Re: [Paddlewise] stroke poll...aw, c'mon

Hi Jim:

1)  Yes, some folks do paddle with their legs, the purpose being to use the
large leg and thorax muscles rather than wee little arm muscles.

For this type of stroke (often called the high stroke), break you stroke
into setup, catch, pull, and recovery.  During the pull, try to keep your
arms fairly straight so that force transmits through the bones rather than
working the muscles (obviously a huge exaggeration, so don't take it
literally).  Rather than hauling back with your arms, propel the boat by
rotating your body.  Key to rotating your body is to drive with the leg on
the side on which you are stroking.  When you straighten your leg, one of
the cheeks of your butt slides back, and this rotates your body.

Recover (take the paddle out of the water) as the paddle approaches your
hips.  (Obviously you'll bend one of your arms at this point).  If the pull
went well, this will leave you all wound up, wanting to unwind by taking a
stroke on the other side.  Instead of thinking stroke, stroke, stroke,
think unwind, unwind, unwind.  Sortta like scything wheat.

A lot of folks don't like this type of stroke.  It takes a lot of energy,
so it is good for short quick jaunts, but requires conditioning to be used
for extended periods.  Most boats are not set up with footboards that you
can drive aggressively against.  Many boats are outfitted for bracing and
rolling so they do not let you slide about on your seat.  To best see it,
check out folks in Olympic sprint racing kayaks.

(You also mentioned movement of the boat -- try to keep the boat moving as
smoothly as possible -- no turning, no rotating, no bobbing.)

2)  Is this dull to write about?  Yup.  And that's coming from a fellow who
had a prior life as a technical writer.  More seriously, the forward stroke
(particularly the high stroke) is best taught one on one.  The information
I just gave you is an extreme over-simplification.  Describing the
technique thoroughly would take a huge amount of time.  This effort has to
be weighed against what it would take to simply go out with an instructor
and take some lessons.  For example, I'll be introducing the high forward
stroke to some beginners tonight.  I'd be willing to bet that they get a
lot more out of our time on the water than anyone would from reading this
post.  Some topics are best discussed in text (e.g. "esoterica involved in
cross linked polymeric chains"), but others, such as introducing new
paddlers to the high forward stroke, are best handled on the water in
person.  Lots more feedback and less room for misunderstanding or
development of bad habits that way.  Perhaps the best way for you to learn
more about the high forward stroke would be to ask the folks on Paddlewise
if they can refer you to instructors in your area.

No one is trying to give you the short shift.  You have some great
questions which deserve solid answers, but we just can't give you the
answers that you deserve over the net anywhere near as well as we could in
person.

Cheers,
Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper

----------
> From: Jim Champoux <jim_at_sigall.com>
> To: Paddle~Wise <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] stroke poll...aw, c'mon
> Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 11:11 AM
> 
> Barbara Kossey Wrote:
> 
> >I think the reason few answered is that is so damn tedious to write
about a
> >paddle stroke. It's technical writing.  Videos are better.
> >Barbara
> >
> 
> 
> 
> Barbara,
> With all the respect due you, are you serious? Tedious?...*Tedious*? This
> list eats breathes and sleeps tedious, its what we live for. Seriously, I
> have never, ever, ever heard anyone make a distinction that writing about
a
> paddle stroke is "technical writing" or "tedious" I mean, how basic to
> paddling is your stroke...surely a good stroke brings you more comfort
and
> joy than knowing the esoterica involved in cross linked polymeric chains
> or...well, you know what I mean.
> As far as relieving you all from the tediousness of technical writing, I
> had posed my poll as a series of questions which can be answered pretty
> much with one word sentences, repeated below
> 
> Let me repeat, I am not interested in "exposing" anyone or embarrasing
> anyone, or even making anyone think about their stroke. I am just a
newbie
> paddler who is curious about how other people who enjoy and take comfort
in
> their paddle stroke do it. I have found out that using my legs really
does
> help my paddling and I have found out that depending on which leg I
"push"
> changes the direction of the stern of my boat. I am trying to reconcile
> comfort with efficiency. Maybe someone out there has done the same.
> 
> 
> ___________________________________________________________________
> >Im trying to deconstruct my stroke. I have finally found a really
> >comfortable stroke that I can seemingly use all day long. Just curious
> >about how you all do it.
> >
> >let's assume that when the left blade enters the water, its point A
> >when the left blade leaves the water, point B
> >right blade enters the water, its point C
> >when the right blade leaves the water, point D
> >
> >
> >1) when you paddle, do you "pedal" your boat; that is to say do you
exert
> >pressure on one foot then the other, depending on where you are in your
> >stroke?
> >
> >2) If you do, when do you push with your right leg (A->B,B->C,C->D, B->A
> etc)
> >
> >3) When you push with your right leg, are you also pushing your knee
> >upwards, or does your opposite knee pull up?
> >
> >4) when your left paddle is in the water between A and B which way does
> >your boat lean left or right?
> >
> >5) when you paddle does the stern of your boat zig zag?
> >
> >
> >Maybe you can answer these, try not to think about it too hard, you
know,
> >try for "muscle memory" answers.
> >
> >thanks alot
> >jim
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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