I have been learning to flat water foil paddle-up the past six months. The internet makes it seem as if this is the first step to downwind foiling. My initial guess was that I only needed 3-5 sessions to be able to do it. After 30+ sessions I finally paddle-up the first time. 😲😲😲. It was not a moment of celebration. It was a huge relief! My effort was not in vain. My physical ability is not so far below average compared to any of these foiling youtubers. And at last, I do not have to tell my wife every time I come back from paddling: should I give up?
There are some key lessons that I learned along the way that I wish someone could have told me. These are not prevailing theories from the various youtube videos I have watched. I have watched probably 100+ paddle up related videos.
For the many months that I toiled in the uncertainty if I could ever get to flight, I had many doubts. I questioned my overall physical strength and flexibility. I asked all the questions one could ask about equipment. Is my board skinny and long enough? Does my front wing have a sufficient low end? Is my paddle blade big enough? Is my mast too long? Is my foil setup too far forward or too far back? Other than changing my downwind board, I tried almost all combinations of equipment variables that were within my control. I had doubts about my techniques. Do I hold the paddles too low or too high? Am I catching forward far enough? Is my stance too wide or too short? Should my back foot be placed directly on the mast, further back, or more forward? Do I shift my feet in the stages? Should I slap the board down with my front feet or emulate the foil pumping motion more? Do I do small pumps, or do I attempt to go high as soon as I feel the board starting to release? Should I paddle with or cross or against the current? Should I get a bit of downwind assist? The internet provided some answers to my questions. But really, I had to answer my own questions or be at peace with not having answers.
I was not a total beginner to foiling or supping. I wing foil. I am not good at it, but I could ride the foil comfortably and complete 50% of my jibes. I sup-surfed on and off as well. I sup surfed 3-5 ft SF OB. I thought that my background was sufficient to allow me to learn the flat water paddle up, and it would become a fun thing to do when I don’t have time to go surfing and there is no wind to wing1. I was not expecting it to become a journey.2.
For much of my journey and during the session of first successful paddle-up, I was using this Naish kit: 2024 105 liter downwind board, S27 Carbon 35 mast 75cm, S27 HA stabilizer 280, S27 HA front wing 1800, and a paddle with 95 cm surface area blade. The motion of paddling up looks easy: paddle straight, paddle-and-pump, get on foil, and pump away. The whole process takes less than 5 seconds. This 5 second sequence of movement is one of the most challenging physical techniques I have ever attempted to learn. If I were to learn this again with the hindsight knowledge I have now, I would break down the sequence of movement into key stages.
The technical stages form a topological tree. It is not possible to learn some technical stages unless you already have the prerequisite techniques. For example, I did not realize that I was not a proficient pump foiler when I was giving my 110% to attempt a successful full sequence. I foolishly believed that my background, with experiences in supping and foiling, should allow me to get at least one successful paddle-up after 3-5 sessions. For months, I was sprint paddling and kind of emulating the motion of slapping down the board. I was getting better at paddling and getting stronger. My planing speed was getting faster and faster3, but I was not any closer to a successful paddle-up.
I had to use other foiling disciplines to help me learn the technical stages in isolation. A successful paddle-up requires the ability to pump with at least some proficiency. I was thinking that I would use a flat water discipline to help me learn pump foiling. That was a problem of chicken and egg. My wife had many laughs over my naivety. At some point in my journey, I realized that I had to go on some side quests. For example, I had to learn pumping first4. I chose dock-start as my side quest to accomplish that. I believe I could have done that with SUP foil surfing or e-foiling.
The on-flight paddle-pump is an interesting stage that is not often talked about. This technique is critical to the transition from planing to flight. The paddling with the board being grabbed by water tension is a lot more stable than paddling with the board being out of the water. At one point, I was at a stage where I could generate good speed from paddle-and-pump while most of the board was on the water. Every time I started the on-foil transition, it was hard to maintain my acceleration. I realized that I had to isolate that stage. My solution is dock-starting while holding a paddle. My practice hack is to jump into foil pumping, slow down, touch down on the water, and paddle back up to foil pumping. This was relatively easy for me to learn in isolation. It took me 2-3 sessions to check off this technical stage.
The table below shows what I consider to be entrypoints for skill acquisition. It should be noted that even though a foiling discipline might require a skill, that discipline is not necessarily a good way to acquire the said skill. For example, learning wing foiling or dock starting is problematic if someone has never ridden a foil. That is best done towing behind a boat or through e-foiling. Wing foil uses a lot of pumping, but it is much easier to learn that skill through dock start or foil surfing.
| Foil Riding | Pump Foiling | Paddle-Pump | On-Flight Paddle-Pump | Sprint Paddle | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tow Foiling | ✓ | maybe | |||
| Wing Foiling | maybe | maybe | |||
| SUP Foil Surfing | maybe | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| E Foil | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Dock Start | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
FAQ¶
- Q: How should I hold the paddle?
- Ans: I learned that there were two distinct phases of paddling: sprinting and paddle-pumping. During the sprint phase, my lower hand is closer to the paddle blade. It allows me to go for a faster cadence and draw on more powerful strokes. The key draw is that I squat lower. As I transition to pumping and engaging the foil, I need a more standup posture. My lower hand slides about 2 inches higher. This is a critical transition. I had noticed that without this transition, I could never pump the foil properly to accelerate.
- Q: How could I use the current or wind to assist a paddle-up?
- Ans: There are theories out there that going cross current or against the current could help to get on foil because the foil gets lift from the amount of water flowing through its front wing. I disagree with that approach. The most critical element is board speed relative to the water surface. The most energy-consuming part is getting the board to sufficient speed so that I can engage the pumping action to break the water tension. Once the pumping starts, the drag is reduced, and the foil pumping becomes the main power source. This is made obvious from a dock start. If I were to jump onto a board but do not immediately achieve flight, I only need a few paddles to get up on foil because the jumping gives me the initial speed necessary to break water tension. Whenever there is a bit of wind, having the wind on my back helps a lot with the paddle-up. I also find it easier to go with the current. It is much less effort to gain the initial speed into the pumping action to break water tension.
- Q: How important is using a dedicated flat water foil setup like the Axis PNG 1300?
- Ans: Skills are more important than dedicated high-end gear. That was one of my most painful decision points. When I was not able to paddle up, I had serious doubts about whether it was my skills or the gear’s problem. I believe it is 80% skills. Gears could help on the margin, but gears still would not allow me to skip a technical skill stage.
- Q: What were some of the critical mistakes I made?
- Ans: Not properly foil pumping while planing. Pumping is more important than paddling because pumping generates more sustainable forward momentum. Foil pumping is not just slapping the board down to the water. That is not a good mental model. The slapping might feel like pumping but does not contribute to acceleration. The pumping has to engage the foil. It is the same technique as an on-flight foil pump. Pumping has to be performed well before flight. Pumping is not just to sustain flight; it gets me to flight.
- My back foot was too far back. I have a habit that I am still not sure if it is a necessity or a mistake. I do 2-4 strokes to get the board going, but then I tend to slide my back foot toward the tail for about half of a foot to get more lift to break water tension. It is possible that it is better to always keep the back foot in one place, but I still don’t fully understand it. What I am certain of is that my back foot has to shift forward to be right on top of the mast or ahead of the mast to be able to pump the foil. If my back foot is stuck behind the mast, I never take flight.
- Holding the paddle too low. Similar to sliding my back foot, I shift my lower hand toward the top as I transition to pumping. I start holding the paddle lower to do my power strokes to get to maximum planing speed. That lasts about 4-6 strokes. As soon as I break the water tension with the pumps, I stand tall and upright. I slide my lower hand about 1-2 inches higher. When I fail to make these adjustments, I cannot engage the foil. I would end up paddling insanely hard and continue to pull powerful strokes, but the board still just sticks to the water surface. I would get completely exhausted from the sprint paddling.
- Q: What were some key aspects that simply require muscle memory?
- Ans: Muscle memory cannot be taught. It could only be learned through endless practice. I found that a few aspects that simply require time on the water: paddling straight and fast, foil pumping, and balance.
Footnotes¶
- I would also like to do some of these downwind runs. ↩
- . The podcast and YouTube discourse misled me about the degree of difficulty for a flat water paddle up. For example, these videos showed how people learn the paddle up (A and B). I suspect that these youtubers are semi-professional. They do multiple sessions a week all year. They are already really good at auxiliary disciplines such as sup foiling or dock starting. They probably also have access to all the kits and toys (e.g., boats, e-foil, jet skis, etc) to help them progress. They painted a much rosier picture than what I went through. These videos are more helpful to the true average joes (A and B). ↩
- In hindsight, I was probably hitting an asymptote. ↩
- I have this unverified theory that there is a version of paddle-up approach that is more advanced and efficient. It crucially focuses on pumping as the key source of power generation, and paddling is only auxiliary. I noticed that two instruction videos keened on this fact. Jeremy Rig and this Chinese instructor 紅燒. They are able to paddle up with far fewer paddles and what appears to be less effort compared to other instructors. For example, Mr. Rig could gain flight in just 5 paddles. Insane! These two videos also lend evidence to the theory that proper pumping is much more important than paddling (A and B). ↩