I was working on my sculling braces and interesting situation came up that I hope someone can clarify for me. I normally paddle with a Greenland paddle but I have been playing around with my older Euro blade. Background info: I am using a 60 deg feathered paddle. I am setting up initially for the high brace position by putting my hands in the normal paddling position and then bending elbows so hands and paddle come up about shoulder high. In this position on the control hand side the blade is parallel to the water. It is in the exact position for a high brace. I can rotate my control hand wrist such that either the front or rear edge of the blade can be angled up. That is I can move the blade forward and back and with a slight wrist roll always keep the "leading" edge angled up. It is my understanding that this is what should be happening for a high brace scull on the control hand side. For my problem: When I bend my elbows as described above to start the high brace the non-control hand blade is not parallel to the water. For a high brace on that side I now roll the control hand back (without changing my grip position on the control side) and let the paddle rotate in the non-control hand until the blade on the non-control hand side is parallel to the water. Then I tighten my grip with the non-control hand in this new position. This is very similar to the rotation and re-grip I do in normal paddling, but it seems to take a little more rotation of my control hand for the brace position than for normal paddling. I can brace fine in this position, but if I try to scull the paddle forward I can not rotate my control hand any farther back to make the leading edge of the blade be angled up and the paddle dives. I have no problem keeping the leading edge angled up when I scull the paddle to the rear. Questions: 1. Am I doing something wrong in setting up for the high brace? 2. Should I be rolling my control hand wrist back to get the non-control hand blade parallel to the water for a brace/scull on the non-control hand side? 3. If #2 above is a no, then how do I get the blade parallel to the water? 4. In order to scull on the non-control hand side should I relax the grip on the control hand side and allow the paddle to rotate to the needed angle to keep the leading edge up? 5. Is there a part of the proper technique I am totally missing? Mark Arnold mjamja_at_earthlink.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/ ***************************************************************************
On 18 Feb 2004 at 23:17, Mark Arnold wrote: > it seems to take a little more rotation of my control hand for the brace > position than for normal paddling. That's because you're using only your wrist to rotate the paddle. In a normal forward stroke, the motion of your arm and torso causes some of the rotation. > 1. Am I doing something wrong in setting up for the high brace? Not really. > 2. Should I be rolling my control hand wrist back to get the > non-control hand blade parallel to the water for a brace/scull on the > non-control hand side? Maybe. > 4. In order to scull on the non-control hand side should I relax the > grip on the control hand side and allow the paddle to rotate to the > needed angle to keep the leading edge up? Not really > 5. Is there a part of the proper technique I am totally missing? Forget about _one_ control hand. You should control the paddle with the hand closest to the blade you are concerned with. IOW if you are sculling on the right, control the blade with your right hand. If on the left, use your left hand. The "maybe" above means you should rotate the paddle with your control hand (or slide your non-control hand around) until your non- control hand is able to take control. I usually let my right hand control by default and switch to the left when required. That can be done either by rotating the shaft with the right until the left is in position or rotating my left (not gripping the paddle shaft) until it's in position or a little of both. It's automatic, so I can't tell you what exactly it is that I do. Your basic setup sounds good - hands at shoulder level with elbows down and close to your torso. Mike *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Mark It sound like you miss somthing In a sculling brace it is always the hand closest to the water that is the control hand the other hand is just a pivot point. It yust supports the paddle. (try doing sculling brace with the paddle laying on your shoulder) So if you normally are right hand controlled and you want to do a high brace on your left side that it will be your left hand that takes over the control while your right hand bocomes the pivot that the paddle rests in. Hope this will help you out Lenze Middelberg www.havkajakcenter.dk *************************************************************************** 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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