Paddling Tips

CORE PADDLING by Bob Putnam

The difference between a good paddler and a strong paddler is the use, or lack of use, of ones core muscles. Many paddlers are 'arm paddlers', using only their small bi-ceps and tri-ceps to power the kayak. If you employ the larger muscle groups of your trunk, back and even your legs you can put much more power into each stroke.

Blade to Boat Connection

Think of this: when you put your blade in the water and pull, the power is converted to movement of the boat. How much movement is determined by how strong the connection is. Think of how effective a rubber drive shaft for your car would be. The power from the paddle must travel from the blade through your arm, then your trunk to where your body meets the kayak which is your bum and feet.

Core Connection

1. It makes it easier to rotate thus employing your core muscles.
2. It creates a more solid structure stacking your vertibrae and firming your core muscles.
3. If you slouch while you paddle you will be prone to injury.

There are four parts to the stroke. Set-Up - Catch - Power or Pull - Exit. These four phases are blended to make an efficient and fluid motion that will propel your kayak through the water.

• THE SET-UP
  This is when you are getting ready to put your paddle in the water and is a very important part of the stroke. Done properly, it will separate the core paddler from the arm paddler. Try to reach to the front of the kayak but not just with your hand. Try to imagine reaching with your new stroke side shoulder, twisting your trunk. It's like winding up a spring. Your new stroke side hand should be at head height while getting ready to put the paddle in the water.
• THE CATCH
  This is when you put the paddle in the water. This should take place when you are fully rotated forward. Try to stick the paddle into the water 'clean and deep' without un-winding your trunk. The whole blade should be buried in the water. This 'locks' the blade into the water and acts as a fix point from which you will literally pull the boat past the paddle. A common analogy is 'spearing the fish'. Both arms should be active in the catch. A mistake is for the paddler to start to unwind as they slowly put the blade in. This results in a poor catch.
• POWER
  I don't like to use the word "pull" as people think of using their arms. Start with your leg, driving your stroke side hip back and the boat forward, while allowing your non-stroke side hip to bend. Tighten your trunk while your stroke side shoulder moves back and your non-stroke side rotates to the front. Your arms are merely linkage to the blade. With an upright posture I like to think of pushing the boat ahead of me instead of dragging it along behind me. Your top hand should stay high in front of your face during this phase. A common mistake is to allow your top hand to drop which results in the paddle scooping water instead of propelling the boat forward.
• EXIT
  
• Exit the blade around or before your hip. Slice the blade out of the water by lifting the stroke side blade up to your top hand. Avoid the opposite of dropping your top hand down to the stroke side blade. Exit the blade early and cleanly improve your glide. Leaving it in the water only creates drag. Your exit should blend smoothly into the set-up of the new stroke.

Other things to think about...

Forward Stroke Technique Guru and Master Coach Imre Kemecsey has coached several Sprint Kayakers to World Championships including Canadian Renn Crichlow. Imre describes aspects of the forward stroke in "Power Circles".

• Arms
  Imagine your arms as a hoola-hoop with the paddle shaft and your shoulder blades completing the circle. Your arms should be almost fully extended and the shape of the circle should be maintained through out the stroke to maintain optimal power transfer. By bending our arms the structure of the circle becomes weak and we lose power from the system. The circle should move as a unit, with tension on the stroke side hand and compression on the top or supporting hand.
• Legs
  The legs create a powerful connection to the boat. Many performance kayaks have pull-bars or straps that you can hook your toes underneath. Imre calls the legs, "The Powerful Bicycle". Again compression on the stroke side leg and tension (pulling) on the non-stroke side leg. For boats with no pull bars, the relaxing or bending of the non-stroke side leg helps facilitate rotation.
• Stroke side Arm to Leg
  With your blade locked in the water imagine tension on the stroke side paddle shaft with the power connecting through your trunk to compression on your stroke side bum and foot. With your top hand supporting the shaft and the blade locked in the water imagine trying to bend the shaft by using the power connection from your foot and torso.

Wing Blade

You have probably noticed the increasing number of people using wing blade paddles. Although I wouldn't recommend them to everyone, there are some benefits that you would reap from this blade design.

First and foremost, the blade allows you to catch the water in a very effective manner. When you insert the blade into the water it becomes like a fixed object. A wing does this much better than a conventional paddle. Similar to the shape of an airplane wing which creates upward lift as air flows around the wing, the wing paddle will create forward pull as water flows around the blade.

The wing blade is most effectively used with a high angle stroke. This means that your top hand is high in front of your face when the stroke side blade is in the water. This creates a steep or high shaft angle. Wing blades come in different sizes and you should pick the size based on your body type, your strength, your paddling technique, and the typical speed at which you paddle. This may be determined by the boat you paddle. For instance, if you pick a big blade and are paddling a slow kayak you will put excessive load onto your wrists, elbows and shoulders.

Typically people paddling standard sea kayaks or people with smaller body structure should use a smaller blade shape.

Epic Paddles have been the leader in the wing blade world for many years. Not only are their paddles the lightest available they are meticulously engineered and manufactured. I recommend getting a two piece with Length Lock which allows for 10 cm of variance in length and also allows you to adjust the feather angle. For more advice on picking a Wing Blade, the www.epickayaks.com website has a paddle wizard. By answering a few questions the wizard will recommend a length and blade shape.