Like any new experience, paddling a bodyboard is a lot harder than it looks. Getting your
body weight in the right position is the key to paddling well.
There are three methods of paddling a bodyboard:
Kick power
With the aid of a pair of reliable swim fins, begin to kick your feet with an even
alternating flow.
Try keep your legs reasonably stiff and remember to keep your fins submerged
because this will give you more thrust than slapping. It is amazing to see the
number of people that handicap themselves in the water by not keeping their fins
under the water.
Your body should be slightly back with your waist on the tail of the board and your
elbows in a relaxed position with both hands gripping the nose.
Arm power
As a means of conserving energy it often pays to alternate between arm and leg
paddling.
To paddle with your arms it is necessary to slide forward slightly and recentre your
bodyweight. Make sure you wax your board before you try this as otherwise the
board will most likely just slide from underneath you.
Arch your back a little and pull yourself through the water using both arms as if you
were doing freestyle.
Cup your hands and move your hands in an 'S' shape under the water. Try not to
splash too much as this only wastes energy.
Kick and arm power
Combining both kick and arm paddling methods will help when you need to paddle out
quickly into the lineups or just give your legs a bit of a rest..
Your body should be in the kick position, slightly back on your board. Instead of
arching your back, use your chest to keep the nose of the board down.
There's nothing worse than being caught inside by an approaching set. The most
successful way of paddling through a whitewater lineup is by using a technique called the
duckdive. The idea of the duckdive is to get you and your board underneath the
turbulence of a breaking wave. Once you have the duckdive worked out you will realise
how much easier it makes getting out the back.
As the whitewater approaches, grab both rails near to the front of your board with
your hands in a tight grip. A metre or so from impact begin to push the nose of your
board underneath the surface.
While trying to achieve depth, use your knee (either will do) to help guide the board
underneath the turbulence by pushing down with it on your deck. Once you are
underneath the whitewater explosion, begin to push forward in a scooping motion.
As the wave passes overhead, with your knee still in position pull the nose of your
board back towards the surface with your hands.
The deeper the dive the more successful it will be and the less chance you will
have of being hit by turbulence. As you return to the surface, lie on your board once
again and continue paddling.
Note: You may have noticed that when a wave breaks it looks like it bounces along on
the surface of the water. The spots where the water bounces in the air are spots of lower
pressure. When duckdiving under waves it is worth trying to dive under the whitewater in
these low pressure spots than high pressure spots. Having your duckdive coincide with
the upward 'bounce' of the whitewater causes the wave to pass more gently over you
than subjecting you to large amounts of turbulence.
Your first step is to choose an appropriate wave and paddle towards it. Once you
are in a position to be able to catch it, turn around to face shore and begin to kick
hard as the wave starts to push you along. While you are kicking you may want to
paddle with either two arms or one arm while the other holds the nose of your
board. Often it's easier just to paddle with one hand and use the other hand to
steady the board and place some downward pressure on the nose of the board.
If you choose to paddle with one arm, choosing which arm does what depends on
the direction intend to be travelling. If you are going right, your right hand should be
on the nose while your left arm paddles. If you are going left, the reverse applies.
Once you start to feel the wave pushing you down its face, stop paddling and put
your paddling arm onto the outside rail about a third of the board length back from
the nose. If you feel that you might not have the necessary speed to stay on the
wave then you can place both hands on the front of the board, applying your weight
to the front of the board and causing the front of the board down the wave.
Now slide back slightly and angle your board in the direction you have chosen. If it
is a steep drop it may be necessary to pull up on the nose to prevent the board
from pearling.
Once you have made it to the bottom you are ready to set up for the bottom turn or
trim line.
Angling your board across a wave is known as trimming.
If you are angling right, your right arm should be placed on the front of your board
while your left hand should be on your outside rail, about midway down the board.
Once you are trimming, your main aim is to pick up speed so you can keep up with
the wave and make it to the next section. Try moving your weight up and down the
board until you find the position that gives you the most speed.
Pulling your legs up just out of the water reduces your drag and greatly increases
speed.
The easiest manoeuvre in bodyboarding is wiping out. Everyone does it, but here's a
few techniques to help prepare you for those mean, drilling waves that we all have to
face at sometime or other:
Practice holding your breath.
Make sure you always stay calm. Try not to fight the wave to hard, thrashing about
trying to reach the surface simply uses up your precious oxygen.
On reef breaks, roll into a ball with your hands and arms over your head to protect
your head from hitting the bottom.
Don't ride waves you are not ready for. Know your own limits and you'll be back to
surf another day.
Don't fall on the shore side of your board if you can help it. This will allow plenty of
room in most cases so the lip doesn't land on you. Fall into the wave if possible
and dive through the back.
Always be aware of how deep or shallow the waves are breaking. This will
determine your landing procedure. If they're deep, dive deep and penetrate the
back of the wave. If they're shallow and you're in an uncontrollable situation, spread
your body out so that on impact you have to move more water, allowing a shallower
landing.
Most of the time you're head first, and penetrating the wave is much easier
because of your forward speed. It's often wise to put your hands out in front of your
head and dive shallow at the base of the wave and arch out the back.
Leashes and leg ropes can aid or hinder in different situations. If the waves are
super shallow and you're a competent swimmer, wearing a leash can cause you to
be dragged across the bottom. This is OK if it's a sandbar, but a reef is a different
story. Your leash should have swivels on it to avoid twists which can wrap around
your neck, legs or arms, sometimes making it impossible to swim.
The bottom turn is an essential part of riding a bodyboard. A good bottom turn can set
you up with plenty of speed and projection for the rest of your ride.
To set up a solid bottom turn you must get into the wave early. As you gain
momentum down the face of the wave, lean to the inside rail gradually. This in turn
will cause you to pull up on your outside rail.
You should be careful not go too far into the flats before you make your turn
because this will cause your board to bog and cause you to struggle to make the
wave.
At this point you can project across and up setting up for a barrel or gaining down
the line speed for a move.
The cutback is one of the most fundamental manoeuvres in bodyboarding. But if
performed correctly, it can also be one of the most radical. Follow these five key points
to get yourself on the right track to cutting back.
The first factor in a good cutback is speed. To gain the speed, do a hard bottom
turn and project yourself out of it by moving up to the middle of your board. If you
are already in trim, you can maintain your momentum by simply staying on the
upper half of the wave. You should make sure your stomach and hips are on the
deck and that both legs out of the water so you are gaining maximum speed.
Now you have the speed, the next step is your positioning on the board. The
cutback is just like a bottom turn. So if you're going right on the wave, set yourself
up like you would for a left bottom-turn. Slide your left hand up to the front corner of
the rail. Move back a little on your board so that your stomach and left hip are on
the back left corner of the board.
Go into your cutback gradually to stop your board skipping out of the water. When
you're going right, apply pressure on your left rail and smoothly lift your outside rail
out of the water until you are turning almost completely on the back left corner of the
board.
To add some carve to your cutback, throw your weight into it. Remember to start
your turn gradually, but then throw your hips up and out towards where the lip
should be. This will cause the back corner of your board to dig in and make the
carve. You want your center of gravity directly above the back corner on which you
are turning.
When you're doing your cutback you are going to feel a decrease in speed. So, as
your speed decreases, increase the depth and severity of your turn until you finally
feel yourself being propelled back into the wave in the opposite direction. Slide up
to the middle of your board so as to release the inside rail and gain some speed.