Re: [Paddlewise] Torso rotation

Marvin,

You're about to get my professional opinion, so try not to get offended.
Remember, you asked for it...

The preferred technique you described, leaning back and paddling with your
arms, is a L-A-Z-Y way to kayak. :) Fine if you only want to toodle around
on a flat lake for 30 minutes, but totally worthless on a long trip or in
windy conditions. You mentioned feeling awkward rotating your torso -- this
is a normal feeling. After 30 minutes, it will stop feeling awkward and
you'll be used to it henceforth. The reason it feels awkward is twofold.
One, because we humans rarely engage in such active torso rotation in normal
life. Two, because nearly every skill in kayaking is counter-intuitive. If
it feels wrong, there's a good chance that it is actually right. Chew on
that for a bit...

One other possibility why leaning back feels good is that you have bad back
support. You may consider installing a good back band. Rigid seat backs are
not so great.

Many people have given you good advice for activating your torso during the
stroke. But it sounded to me like you were able to do it, but just didn't
like it. Nevertheless, torso rotation is such a fundamental skill, that I
also cannot resist commenting on how to do it. But I'll restrict my comments
to a couple of observations on what Scott said below:

----- Original Message -----
From: <KiAyker_at_aol.com>
To: <paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2001 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Torso rotation


> > Just how much torso rotation is normal?
>
>    Paddling with straight arms, as already mentioned, is probably the best
> way to accomplish what you are trying to figure out. The technique is
simple,
> just lock your elbows and paddle. The only way you can paddle the boat
with
> your arms locked is by using torso rotation. Once you get the hang of it,
> bend your elbows just enough to feel comfortable and continue paddling as
you
> did with your elbows locked. If you can do this then you should have
pretty
> good torso rotation working for you.

This is a really good teaching technique, and is exactly what I teach to my
students.

>    The problem is that I find that quite a large number of people are
unable
> to paddle with their elbows locked. They just can't do it! I guess it's
sort
> of like rubbing your stomach with one hand while patting your head with
the
> other.

I've encountered some people with this problem. But I have always been able
to get them to figure it out with enough "positive" feedback.


> Not everyone is able to easily accomplish this. So another technique
> you might try is to sit comfortably in your boat with your back more or
less
> straight. Hold your paddle comfortably out in front of you at about chest
> height or slightly below, elbows slightly bent. Now slowly, and gently.
twist
> your torso with your paddle from one side to the other. Imagine you are
> simply limbering up your torso with this twisting exercise. Once you have
> twisted a number of times from one side to the other in the air, keep
slowly
> twisting, but drop one end after the other of your paddle into the water
as
> you do.

So called "air paddling" is an excellent teaching tool, and is the exact
same next step that I use to teach torso rotation if locked-arms trick
doesn't work. Good going, Scott!

Kevin


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