Eddy Turns on SUP

Hi, my name is Dan Gavere and today I'm going to guide you through an eddy turn. When doing an eddy turn and moving current on a stand up paddle board, there's a few things that you want to keep in mind to make sure that you're successful. The first thing is finding the perfect spot to do it. You want to start in a nice, calm moving water spot with nice deep water, so if you fall in you're not hitting the bottom. The first thing you want to do is set your line before you exit the eddy.

Once you have a little momentum, make sure you have your paddle on the inside of the turn. Because an eddy turn is similar to turning on a bicycle and you're going to want to be leaning to the inside of the turn. As you exit the eddy line, you want your angle of your board to be between 45 and 90 degrees. You're going to want to put a little more weight on that downstream rail. Too much weight on the upstream rail and that board is going to flip right over and toss you in the drink.

Too much weight on the downstream rail adversely, you could fall downstream. So having the perfect amount of board tilt as you exit the eddy line is what you're going to want to practice. Find that easy eddy line. Like I said, get some momentum, set your angle, set your board edge angle and practice on both sides coming in and going out of eddies. Hopefully this is giving you a little bit of information, so you can get out and try to get on the river for the first time. But remember, if you do, always wear a helmet and a life jacket and have a great time.