[Paddlewise] leg action in foward stroke

hi everyone, below is response i made on rbp regarding questions about leg
numbness. does anyone know of a good video on foward stroke mechanics with
european paddle?

in addition to improving circulation in your legs and thereby reducing
numbness and discomfort, using your legs with your foward stroke is essential
to transmitting your paddling force to the boat. flexing and then extending
your leg with each stroke will also cause your pelvis to rotate. in addition
to causing calluses on your butt, this allows the strength of your large leg
muscles to power your foward stroke when this pelvis movement is coupled with
your torso rotation. this is well demonstrated in doug van doren's video on
inuit style paddling, but applies equally to a vertical euro style paddle
stroke.

the other common cause of leg circulation problems (perhaps previuosly
addressed) is the front edge of your seat ending too soon/too short,
resulting in a pressure line across the back of your thigh which prevents
adequate blood flow. this can be solved by adding some foam just in front of
the seat with a gradual slope down, so that there is a more gradual change in
the pressure on the back of your legs.

hope this helps

george ruta
northcountry kayak

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