[Paddlewise] Forward paddling, paddle length and cocked wrists

G'Day	again and thanks for all the responses. Here's my attempt to answer
the questions.

Natalie Wiest wrote:-
>I'm not sure what you are describing as "cocked wrists".

I was using the expression to describe the use of a control hand eg: "The
control hand uses wrist and forearm motion to rotate the shaft so that each
blade meets the water at the right angle" from The Essential Sea Kayaker; or
"Remember that your right, controlling hand moves the shaft by dropping the
wrist, bending the elbow or doing both at the same time" from The Complete
Book of Sea Kayaking.

Joan Spinner wrote:-
>I would really like to hear more comment on what you learned. What, "long
>held beliefs were dispelled?" You don't have to say they were yours, just
>what were the ones that stuck out to you. The other thing is what criteria
>did she give for judging paddle length?

Most of the long held beliefs were my own. I'm pretty sure that the forward
paddling technique is a well known method for flat water kayakers and may be
the one condemned as silly for use at sea by John Dowd in his book "Sea
kayaking". As I seldom paddle more than 15km and rarely in chop greater than
two or three feet high, this may become a suitable style for me but not for
more "gung ho" paddlers. Lynda did emphasise that this was a forward stroke
for getting places with a minimum of effort and not a substitute for bracing
or sweep strokes. Very occasionally I've been in seas where this stroke
would have led to some rolling practice!

Four beliefs that were shattered
1. The need to use wrist control as described above - it was interesting to
learn a technique in which wrist control was unnecessary whether or not the
paddle was feathered.
2. That it was easier to paddle fast with a long shaft - this had been my
own prejudice not based on any tuition but with Lynda's techique or low
angle paddling I definitely needed a shorter shaft
3. That an unfeathered paddle would not rotate the wrist - Lynda showed that
an unfeathered paddle could rotate a wrist if one were not careful
4. That good posture must necessarily mean sitting upright - In fact she
advocated a slight lean forward with a straight back. I still have a
powerful memory of her knee in the small of my back pushing it straight!

I also learnt:-
- To let the bottom arm do most of the moving during the power section of
the stroke
- Not to push the paddle forward with the top hand as it is wasteful of
energy using movement to reduce the power of the stroke.
- I had no problem blending sweep, low brace, low angle stroke or stern
rudder with this stroke
- I hadn't realised just how inefficient it was to take the blade past the
hip or to use a low angle stroke except when necessary for support

The method for measuring shaft length was carried out sitting in a kayak in
the water with legs slightly bent. One holds the paddle with the lower hand
6 inches from the junction of the shaft and blade and places it in the catch
position ie blade near vertical, close to the hull, submerged and just in
front of the feet. The other hand should be somewhere between the top of the
head and the chin and neither wrist should be bent. If the top hand is 6
inches from the junction of the shaft and top blade then the paddle length
is right for this technique.

There was more but its been a long working day and my memory is fading:~)
I'll follow up with an opinion on effectiveness in a months time when I've
tried the stroke for a bit.

All the best, PeterO
















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