Progression Trips, how do you prepare for them?
Author: Jon Mann
We are fully into the growth phase of the SUP foil scene and it’s amazing to see the buzz and positive energy that has been created around this sport. It’s even cooler to see the ‘hotspots’ being highlighted as more and more amazing content gets shared, and how welcoming and accommodating the locals are to visiting foilers (something I experienced myself in Hood River). As more and more beginners come into the fold, the number of foilers sharing their experience and knowledge has increased significantly, be it in local crews, or on social media, which is exactly how it should be.
It was only a matter of time before progression camps/ retreats started to be offered, most notably the ones by Voyager Foiler (with arguably the most stacked coaching crew and set up out there), James Casey and a few others also offer workshops for those in Australia and the Ocean Paddle Camp and Fred Bonnef are leading the charge in Europe (I myself am involved in a small scale camp with the legends at SurfEars in Tenerife). These camps / retreats / whatever you wish to call them are a fantastic opportunity for more experienced foilers to share their knowledge and learnings, allowing beginners to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes we made along the way, whilst also growing the community and fast tracking progression (Simeon and Kahi talk about it in the Progression Project podcast here).
However, the only downfall of camps is the limitation of the dates. But don’t despair if you can’t make it, as part of the magic of these camps is how great the conditions are (Hawaii, Hood River, Tenerife all boast fantastic DW conditions). So even if you can’t make it to a camp and you are learning to DW, a trip focused on DW progression to somewhere with amazing conditions can be hugely beneficial for your progression (clip below is from my own little progression trip to Hood River). There will almost always be amazing locals (just be respectful and don’t be d*ck) willing to give you tips and even help you out with shuttling (renting a car so you can also help shuttling is never a bad idea).
So how do you make the most of your trip?
Don’t go as a complete beginner… going with the mindset of ‘I’ll learn there’ is doing yourself a disservice. There’s plenty of pre-work that you can do to ensure you maximise your time in (near) perfect conditions. Basically, focus on everything you can that’s accessible to you at home, so that you get the maximum benefit out of being in good bumps. Things you should do / examples of way top prepare are:
Make sure you can stand on your board and paddle straight
There is no point going to the best bumps in the world if you can’t stand on your board and paddle competently (read sprint in a straight line). There is also no excuse for not being able to practice this either as all you need is a body of water and all the gear you would take with you. My flatwater paddle up blog post has some useful tips
Go SUP Foiling
If you live near waves, SUP foil. Get familiar with your board, paddling onto foil and how it pumps.
Practice Bumpy water paddle ups
Ideally you even want to be somewhat proficient in paddling up in bumps (realistically this is the easiest part of downwinding for most, as the staying on foil part is harder, but will vary based on foil background of course). This means you can really utilise the great conditions to focus on your downwind foiling and connecting. I wouldn’t worry about having these on lock as the conditions will also help you further dial them in, but understanding the timing and being able to do them, even if its 10-20% of the time in bay / lake conditions will give you a good foundation. If you don’t have access to bumps, but you do have flatwater, flatwater paddle ups will at least give you the feel of paddling onto foil.
Practice DW foiling
If you wing, have access to a boat or have a foil drive and even on your SUP. Get out there and practice DW foiling. Being able to have some understanding of how bumps run, how to connect them helps. Understanding where you always go wrong can help you ask the right questions as well. Its’ best to go on a progression trip to improve your level as opposed to learning from scratch, though I understand for some, based on local conditions this part might not be possible.
Get fit.
This is probably the easiest of them all. No point going for a ‘progression bender’ if after your first run of the day you’re “f#cked” and don’t have the energy to do more runs through the day. The best things about trips like this is the concentrated amount of time you spend focused on downwinding so ensuring you have the physical capacity to do so helps. I like to do a mix of strength training, running, cycling and of course foiling to keep myself in shape. Flatwater paddle work is also great fitness work.
Rest
Don’t forget to rest a bit before going on your trip. The trip will be tiring so no point going in half cooked because your frothing so much you’ve been paddling every day prior to going.
So I think that’s it. My thoughts on how to make the best out of a ‘progression focused’ trip, be it self organized or a camp. My main piece of advice would be to have fun, reach out to the locals and the better the position you put yourself in before going, the better your progression and the more you’ll get out of it!
As always, happy to answer any questions (email or instagram) you may have on gear, destinations etc so feel free to fire away.