to hear how it goes for you.  

See you in the...

The science behind repetitive practice is sound.  We all understand this.  But few of us implement it effectively. 

It’s not just that practice makes perfect.  It’s really more that perfect practice makes perfect. 

A wonderful case study supporting this is my client, and (I’m honored to now say) friend, Tim.  Tim was dedicated to improving his surfing at the end of last year.  The progress he felt after his first boat session last August was enough for him to go “all in” by getting the Sunset 8-session Pass for the following season (2020).  His plan was to commit to learning small technical changes that paid huge dividends in the ocean.  And it worked.  Big time. 

This is Tim’s story, from his own mouth (picture timeline of his progression below): 

“Man, where to start?  First off, boat surfing every few weeks over the summer during COVID was a lifesaver.  50-minute drive...

Do you ever feel like when you paddle hard, you don’t really go as far as you thought you would, or anywhere at all? 

A lot of surfers who take my paddling technique course say that they were taught by their good surfing buddy to paddle hard.  So let’s investigate this.  Does paddling harder lead to moving faster? 

In this video we investigate whether this myth is true, how to avoid wasted energy use, how to apply more force, and what it is we actually feel in the water when we take a stroke.  

Hope you enjoy!

 If you have any questions, I'm just an email away.  

Interested in the Level 1 or Level 2 Paddling Technique Courses?  Learn more here.

In the meantime, I'll see you in the water!

I have heard it before.  In order to catch the wave, you have to paddle as fast (or faster) than the wave is moving.  But is this true?  Or another paddling myth?  

Find out how fast waves are moving, how fast surfers paddle, and whether or not you have to paddle as fast as the wave is moving in order to catch it.  

 Watch here:

Just wanted to say, I really enjoy hearing from you.  If you ever feel the motivation to drop me a line, please do so.  That can be if you have any questions about the paddling technique programs, or the surfing fitness programs, or even the surf technique programs.  Or even just to talk surfing.  

When I first started the Surfing Paddling Academy, I remember having a particular phone call with a surfer who had emailed me a question.  The answer to the question had a little more than an email could contain.  So I told him to call me.  I said it would only take fifteen...

"One such surf technique lesson I’d learned from Clayton made such a profound impact on my surfing, I not only felt it behind the boat, but immediately upon continuing that practice in the ocean.  I had struggled with this for ages.  Sometimes I would have flashes of brilliance, but I wouldn’t know why.  As I explained this frustration with him, I could see he was ready with an answer.  And the answer that came out surprised me like no other. "

In July and August of 2018, I traveled with my family to Australia.  The idea was to conduct my Level 1 Paddling Workshops to the many surfers on my email list that hadn’t had a chance to visit me in Northern California.  It was a lofty endeavor.  Eight total workshops, two different locations, almost four weeks with two kids under 10. 

It took months of preparation contacting various venues to see if they had the set up I needed to conduct the Workshops, looking at...