Six hours fully packed with Technique and Training tips for Stand Up Paddling at the Surfcenter Altmühlsee, left the participants satisfied and with a lot points to continue working on. We started with a good warm up on land, followed by recording videos and an hour SUP drill training with special exercises on the water. After the lunch break we had a look on the videos and analysed everyone’s technique and where to work on. Thanks to the Bredder Indoor SUP we could practice the proper technique on land. We continued with a strength workout in Tabata style to prepare the body for paddling. After a short break we went on the water again to work on the right technique and an insight into a SUP training session. To finish a fully packed day, we sat together for some Q&A and feedback. Thanks Surfcenter Altmühlsee for the invitation and to the participants for their effort and the lovely feedbacks. Calls for more!
4.0 SUP&FUN Girls Camp with Tina Funke at the Baltic Sea
Text by Tina:
Again a special SUP training camp is over and Tanja Ecker and I, Tina Funke, agree: That was wonderful again! With the now fourth event just for women, a format has been established that is felt both by the participants and for us as organizers something unique.
The men should not misunderstand this. We love paddling and training with them and it will stay that way. However, it is the new participants who tell us that they would not necessarily have dared to sign up for a “mixed” camp because they have doubts about whether they can meet the performance requirements. This usually comes from experiences we women have often already had in school sports or even sports in general. In SUPing, lack of strength and the often new element of water, especially with wind and waves, are then added to the mix. This makes one or the other woman feel insecure.
The sense of community and the social component of such camps means that many of the participants come back again and again. They look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new, interesting women who all have one thing in common: paddling. Our tasks as trainers are, among other things, to encourage, to try out new things “accompanied” and to respond to the individual characteristics with an open ear and new ideas. The certainty that someone is there to look after you encourages the participants to take on new conditions and tasks.
Both of us also place particular emphasis on a high quality course with the teaching of training science content in theory and a varied and diverse practice. Thus we are on the water with different training methods. Training of technique and posture, stroke variations and board control are on the program as well as the conditional skills speed, strength and endurance. On land, the focus is on improving agility, strength and coordination. We take a closer look at problems in technique. For example, why do we use the paddle too far back? How do I mobilize the thoracic spine for a wider reach? Why do I have neck tension after long sessions and how do I avoid it? How can I stabilize my hips to make the power transfer from the paddle blade to the board more effective? The combination of a lot of practice and theory with presentations and explanations makes each training camp unique. The main topics vary so each camp is different, so it’s never boring.
We both come from sports science backgrounds, but have very different backgrounds. Tanja is particularly active in training practice as a successful athlete and coach of junior youth and adult racers. She brings her experience from competitive sports into teaching and planning. Last year she won the ultra long distance race SUP 11-City Tour, is 8 times German champion and also internationally often in the top 10. She now coaches several athletes “remotely” in Europe and whenever possible live on site. As a media specialist, drone pilot and photographer, she has an eye for the picture and her video analyses, which we implement several times within a camp, are simply brilliant.
I, on the other hand, can look back on 37 years of water sports experience. As a coach in windsurfing, white water canoeing and stand up paddling in Europe, I have experienced a lot that I can now pass on to the participants. Trusting us to provide safe and appropriate conditions is crucial for a good learning experience. As an enthusiastic windsurfer, I have dealt intensively with the waves in the Atlantic, Pacific and North Sea and, as a starter in the German Windsurf Cup, I know the harshness of cold, wind and water forces. In the meantime, however, my favorite waves have become somewhat smaller. Through training by sports doctors and sports students and with the additional training as a functional trainer, a lot of background knowledge always flows into the teaching, which has earned me the title Erklärbär. Well, I have to admit that I really like to give the background to methods and techniques. I find it very important that my athletes understand why they should implement something.
Especially the combination of Tanja and me and the blind understanding between us as coaches, makes the SUP Girls Camps something special. So we can react spontaneously and help quickly individually or even split the group. Thus, intensive support is always guaranteed. In addition to the ambitious female athletes, we are always happy to welcome new participants who want to try out a competition or dare to go on longer tours. The different performance levels of the women enliven the camp, as everyone can learn something from everyone else. With the right technique we not only want to push the performance, but also promote a healthy and preventive paddling.
In the not entirely unimportant social program, Tanja feeds us with freshly cooked on-site, healthy, wholesome, vegetarian and delicious meals. In addition to the obligatory banana pancakes, there are also many international dishes on the table. This service in particular offers participants real added value.
I always bring up the subject of regeneration, but the 7 to 8 hours of sleep are difficult to implement with so many interesting women. As is customary, there is also a lot of chatting. Then the recovery simply has to be made up for at home.
Does all this sound interesting?
On August 3, 2023 we will organize a 3-hour workshop on Fehmarn (before the SUP Festival) and the next Girls Camp is planned for early October on the Baltic Sea. More detailed info will follow, but feel free to contact us at info@tanjaoutdoors.de or info@tinafunke.com
The full article was published on Stand UP Magazine >> read more!
Check out the Instagram Reel for a little insight what we did >> watch video recap!
3. SUP&FUN Girls Camp with Tina Funke
First international 🇩🇪🇳🇱 SUP Girls Camp 3.0 in the books! New and familiar faces made it another great weekend with motivated and happy SUP Girls. Learning a lot about paddling technique, speed, turns, mobility, nutrition and training everyone went home with new points to work on and a big smile. Check out the little recap for more insights about what happened! >>> Video Recap
SUP Girls Camp 2.0 in the books! If you have fun and a good team everything runs smoothly:
Great people ✅
Dreamteam ✅
Mix of theory & practice ✅
Training on water & Land ✅
SUP technique analysis ✅
Functional movement screen ✅
Turning point SUP test ✅
A lot of fun ✅
Community & camaraderie ✅
Good talks, food and weather ✅
🐊’s & 🐻’s ✅
Did I miss something?
Thanks Girls for joining Tina Funke and me from whole Germany and can’t wait for the next one! Always great to teach something we all love so much!
>>> Video Recap 2nd Girls Camp
Teamed up with Tina Funke for our first SUP & FUN Girls Camp. That calls for more🙌🏽
Great spirit, amazing community, powerful girls and so much to talk about🤪
We had a lot of fun with SUP training, technique analysis, mobility, strength training, learning the theory about training and nutrition. All focused on the women needs. We discovered the individual challenges on which to work on now, to reach everyone’s goals.
It was a great time with likeminded girls. Camp life with cooking and eating together. And thanks dear friends for the little birthday party 😊
SUP workshop in Sweden with SUP for Life Lomma
Great SUP workshop Supforlife in Lomma 🇸🇪with Charlotte Wilhelmsson and her training kids. Super fun to see the motivation and curiosity of this group.
Organized by Republicofnomado it were intense 4 hours with lots of learnings and improvements. The workshop was customized for the club members needs and Charlotte brought her ergometer. Technique training, turns, starts and different stroke types. I hope you can use all the tips in your upcoming races and paddles! Thanks for the lunch Asa 🌯 and looking forward to work together again 🇸🇪🇩🇪
Charlotte and her training group follow my online training program and we will work together also in the futuer to bring kids and adults together.