Re: [Paddlewise] Helping a new paddler?

Robert C. Cline" wrote:
>>When I was putting in at the bay last year a guy on a SOT came up and told
me he was a kayak guide and instructor.  Said he knew the area and could
help us out.  I had watched him paddle up.  He was holding his paddle upside
down.
Must be a new technique, I thought to myself.
Told him thanks, but we were ok.<<


Question:
How does an expert paddler hold his paddle?
Answer:
Just like a 500 pound gorilla; anyway he wants to!

This answer also goes for putting the spraydeck inside or outside of the PFD
and leaning toward or away from small breakers and steep waves, among many
other things.

I would however suggest a novice start out by using the paddle the way the
manufacturer intended (which he has about a 50/50 chance of doing without
help). It makes very little difference really, except at high speed or
acceleration, and sometimes it can be of benefit to use some paddles upside
down. Some long time paddlers I have met use their paddles upside down all
the time and prefer it that way (by coincidence I met another one today).
They usually tell me it feels like they are getting a better bite on the
water and it gives them a little extra kick at the end of their stroke.
Personally, I think they are actually feeling the energy they are wasting
lifting water at the end of the stroke and misinterpreting the extra effort
as a benefit rather than a loss.
One time I was testing out a kayak companies new highly spooned asymmetrical
paddle (with a round shaft). As I would pull back hard for a stroke the big
blades would slide to the side and around the arc of their spoon. This slide
off line was either in towards the kayak or out to the outside away from the
kayak, but which way it would go was unpredictable. If I wasn't careful the
blade would make a full circle. Not being able to know where the blade was
gong to go next was very annoying because paddle placement had to be very
precise and I had to grip the round (hand bruising) shaft much tighter to
prevent this from occurring. Then I hit upon the solution: "Switch the
paddle end for end". [Aside: BTW Ralph this phrase along with a gesture
(crossing my forearms while pretending to hold a paddle) is how I tell a new
paddler to put the paddle in the desired--by me--orientation. Let me explain
the "by me": I have the normal downside of our fiberglass blade demo paddles
padded with electrical tape (so the paddler doesn't scratch up my demo
kayaks as much if they hit it at the start of a stroke). I also advise many
paddlers testing our kayaks that they don't need to turn the paddle over to
paddle backwards (thereby save them a lot of useless switching around and me
from some more scratches on my kayaks' decks). I don't bother trying to
correct all the renters I see in my next door competitor's kayaks although I
admit to often feeling the urge to help them out].
Back to the original point: by switching the squirrelly spoon blade paddle
end for end (therefore using the blades upside down from what was intended
by the manufacturer) the twist imparted on the blade as it entered the water
always tended to send the paddle into the outside arc. Because of this
consistency in direction, the tendency could be corrected for, in advance,
rather than just be reacted to after the fact. This got me back to the dock
and my own paddle (which I appreciated all the more--after having flirted
with its rival).

To those who believe there is only one right way I will quote Aldous Huxley:
"Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds". (I think it was Aldous--or
maybe it was a physicist said it, or maybe a conversation Huxley had with a
physicist, or was it a mathematician--hate this getting older).

Had some fun the other day. Went skiing a little over 2 weeks after having a
double hernia operation. Stayed out of the moguls for the most part in
deference to the operation and on one run I found myself on the most novice
of the runs. Thought I'd get with the program and try to ski like an
uncoordinated novice (a little out of control, doing just about everything
in a tense and jerky manner, and narrowly avoiding one hazard or tree after
another. One woman, sympathizing with my plight, tried to help and gave me
suggestions to lean more forward. With each suggestion she made I would lean
even further back on the tails of my skis until finally my boots would lift
themselves and the front of my skis off the snow and then I would (staying
in character) clumsily swing my tips around and flop them down to make the
turn. I think she was frustrated that she couldn't seem to help me do it
right (how she was taught), in fact, I must have appeared to be getting
worse rather than better. Funny thing is that while sitting back is not
considered good technique, and no one I know but me teaches it, it is how I
can ski in almost all conditions (powder, moguls, crud and the super steep)
and it sure works for me. I described why it works in my book "Freestyle
Skiing" back in the 70's but nobody paid much attention, in the ski schools
anyway. Their loss, I figure.
To bring this back to paddling I suggest you will learn more than an
instructor can teach you if you try to think of all the ways to make the
kayak move and turn that you can and then test them out. Then come up with
some more new ways and test them. Who knows at the least you might learn
something you can use during some special circumstances later, maybe you
will find a better forward stroke.
Matt Broze (never went to ski or kayaking school and it shows)
http://www.marinerkayaks.com


***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not
to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************