Within the paddleboarding industry Brody Welte has been the foundation for fitness, from training programs to daily classes to a national and now worldwide SUP certification course called PaddleFit. He has created a much needed foundation for the sport and a direction that is focused on teaching people how to paddle and a three level certification program for coaches to do the same. "When people think of fitness they think of push ups on the board and that’s not what we are” says Brody. "The number one incentive is teaching people how to paddle and the foundations of how to paddle. If people are paddling right they will be less prone to injury.”
The fastest growing watersport in the world needs direction and Brody’s goal is to teach people how to paddle first. His PaddleFit program places emphasis on paddle progression and how to teach the proper technique. There are three levels to his PaddleFit certification programs:
Level 1: Water safety and rescue techniques
Level 2: breaking down the stroke, teaching the fundamentals, basic training concepts, how to do an assessment
Level 3: Advanced technique and advanced fitness concepts
In an emerging SUP world with new organizations and governing bodies along with certification courses from associations like the ACA (American Canoe Association) Brody’s program stands alone. It is a program by paddlers for paddlers as Brody himself is a veteran of the sport who has had the chance to learn from the best, from guys like Dave Kalama and Laird Hamilton. Brody even won his age group at the Battle of Paddle last year. Experience plus paddle time, lesson time and racing time along with a life history of fitness from football to skiing to personal training and of course paddle sports has led Brody to where he is today. Brody calls himself the “jack of all trades,” but more than anything it is through his passion of the sport that he wants to equip and change people’s lives within the SUP industry.
Today Brody is excited to announce that his certification courses are approaching 900 coaches globally. And where is most of this popularity coming from? The emerging inland market, from lakes to rivers. Brody tells us that, “before last year we did 2 or 3 certifications inland a year and now we are doing 5 and 6 and it will continue to grow. From Colorado to Michigan, our numbers have doubled inland."
So what are Brody’s future goals and plans? Well, for starters he wants to continue on the steady plan of teaching people how to paddle with a foundation. The future Brody says is that “we are going to expand globally and bring PaddleFit to other parts of the world like Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.” He also is working on a national kids program as well, not necessarily from a performance standpoint, but being outside and falling in love with paddling.
Be sure and check out one of Brody’s next PaddleFit certification courses in Denver, Colorado and Tulsa Oklahoma. More info here: http://www.paddlefitpro.com/get-certified/
by Tyler Marshall