Re: [Paddlewise] Leg Power (was an apology to Jim et. al. - )

From: Kirk Olsen <kolsen_at_imagelan.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 10:48:07 -0400 (EDT)
On Sat, 26 Jun 1999, Michael Daly wrote:

> (I believe this is quoting matt broze)
> > Every flatwater kayaker I have seen pushes with the onside leg.  That is,
> > they drive with the leg that is on the same side as the stroke.  
> 
> Does this mean that you have to "loosen up" the fitting of your sea
> kayak to use the leg power effectively?   I don't get the leg push, to
> be honest.

I tried using the offside leg push this past weekend when I was out on my
surf ski, it's a whole lot easier to figure out what your legs do when 
you can watch them.  

I get completely mixed up trying to push with the offside leg.
I don't feel that I can decently "trigger" my stroke unless I can push
on the side I'm paddling on.  Pushing with my onside leg keeps my hips
solidly in place as I rotate my torso.

I find I don't have a whole lot of lower body motion during a stroke, my 
onside knee may drop an inch during the leg push and my hips only rotate 
a small amount.  I do think I push down slightly on the opposite side of the
boat during the stroke in order to keep the boat level - I've almost 
eliminated side to side tipping of the boat while paddling a straight line.

kirk
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Received on Mon Jun 28 1999 - 07:52:29 PDT

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