🏄 Why Great Coaches Never Stop Learning

I’ve always believed that as a coach, you should never assume you know everything!

SUP is still a relatively young sport and it continues to evolve. There is always something new to learn - from other paddlers, from different conditions and, sometimes, simply from spending more time on the water.

Over the last few months, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with some of the UK’s top paddlers, looking closely at things like:

• Technique - body position, blade efficiency and adapting to different conditions

• Race tactics - reading the field, positioning your board and making decisions on the water

• Mindset - what it takes to train consistently and perform under pressure

• The “why” - understanding why a paddler does something, rather than simply copying what they do

Questioning the water with champions

Recently, I spent a morning on the water with Marie Buchanan, just days before she went on to win three gold medals at the ICF SUP World Cup in Torquay. 🥇🥇🥇

What I enjoyed most was that neither of us was simply assuming we had all the answers.

We were questioning our own techniques, discussing what worked and looking at how things might be adapted.

For me, that’s what good learning looks like.

It isn’t about one person having all the answers. It’s about being curious, asking questions and being willing to look at things differently.

I’ve also been spending time with other racers, including Paul from Starboard UK down in Devon, and have plans to keep learning from as many different paddlers as I can over the coming months.

Bringing the learning back to Epic Life

For me, the really important part is what happens next.

It’s not much use learning something new and keeping it to yourself.

I want to bring that knowledge back to Epic Life and share it with our coaching team and SUP Club members.

The more we learn as coaches, the more ideas and different ways of doing things we can bring to our sessions - and that benefits everyone who gets on the water with us.

You don’t have to want to race to benefit from race-level knowledge.

For our paddlers, that might mean:

Beginners – developing solid technique and building confidence from the start.

Challenge paddlers – becoming more efficient so they can conserve energy over longer distances and consolidating great techniques in different conditions.

Aspiring racers – developing speed, turns, positioning and tactical awareness.

But there’s more to it than performance!

Watching how experienced paddlers deal with changing conditions and make decisions on the water gives us all something to learn from. It can help everyone become a more confident and capable paddler.

Not everyone wants to be a racer, but with play, practice and coaching, we can all enjoy becoming better paddlers.

The power of play!

One of the things that has really stood out to me when spending time with these top paddlers is how much they value simply being on the water.

They play.

They experiment.

They try things without worrying about getting it perfect.

They put themselves into different conditions, try things and learn through experience.

And sometimes, that’s the best training of all.

Get on the board. Try something different. Fall in. Have another go. See what happens!

Not every session needs to have a plan or a stopwatch attached to it. Mindful paddling has its place too - alongside chasing personal bests!

Sometimes you just need to paddle!

Great coaching should never stand still.

And neither should we!

Cliff
Head Coach, Epic Life