Specialist delivery of Paddle boarding
Stand Up Paddleboarding
Paddle Boarding Lessons
Paddle boarding STARTER - session 1 (all equipment provided)
So you've seen it, maybe tried it - it's cool - it's relatively easy to get started - and now it's time you really should give it a go 'properly'. Like everything, if a professional can show you some basics, you can then relax knowing you will be doing it right, safely and be able to make the most of your time on the water. This is the perfect session if you want to start from scratch, or maybe you have tried it before, and would like to go through it again to make sure you are doing it properly, efficiently and as safely as possible. This could be the only tuition session you ever need, depending on your aspirations, as we cover so much and guarantee to get you up and paddling.
~ Introduction to equipment ~ on land drills, then onto the water ~ launching and landing ~ how to stand up ~ proper paddling techniques ~ turns ~ self rescue techniques ~ trip up the river ~ safety, rescue and theory.
(If you have mobility issues, or damaged knees etc, or find it hard to transition from kneeling to standing on dry land, please talk to us before booking onto this group lesson. We can teach you, and are specialist in teaching people of any ability, you might get more out of a session tailored to your needs rather than this group starter session)
PERSHORE -(usually) SATURDAY mornings.. Just £40 per person
Session is an hour and a half.
Whilst these run every Saturday, they do book up well in advance, so Book onto a session today. This is an adult session (16yrs+)
Paddle boarding REFRESHER (all equipment provided)
If you have done the starter with us before, but not managed to do much paddling since then - or you would like to get back on the water with the instructors looking after you and helping you - then this will be perfect for you.
This is a lovely relaxed course. As you will have been to the centre before, so you know what's coming - and how great it is going to be !!
We will make it nice and easy for you, recapping all you need to know and getting you up and paddling quickly. We can take your skills further, refine your paddle strokes, show you some funky new skills and set you up for future paddling.
Great fun session - and you'll quickly relax and remember just how beautiful it is being on the river and how great it is for your health, wellbeing and mindfulness.
Contact Kim for dates and times ..... Just £40 per person (1.5 hours)
Paddleboard Session 2 - Improver (all equipment provided)
Once you've done the Starter, you should book onto session 2.
This is HIGHLY RECOMENDED - book it up straight after your starter or your refresher.
Even if you have 'done quite a bit of paddleboarding' this session will analyse and improve anyone's paddling.
After recapping launching and getting going, this will take your paddleboarding to the next level. The 'standing up' bit that you perfected in the starter session is just the beginning and we will take all the skills further to ensure that you are doing it all safely and properly. Top paddlers spend years perfecting their paddlestroke - we can show you how you are supposed to do it, and give you drills to take away, so you know you are doing it properly and build on your skills.
With any activity, it is also important to spend time doing it, and this is an important part of this session, consolidating skills, improving techniques and introducing some exciting new possibilities.
We will really analyse how to hold your paddle and how to perfect the whole paddle stroke. We will look at better turns, show you some exciting new strokes, and improved rescues.
PERSHORE usually Saturdays .......... £40 (1.5hours)
Paddleboard Session 3 - Complete Paddleboarder + rescue clinic
Tailored to you, to ensure everyone goes away with the skill sets they want and need to paddleboard safely and efficiently.
Why do this when you can already paddleboard? - well, if you already paddleboard then that is exactly why you should do this course !!
- Would you like to feel more comfortable moving your feet around?
- Would you like to be shown a easy way to break down some really cool skills like Step Back Turn?
- Everyone, no matter how good they think they can paddle, can benefit from a top coach analysing their paddling and work together to suggest improvements and tweaks to skills.
- amazing top tips - take away an action plan for your future paddling.
- Rescue clinic included !
This is a great fun session, putting everything into place and looking at some fund new skills. Run more like a clinic - this session is proper coaching of the skills you need.
Importantly this session also includes the rescue skills clinic going through the rescue skills for you, and also to be able to help other people you are paddling with.
We use wetsuits for this session (you don't have to get wet, but its better if you are prepared to give it a go!). It's so important that people can get back up onto their boards after falling in. This is not as difficult as some people would have you believe, the right coaching tips will help make it all possible, and we guarantee to get you self rescuing everytime. You will also come away being able to get other people back onto their boards too.
We'll also cover all your questions about boards and kit.
Highly recommended this clinic style tuition session
PERSHORE Saturdays ................. £40 per person
All our courses are made up of elements from the British Canoe courses, coaching techniques and qualifications.
We can arrange a stand alone course, like the 'SUP safer award', or build certificates into the above tuition courses.
Specialist delivery of Paddle boarding
Stand Up Paddleboarding
Private Tuition
With Private Tuition, we can tailor every minute of your session totally to you. Whether it's your first go, or you are looking to perfect your paddle stokes, or learn a specific set if skills, these session guarantee to deliver you a fast track to success.
Paddleboarding is so accessible and relatively easy, in as much as anyone who can comfortably stand up from a kneeling position on land, can quite quickly learn to 'do it'. But just to be able to stand up and 'do it' is just scratching the surface of its full potential. There is so much to learn in paddleboarding, more than any of us realised when we started. In other sports top athletes train with a coach as often as they can because they know training from a coach works, and paddleboarders are starting to realise this too.
If you love paddling now, but have never had an official 'lesson' - or maybe had a brief taster somewhere else, we absolutely guarantee that we can make your time on the water even more fun and even better. You will love it even more when you know you are doing it properly and you will get more from your time on the water.
£75 for 1to1 tuition for an hour - usually at our Evesham Centre
SUP Yoga
These are always fully booked - so booking well in advance is essential
This is a great session - great equipment - amazing professional yoga instructor (Kymberley Lane) and supported by Kim Bonk
Most people who come on these have either done yoga before and fancy doing it on the water OR
They already SUP and fancy doing the yoga session
We have been running SUP Yoga for many years now.
To be able to relax and do SUP Yoga comfortably, you need the good stable boards. ARA have 12 yoga style boards that are 35' wide, as well as a fleet of Mega Sups, if you fancy being really stable.
You also need a PROPER YOGA INSTRUCTOR (not just a paddle coach who thinks they can show you a few yoga moves)
That's exactly what we do
But there's more..... we also have the perfect location. The creek opposite our centre has a perfect flow of water entering it. It's the feed for the HEP. There is a line of buoys that we tie on to, so all the boards sit in the perfect position. It is also sheltered from the wind - Perfect
SUP YOGA - we thought it was a fad - until we tried it - it's awesome. It's so lovely be in the perfect, peaceful outdoors venue (well, apart from the odd swan - see pictures below...
the wobbles make the exercise so much better - its great fun and so rewarding.
Kymberley Lane
Professional Yoga Coach
Sup Touring on the Avon
ARA work in partnership with the Avon Navigation Trust - we run the activities for the water authority, and the training for their volunteers.
The Avon is an amazing river - and we are the specialists on the Worcestershire/Warwickshire Avon.
With our 2 centres, Evesham and Pershore, we are perfectly positioned to run hires, or trips between the 2.
We only hire to people that have had lessons with us.
Doggy SUP Dogs on Paddleboards
ARA run regular sessions for Dogs and their owners
PLEASE NOTE - DOGS ARE NOT USUALLY ALLOWED ONSITE in PERSHORE
(Except on the Doggy SUP days when we get/give special permission....)
BUT you can hire a Mega Sup in Evesham for you and your dog any weekend (book in advance)
The Pershore dog sessions are perfect. Private field site, where you can park close to the river make the perfect venue for our doggy sessions.
low level pontoon makes it easy for the dogs to walk on and off - this is so good for getting the dogs onto the boards
ARA have 6 Mega Sups (see pics) - which are used on this session at no extra cost, great for getting any dog comfortably onto the water.
Please bring your own board is you have one (talk to Kim at time of booking) - It's worth checking your dogs nails are as trim and smooth as possible.
You will need a harness or a dog b'aid (essential, as the handle is needed to lift them out of the water)
BOOK IN ADVANCE ONLY - places are limited
Always a pleasure - always great fun ;0)
Bonkers Paddleboard Centre - PERSHORE
Some more information about your paddleboarding in Pershore
ARA is the perfect PADDLEBOARD CENTRE (bookings only, not open to the public)
Pershore, Worcestershire, WR10 1QU
FREE PARKING - WARM CHANGING ROOMS - HOT SHOWERS - PURPOSE BUILT WATERSPORTS STORE - CLASS ROOM - PRIVATE RIVER FRONTAGE - SUPERB LAUNCH PONTOON - AMAZING SECLUDED RIVER LOCATION SO MUCH TO SEE AND DO - LOADS OF THE BEST PADDLEBOARDS AND ALL THE GEAR
Facilities as good as any large UK centre, BUT the difference is ARA is still 'real' and 'friendly'. Kim will take your booking, and it will be Alex and/or Kim (or Kai for young people) that will be there on the day and run your session.
ARA have only the best equipment, so you have the best experience. Perfect beginner kit to make your first steps the best they can be. Touring boards for river trips. Waist belts for leashes when appropriate, the best buoyancy aids for all ages and sizes, a range of wetsuits, waterproof jackets and trousers and everything you could need.
The launch area - with purpose built low level pontoon, is perfect. ARA chose this site many years ago for lots of reasons. Known locally as Bonkers Activities, The purpose built centre also has its own back field (where you can park close to the river for your lesson). It is very sheltered from the wind, which is so important for paddleboarding. It is the most beautiful section of the river with loads to see and has the most amazing wildlife, like herons, cormorants, kingfishers and so much more to give you the the best possible all round recreational experience.
FINDING THE CENTRE - Pershore
In Pershore, is King Georges way (where the football club is and the leisure centre). This can be accessed by driving through the Asda car park, or by turning at the traffic lights next to 'Pershore Cars'. Drive past the leisure centre, c50m, is the end of the road where you will find the Pershore Riverside Centre.
ON ARRIVAL
Reception is AROUND the BACK (do not use the front door - that's for the youth centre). You can drive around the back, through the far side gate, and park on the grass (or if its very wet, you can park in the free front car park and walk around the side gate)
The perfect time to arrive would be c10minutes before the time of your session. This will give you time to fill out the activity consent form and to get changed and ready.
The changing rooms are secure and locked while we are on the water, so your stuff will be safe. You can leave your car keys safely locked in the centre.
WHAT TO BRING / WEAR for you SUP session
For all paddleboard sessions
-
Please bring footwear to get wet (beach shoes or wetsuit shoes/boots are perfect, or old trainers with flat bottoms work ok), light weight clothes (quick drying sports gear is best) and a second layer like a quick drying fleece or windproof jacket. For afterwards you will need a change of clothes and a towel.
-
ARA have a large range of full wetsuits and waterproofs if appropriate, but please bring the above gear for most sessions, and then we can choose what is best for the day, as it will depend on the weather etc.
-
Buoyancy Aids and the equipment itself are provided
-
Wearing a wetsuit on your first ever tuition session can be a good idea so you are not worried about maybe falling in, and often makes you relax and 'go for it' a bit more. But, because of our very sheltered flat water setting, close to the centre, some people choose not to wear a wetsuit, depends on the weather and the activity, often people are more comfortable in their sports clothes. We will discuss the options and decide on the day.
-
If you have your own wetsuit, wetsuit boots, beach shoes etc defiantly bring them.
(Please note - 'what to wear when paddleboarding in various locations' is whole different discussion topic that we will cover on your lesson)
-
Glasses. Tricky one, and no guarantees, so bring an old pair if you have them, and one of those glass holder things that tie round your head. Or maybe contacts. Up to you, but any glasses not tied on will fall off and sink if you end up in the water.
For Longer sessions / Trips / Summer Activity Days
-
as above + Packed lunch and drinks + sunblock + drybag + lightweight change of clothes + waterproof jacket + mobile phone in waterproof case
