Yesterday I was trying to help someone with their sculling brace. He did very well with supporting himself in an extreme edging situation. He could bring the the kayak over past 90 deg, hold himself above the water in a J lean, and had water well up over the sprayskirt. However, whenever he tried to lower himself so that all his body was in the water the paddle would quickly dive and he would lose all support. Fortunately he has a good roll and despite about 6 capsizes never had to wet exit. We talked about raising his outboard hand as he lowered himself so that the paddle would stay more parallel to the water's surface and about laying back so there was less capsizing force. However, he just could not seem to keep the paddle from diving. I used to have the same problem, but it just seemed to go away one day. I am not aware of any particular adjustment I made to keep the paddle from diving. Is there some "trick" to getting lowered into the water without having the paddle dive. A couple of things I thought about were: 1. Moving both hands more outboard as you get lower into the water 2. Eliminating/reducing the J-lean so there is not so much upper body angle change when lowering the body into the water. 3. Initiating the final "capsize" more by raising the paddle off the water rather than pushing the upper body down into the water. I am not sure if any of these would help or if they might even hurt. I would appreciate comments on the above and any other suggestions you might have regarding teaching the sculling brace. Mark Arnold mjamja_at_earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:13:06 -0600, "Mark Arnold" <mjamja_at_earthlink.net> said: > Yesterday I was trying to help someone with their sculling brace.... However, > whenever he tried to lower himself so that all his body was in the water > the paddle would quickly dive and he would lose all support. > Fortunately he has a good roll and despite about 6 capsizes never had to > wet exit. When sculling have him think "spread the peanut butter on the soft bread". I find the paddle blade angle to be about the same angle that I use when making a sandwich, mmm food... If I'm not making a little bit of surface splashing the blade isn't angled right. -- Kirk Olsen kork4_at_cluemail.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:13 PM 11/13/2003 -0600, Mark Arnold wrote: >Yesterday I was trying to help someone with their sculling brace. He did >very well with supporting himself in an extreme edging situation. He >could bring the the kayak over past 90 deg, hold himself above the water >in a J lean, and had water well up over the sprayskirt. However, >whenever he tried to lower himself so that all his body was in the water >the paddle would quickly dive and he would lose all support. Fortunately >he has a good roll and despite about 6 capsizes never had to wet exit. > >We talked about raising his outboard hand as he lowered himself so that >the paddle would stay more parallel to the water's surface and about >laying back so there was less capsizing force. However, he just could not >seem to keep the paddle from diving. I used to have the same problem, >but it just seemed to go away one day. I am not aware of any particular >adjustment I made to keep the paddle from diving. Is there some "trick" >to getting lowered into the water without having the paddle dive. A >couple of things I thought about were: A deep sculling brace is one of those skills that definitely becomes easier once you learn a few tricks. As Kirk mentioned "spreading the peanut butter" for the actual sculling is a good analogy. A shallow angle with a long slow stroke provides the greatest lift. Typically if the paddle is diving it is due to the angle of the blade not changing when the paddle changes directions. Slowing down the sculling motion helps. Secondly, you mention that your "friend" is able to get the hull past 90 degrees. The goal here is not to see how far you can get the boat over, but to get into a position that provides the most support. When I did some greenland techniques training with Greg Stamer he stressed the importance of *not* letting the boat go past 90 degree. Once it does, the boat itself will push you deeper in the water. Instead, as you get into a sculling postion, try to tilt the boat away from you as much as possible. >1. Moving both hands more outboard as you get lower into the water Be careful with this. If you attempt to move your hands outboard as you lower yourself into the water you're likely opening up your shoulder and risking a potential shoulder injury. >2. Eliminating/reducing the J-lean so there is not so much upper body >angle change when lowering the body into the water. That's sort of the idea. Sculling from a J-lean position means you're trying to keep your center of gravity up over the boat, but in deep sculling you're getting some amount of support from the water (a bouyant PFD helps). Transitioning from one position to the other can be tricky. One of the hardest parts is committing to going over all the way. Here's how I do it. When I'm ready to go over I take a sweep from bow to stern as I commit to going over. At the same, I turn my body so that I am presenting my back to the water and attempt arch my back as much as possible. Basically, I try to open up my hips, which allows me to tilt the boat away from me. When I hit the water, I tilt my head back and look up at the sky. If you attempt to hold your head up out of the water, the weight of your head will help push you under. If your head and the rest of your upper body is floating the amount of lift required from the sculling motion will be less. About the time I'm in this position I change the direction of the paddle from stern to bow, and then try to make long, slow strokes. When I'm ready to come back up I start to lay on the back deck as I'm sweeping from bow to stern. A few tricks... Keep your onboard hand close to your chest. If it raises up it changes the angle of the paddle so that it's easier for it to dive. Keep your offboard arm very loose. A problem that a lot of people have is that they lock their elbow as they're starting to go over which makes it difficult to keep the paddle from diving. Think of hanging underneath the paddle shaft. You're essentially in a high brace position so your elbows should be beneath your wrists. You can help your friend by getting parallel with his boat and grabbing onto the cockpit. You can pull the cockpit toward you as he gets into position. Try to hold the boat upright until he gets into a comfortable sculling motion then loosen up your grip so that he's doing it by himself. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Fereira" <jaf30_at_cornell.edu> To: <mjamja_at_earthlink.net>; "Paddlewise" <Paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net> Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 2:19 PM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Sculling Brace > Keep your offboard arm very loose. A problem that a lot of people >have is that they lock their elbow as they're starting to go over which >makes it difficult to keep the paddle from diving.Think of hanging >underneath the paddle shaft. The only small thing I can add to an amazingly clear explanation of a not so clear skill is to grasp the paddle shaft gently. I usually grasp it with just my thumb and forefinger when practicing. The gently grasp helps me focus and stay loose. Unfortunately I don't think I am quite so elegant and loose while sculling up after dumping the boat reaching for a snack from my paddling partner. Jim et al *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Yesterday I was trying to help someone with their sculling brace. Yes many people have problems with the sculling brace when there body reaches the water There several problems Many people stop moving the paddle ( out of fear?) Often the movement of the paddle is to short ( as said before should be like spreading butter) Ofetn folks forget to raise the outher hand as they go down and the blade disapears into the water. Most important is the position of the body and head, Iff hte head goes slightly op, the hips will go down and make very difficult to find a ballance, Try to keep the head in the water with the face looking upwards. This way the hips will turn the boat on the keel and make it all a lot easyer. Actualy I am not so sure that turning the body backwards does so much, as long as the body is in the water a 90 degree angle to the boat will give more support. Good Luck Lenze 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/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I'm trying to network to find more support for this event: The navy wants to extend it's zone and folks who live on or have businesses that use the southern waterways of the Hood Canal are really worried. Any paddlewise members live near any of these places or know people who do? Have connections to organizations that can help? According to the North Kitsap Herald, there will be meetings as follows: Keyport, Nov 17; Belfair, Nov 18; Quilcene, Nov 19; and Hoquiam, Nov 20. Apparently they are proposing to extend Operating areas in Keyport, Dabob Bay, and Quinault. More information on www.keyport.kpt.nuwc.navy.mil. Public comments will be accepted until Dec 5. If the extension is large scale and the areas used more frequently than now, it will definitely hamper kayaking in much of our area. I have paddled often in most of these areas and have yet to see any activity. The meetings are from 6-9 pm. I would go to the Keyport meeting, but can't get there that early. Andre, can you make the Quilcene meeting? When we find out what they are really proposing, we can make meaningful comments and lets keep each other posted. Thanks for bringing this up. Mary Andree Hurley Websites - http://www.onwatersports.com, http://www.viewit.com Favorite website: http://www.tibetanphotoproject.com/ *************************************************************************** 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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