The Similarities Between Paddleboard Racing & Successful Companies

Prone paddleboard racing is a highly competitive sport here in Australia.

The race itself starts with athletes on the beach, and proceeds out through the ocean, through crashing waves, around a series of buoys, and finishes with a run back up the sand.

Athletes start with a maximum effort sprint across the sand before throwing themselves onto their craft and into the ocean. This uses the big muscles in the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings before quickly transitioning to the latissimus dorsi, deltoids, biceps and triceps.

This rapid transition from one muscle group to another (lower body to upper body) leaves the athletes muscles screaming out for oxygen and creates a buildup of lactic acid in their muscular system.

As a brutal balance of flat-out speed and speed endurance, the race itself can be most closely compared to a 400-metre pool swim or a 400-metre run where athletes are sprinting for an entire length of the course.

Except in this race, the entire course changes for each race and continues to change throughout the duration of the race.

This makes for highly dynamic conditions and unpredictable race factors.

'Well, that’s just surf.'

'Well, that’s just surf' is a common phrase referred to by Surf Lifesaving athletes for the miraculous come-from-behind victories and the heartbreaking losses as the ocean plays cruel tricks by assisting some athletes with waves and hindering others.

However, and more often than not, a select few athletes are able to consistently be in the right place at the right time.

The similarities to successful products, services and companies is not lost on us.

Like launching a product or starting a company, you are unable to control the market, your competitors and the decisions of society. Just like paddleboard athletes are unable to control the ocean.

For the athletes, it’s a matter of getting your perpetration right, developing a race strategy, and putting yourself in a position benefit from the luck of the ocean.

To put themselves in a position to win, athletes need to constantly adapt to changing race conditions, environments and the actions of their competitors.

This needs to happen throughout the entire race. As if almost on a loop the athletes need to be constantly perceptive to their competition and the ocean simultaneously.

The best companies, like the best athletes, are constantly putting themselves in a position to win.

By adapting to the market around them, the best companies are able to faster leverage opportunities and develop competitive advantages.

Like paddleboard racing, this happens constantly. For those who stand still, risk the dangers of the pack getting ahead.

At Gallantway, by improving the way we work together on your digital marketing activities we are able to increase the frequency and transparency of the feedback from the market, your competitors and your customers.

While luck - the ocean - can play a part, the best companies are always the ones in position for when the wave comes.

Gallantway is a performance marketing partner that deeply understands your business. If you’re interested in finding out how your marketing team can run more effective digital marketing, respond to change faster, and deliver better business results then please get in touch.

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