An old lesson from kayaking is that you should visualize yourself moving the boat forward instead of pulling the paddle through the water. Looks like this strategy can also make a huge difference for SUP.

Reach forward and plant that paddle completely into the water. Now make (roughly) the same movements as always, but imagine the blade staying in a fix place in the water, and pushing your board forwards.

You should notice a huge difference in resulting speed, especially when standing in the kung-fu stance. When reaching forward with the blade, stretch your rear leg and bend your front knee slightly. This helps you reach even further. Plant the blade and during the stroke, kick your board forward by stretching your front leg and bending your rear knee.

I find this trick to make a huge difference in transfered power and speed.

Any thoughts on improvements? Think it's plain wrong? Better ideas? Please post here.

Great pointer J. This is exactly how I paddle when hitting waves on the ocean and river to power over them. In fact it is also how I start a race or a sprint stroke even in flat water.