Here's a nice vid showing a good stroke.

DJ

yeah nice clean rythm , Danny Ching has the best tech i think. I like to mix up my tech a bit , it seems to give some muscles a rest , i change my blade around sometimes to , this seems to work some different muscles too.I try anything too get me through one of Kellys killer sessions

nice vid- with an outrigger canoe paddling background, I'd say two additional points should be emphasized when it comes to the stroke:

1) Place Power Up Front and 2) Understand that "one stroke" is comprised of 2 parts: blade in water and the return.

Placing power up front helps increase stroke efficiency and glide. As soon as you bury the entire blade you want to be apply max power to your stroke. This causes the board to lift up and helps you accelerate and glide. If you are applying too much power at the end of your stroke, it could apply a brake like force. Think of it like this: you are burying your blade then pulling yourself up to it.

One stroke has two halves. When you paddle, take it one complete stroke at a time. The return of your blade, from back to front, is the board's opportunity to glide. Give it a slight pause up front before starting another "one stroke." This way, you maximize glide time. Try it out, should make things feel smoother overall. Wind complicates matters, but that's where you learn to make further adjustments.

paddlingben said...
nice vid- with an outrigger canoe paddling background, I'd say two additional points should be emphasized when it comes to the stroke:

1) Place Power Up Front and 2) Understand that "one stroke" is comprised of 2 parts: blade in water and the return.

Placing power up front helps increase stroke efficiency and glide. As soon as you bury the entire blade you want to be apply max power to your stroke. This causes the board to lift up and helps you accelerate and glide. If you are applying too much power at the end of your stroke, it could apply a brake like force. Think of it like this: you are burying your blade then pulling yourself up to it.

One stroke has two halves. When you paddle, take it one complete stroke at a time. The return of your blade, from back to front, is the board's opportunity to glide. Give it a slight pause up front before starting another "one stroke." This way, you maximize glide time. Try it out, should make things feel smoother overall. Wind complicates matters, but that's where you learn to make further adjustments.

Thanks for that awesome bit of info to someone we to the sport that makes a lot of sense to me.
Will practice that over the next couple of paddles

David,

Vid one looks like very smooth and using his core.

My question Vid (2) he has a large amount of back bend and it seems to me that over time this would be a big issue??

DavidJohn said...


About midway though the vid as he starts to get towards the pier/bridge and go under his technique seems to change to what I do like.. where his top hand goes more up and down rather doing that big circle movement.. (maybe its just the camera angle)

Don't you think the change in stroke is entirely due to swapping sides with the paddle? As he is a C1 paddler, you can see that when he is paddling on the right side, his chest is not square on to the board, he is favouring the side he paddles, just like in C1. His left foot is forward. When he changes to the left side, his stroke is more like SUP and less like C1 and his feet are square on, neither side in front. Doesn't really explain the windmill at the start but does hint at why the windmill is less prevalent later.

Having said all that, we did some technique work last week with the aid if a camera and I discovered I was doing exactly what you describe - windmill on one side and not the other. Everybody should video their technique to see what they are doing wrong.

Hey RJK let us know what you think once you've given it a go.. It's just something to think about that's all.. Small circles are good.. Small ovals even better.. and up and down might be even better still but it uses more energy from the lower hand/arm but in the end may be much better on your joints .. Really big circles are not so good.. IMO..

PT.. You're right.. and vids and even pictures of yourself is a great way to see what you are doing right.. and what you're doing wrong.

Here's a few more vids from the same guys.

DJ