[Paddlewise] forward stroke - was switching paddles

Hi everyone-

I have been following the euro vs. Greenland paddle discussion with
interest, but have some questions about the forward stroke for both euro and
greenland paddles.

I thought my forward stroke was ok until early this summer when I saw myself
on videotape!  I recommend this for anyone who wants to work on their
technique - very helpful.

I spent the summer reworking my forward stroke to the style the ACA teaches:

-arms fairly straight
-paddle comes out at hip
-whole torso moves, not just arms and shoulders
-hands don't cross over the center line

After so many years paddling one way, it has been surprisingly hard to
retrain myself to paddle differently.  So, I was discouraged when I got Doug
Van Doren's Greenland paddling video and saw that to use my new Greenland
paddle, I might have to retrain myself yet again.

But now I am noticing that a slightly different style of forward stroke is
taking hold, which I saw in an instructional video ("Brent Reitz Forward
Stroke Clinic").  Apparently it has been developed and used by racers, and
differs from the "standard" forward stroke in some significant ways. In
particular it features radical torso rotation, hands crossing over the
center line, paddle release far past the hip and a distinct bend in the arms
throughout the stroke.

I have seen this stroke on TV being used in races, and, when I took a look
at the video clips shown on www.qajaqusa.org, the stroke that Michael
Jakobsen and Maligiaq Padilla were using looked a lot like the forward
stroke demonstrated by Brent Reitz in his video.  This seemed most clear in
the long distance forward stroke (oblique view) as done by Maligiaq Padilla.

Maybe others who have seen the Brent Reitz video and/or who actually paddle
this way could check the qajaqusa site and see if they agree.  Obviously
there are still differences between gp and euro techniques that involve the
blade angle, as others have discussed, but I thought there was a strong
similarity in overall form.

I am curious as to other paddlers' take on this modification of the forward
stroke, since I have not seen anyone in my area (Minnesota) really paddle
this way.  There are several things about this new version which would
probably be easier for my shoulders to handle, and the thought of being able
to learn a more powerful stroke that can be used with *both* Greenland and
euro paddles is very appealing...

Sarah Ohmann






***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************