How to paddle for a wave in bodyboarding

 

Unlike surfers, bodyboarders are able to combine the power of arms, legs and feet to paddle in salted water. But you have to do it rhythmically and in cooperative mode.

"When you're paddling through flat water, use your arms; when you're paddling through turbulent water use your legs, and when you need to get somewhere quickly, use both your arms and legs," explains Rob Barber, author of "The Bodyboard Manual."

If you're simply arm paddling, move your body forward and keep your legs straight and together behind you. You face should almost be in line with the nose of your board.

Arch your back and keep your head up, watching where you're going. Use the front crawl style stroke - alternate arms - reaching as far forward as you can and diving your arm as ...more

$4 million whitewater playboating park below Holtwood Dam tested, about to open to public

 

By remote control, a metal gate opens on the York County side of the Holtwood Dam and impounded Susquehanna river water gushes down a 100-year-old stone fish ladder at 755 cubic feet per second.
Soon, a newly constructed channel is transformed into churning, splashing whitewater reminiscent of a Western river.

The scene last Wednesday morning is just what Matt Samms, a 40-year-old kayaker from Safe Harbor, had been dreaming about for eight years now.

Samms, in a wetsuit, protective helmet  and ear plugs, eases himself into a short, snub-nosed Pyranha kayak that weighs a mere 45 pounds.

Over the next several hours, he and eight other devotees of the whitewater freestyle kayaking sport of playboating spin, surf — even ...more

60/40 versus 50/50: the bodyboard rail equation

 

Rails are one of the most important features in a bodyboard.

 Bodyboard shapers know how rails can make the difference in a bodyboard. Basically, there are two different types of rails: the 60/40 and the 50/50.

The numbers represent a rail/chine ratio. The 60/40 means that 40% is chine - the top part around the deck - and 60% is the lower proportion in direct contact with the wave.

The 60/40 ratio is the most popular bodyboard rail format in the industry. If you're riding bigger waves, with steep faces, you'll be needing more control from your board. That is exactly what the 60/40 set offers.

The 50/50 rails - equally divided on the upper and lower parts of ...more

The Glossary of Bodyboarding Terms

 

The sport of bodyboarding has its own lingo. 

The invention of the bodyboard by Tom Morey brought new terms, words, 

expressions and tricks to the world of wave sports.

The bodyboarding glossary of terms used in the waves is useful to all levels of bodyboarders. 

Discover the vocabulary of bodyboarding and learn new words:

Air Forward 360 - a trick in which the bodyboarder launches into the air off the top of a wave and completes a 360-degree spin out of the water.

Air Reverse 360 - a trick in which the bodyboarder launches into the air off the top of a wave and completes a 360-degree spin out of the water, in reverse mode.

Air Reverse 720 - a trick in which the bodyboarder launches into the air off the top of a wave and completes a 720-degree spin out of the water.

Air Roll Spinner (ARS) - a trick that combines the El Rollo with a 360-degree spin.

Backflip - an acrobatic aerial maneuver, in which the bodyboarder hits the lip of a wave and rotates his body backwards up in the air.

Bat Tail - a style of bodyboard tail that combines the clipped crescent tail and the square tail.
Booger - slang for bodyboarder.

Boogie Board - alternative name for a bodyboard.

Bumpers - nose and tail bumpers are applied to the core of the board to help protect delicate areas, repel water and maximize seam strength.

Channels - the contour of the bottom side of ...more