Wingman Foil Club

This is a great video from @Ryan_Arzy

Do you have any big downwind boards? Maybe we can organize a day at Cabrillo inside where you teach some of us wingers how to flat water paddle up! (Or just paddle straight 😂). Maybe combine it with a Takuma demo day?

It took me many sessions to even just mostly paddle straight! Even after a bunch of practice I'm still unsure of optimal technique.

Post video of you paddling. I can parrot back some good advice on occasion.

Hdip wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 10:23 pm Post video of you paddling. I can parrot back some good advice on occasion.

@Jbwiden is sand bagging. He can flat water paddle up and is a pumping machine.

It did take me around 15 sessions to go mostly straight unless putting down a lot of power where I still was turning, then I found I could angle the nose biased toward my paddling side to then be going mostly straight when trying to get up in the swell. I'm am now generally able to go straight and have gotten flat water starts. Mostly learned through YouTube University and do actually wonder if I should pay for some feedback with say Coach Casey as I do think I'm far from optimal in technique.

Here is a newer recording. I think I should likely be getting the paddle catch and release further forward and slightly deeper throughout the paddle up. Unsure about form in general apart from knowing I'm at least able to get it on foil. I'm still amazed at those getting sub 1000cm2 foils up.

OK, first things first. You're a way better paddler than I am. Now that that's out of the way. :)

Your paddle stroke is nice. Positive shaft angle, getting the paddle out before your back foot. Minimal splash on the catch. The one thing I see, that might help is when you start to break the board free. You're higher up now, so you need to reach further to get to the water. Move your bottom hand up a hands width or maybe two. You don't need as much power, you do need positive angle on the shaft though and this will allow you to do that easier.

When up and pumping, you have a very wide stance. Powerful stance for the paddle phase, but it will be less efficient when pumping. Try to narrow your stance when you're up and pumping. Move your front foot further back I'd assume. I'm guessing that, because your nose has a definite drop at the start of each of your pumps. You don't need to porpoise pump the HA foils as much as the old ones. The newer HA foils seem to do better the flatter you keep them. Narrowing your stance will allow you to have the board flatter throughout the pump.

Think about pushing a cutting board into the water with your hands. If you push softly it sinks easily. If you push sharp and hard it will give you a much more solid surface with more resistance. Try to explode on the down pump and then glide for a longer shallower rise in height.

Thanks for the advice!


> You're higher up now, so you need to reach further to get to the water. Move your bottom hand up a hands width or maybe two. You don't need as much power, you do need positive angle on the shaft though and this will allow you to do that easier.

I had starting trying this one day, not actually during the paddle up but just trying to paddle when up on foil. I subsequently moved my hand too high and had my first paddle strike. I have since put a small band of electrical tape on the shaft to help with positioning but have been a bit hesitant to try again.

>When up and pumping, you have a very wide stance. Powerful stance for the paddle phase, but it will be less efficient when pumping. Try to narrow your stance when you're up and pumping. Move your front foot further back I'd assume.

I tend to find having the front foot way out there helps keep the nose down and not stalling during the paddle up and do shift it back once decently up on foil. But looking at the video I am in a significantly wider stance than when I dockstart still. Will try narrowing more. As for the pumping, in addition to keeping the foil flatter for more efficiency of the foil I think also a flatter pump technique will help minimize the effect of all the swing weight.