Paddling is perhaps not something you’ve given much thought to, but being a strong paddler makes all the difference to your wave count. Without meaning to state the obvious, the more you catch the more you surf the more you improve, etc. If you can increase your wave count by 20% through a bit better paddling/an extra 1/8th” on the stringer, that’s like one whole extra session’s worth of waves every 4th surf. Like, way better than Costa Coffee’s loyalty card!

Thickness: Don’t be shy to err on the side of thickness. The 90’s happened darling, then we all got over it and moved on. Well some of us, anyway. Even if you don’t want to go extra thickness as such in your dims, you can always just ask your shaper to take a bit less foam off up into the nose. That applies for your boards for waves from 1ft to 100ft.

Paddle battles: Ever tried sprint paddling whilst cracking up laughing? Hard isn’t it? It’s a bit like climbing the rope at school and getting a semi… it feels weird. Anyway, paddle battles with your bro are like the the aquatic version of arm wrestles (fun!), without the shattered wrist/purple faces/burst blood vessel in eyeball.

Devon’s Andrew Cotton, seen above going right, is fairly pragmatic about the fine art of paddle:

“ Just put your head down, paddle like fuck…”

Notably impressive paddlers include: Nathan Hedge (weren’t expecting us to tell you to be more like him today, were ya?), and probably Parko, since he paddles the Molokai channel for breakfast.