Marvin brings up a good question about torso rotation. I found myself wondering this yesterday. I was paddling comfortably, almost effortlessly in a nice cruise mode, when I wondered if this is what my stroke should feel like because it felt so effortless and I was making excellent way. Then, as if I wouldn't notice, I looked at the mechanics of my stroke as I kept on paddling. I noticed that I was not pulling with my arms very much, though there was a slight pull from my lower hand, I was leveraging the paddle against my upper hand using that slight pull and the rotation at the "waist" (not so much my waist rotating as my upper body, that is, chest and shoulders). I noticed a definite rotation but not pronounced at all at my waist. I turned to head back into the wind and had to work harder, but tried not to think about it too much as I was more focused on "getting back to the put in" (I was dying of thirst having left my water bottle in the car, the wind was picking up, it was thinking as if to rain, and I had to teach a class in an hour I hadn't really prepared completely for). I notice that when I am power stroking for speed or against the wind, I rotate a lot more and leverage a lot more. I feel my legs "pedaling" more as I increase my stroke power and speed, in part to "push" the boat, and in part to brace against the stroke. (I have to say I didn't notice the resistance against the wind with my unfeathered paddle, but the breeze was only about 10-15 knots). In several occasions in the past I asked myself how much rotation was enough. I think this was perfect for the conditions I was in. How much I rotate, I would say, depends on how hard I am working at each stroke, but it never seems to be very much when I leave it alone: my breastbone was moving about 2-3" to either side in easy cruise I guess, and when working, maybe an inch more. Without thinking about it, but simply (okay, touchy-feely-fru-fru stuff here) letting my body go with the flow, I thought the boat forward and the stroke resulted . I would like to attribute this to athleticism, but I think it was more entropy... Being lazy, by entropy and Brownian motion I seek the least amount of work for a balance of comfort and speed. Somehow this seems to be somewhat equal to efficient and I was flying along with minimum effort. How much rotation is enough? I would have to say whatever amount keeps me going without wearing me out at whatever it is I am doing (I am getting there more or less comfortably, without exhausting or hurting myself). Using my arms more may reflect less upper body rotation and make me tire more quickly (wimpy chicken arm boy that I am) while letting my trunk do most of the work requires less overt effort. Entropy in action :-) IRT sitting up, I've also played with this a lot. I feel more stable and in control seated more upright, but my left leg gets wicked numb after about 45 minutes. A touch of lean back and I can feel the efficiency leave my stroke but my leg doesn't go numb (damn, I used efficiency and stroke in the same sentence... I should have been paying more attention to the efficiency posts!). Moving the footbraces back just made them harder to reach. I am working on my flexibility, conditioning and posture in the boat. I think I am getting the posture/numbness balance down (more flex, less cheeseburger...). Ken Schroeter Old Town Millennium 160 Laconia, NH, USA 43°32'25"N 71°28'59"W There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. -- Denis Diderot *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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