Good to hear from you Matt! For the benefit of the others, I'll recap a bit. I've been paddling for four years now, and for most that time was paddling 2 times a week, year `round. I had sought the counsel of this list a few times, because I was frustrated with my lack of speed. I can combat roll, surf, am super-confident, very stable in rough water, etc., but I was always at the end of the pack. Admittedly, our kayaking group is comprised of some formidable paddlers, very strong guys who are super fast (I believe they are of an international standard, but that is yet to be tested). But I was still at the back, and thought that I should at least be in the middle of the pack. What was even more frustrating was that the new paddlers, as soon as they got confident and good, were soon passing me! Of course, one also wants to enjoy the paddle, but we paddle the same area so often, about a 11 km. round trip, that it is often about speed (or surfing when the surfing is up). A lot of our guys use this instead of the gym. It is their main conditioning. On this forum I had a lot of suggestions, from weight training to just forgetting about it. But now that my forward stroke has improved, I feel so much better, and I wanted to share what happened. PREFACE: The forward stroke is an incredibly complex series of movements. Just think about it. Torso rotation, pull, push, etc. There is, I believe now, an "ideal" form, and that is the form used by racers, basically what Brent Reitz and Gary Barton teach (I know that there is disagreement on this). A good animated .gif of this form is at http://www.pogies.com/speedstroke/html/images/animslow.gif . But as we paddle, I found that one has to modify this somewhat, and find the "right" stroke for the individual. 1. MORE PADDLING. I decided to increase my paddling to four times a week. Without a doubt this improved my ability. As prosaic as it sounds, the more you paddle, the faster you will be able to go. 2. TORSO ROTATION. I was actually turning my shoulders more than my torso. You need to feel it in your abdomen, kind of like doing a sit-up, although not as strong. When you do it right, you know it, and it feels good! 3. LOWER HAND PADDLE ANGLE: While the catch is right next to the kayak, the paddle should travel away from the kayak at a 45 degree angle through the water. 4. TAKING THE PADDLE OUT OF THE WATER. When you hand reaches your hip (Brent Reitz's "chicken wing"). In order to try to get good rotation, I used to think I had to take it out of the water much further back than that. But if you draw it through the water at a 45 degree angle, you still get good rotation. 5. PUSH-PULL. True, in the beginning, we always teach that the top hand pushes and the lower hand only guides. That is good for teaching beginners, because it is less tiring. But I believe now that one should divide the force between about 70% pushing with the top hand and 30% pulling with the lower hand. This proportion may vary. 6. BRENT REITZ VIDEO. I highly recommend this. You might not do it EXACTLY as he does, but you will learn a lot. It is well worth the money. I have not seen the Gary Barton video. 7. PUSH YOURSELF. In order to increase speed, you need to put some oomph into it. I hate exercise, and this was the hardest thing for me. But after you do it for a few weeks, you will see the results, and then you will paddle faster with less effort. I guarantee it. 8. REALLY CONCENTRATE ON FORM. If you don't feel like pushing yourself one day, simply concentrate on aspects of your form. One day, forget about the catch and simply think about rotation; another day, concentrate on push-pull, etc. 9. SIT UP STRAIGHT. Or nearly straight, leaning, if you must, only a few degrees forward. The straighter you sit up, the better rotation you will get, and you will feel it in your abdomen. 10. GET A GOOD TEACHER. My forward stroke guru who really got me going well, constantly yelling at me and devoting time to me, is Saggi Nehushtan, co-owner of Terra Santa Kayaking Expeditions (see www.seakayak.co.il). These are one person's conclusions. Yours may differ. I've been silent on this forum for a good long while now, but I have learned so much from it and thank you all. (BTW, for what it's worth, I paddle an NDK Explorer and use a Lendal Kinetic Touring blade. But my exposure to different kayaks and paddles is quite limited because we have very little choice here in Israel.) Josh (Ra`anana, Israel) At 09:45 AM 5/19/2004, Matt Broze wrote: >Josh wrote: > >>>>>>(paddling 4 times a week off the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Forward >stroke now up there with the best of them, for those of you who remember my >frustration...)<<<<<<< > >Yes Josh, I remember your frustration and it is great to hear your doing far >better now. I would love to hear what you had not been doing (or were doing >wrong) that created the frustration and what were the things you tried that >seemed to work the most in improving your forward stroke. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed May 19 2004 - 01:51:41 PDT
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