ARKANSAS CANOE CLUB

Strokes and Maneuvers Teaching Notes for Paddling Courses

Please focus on fewer skills and allow more time to practice each skill. Ten to fifteen repetitions of each are usually needed to develop "muscle memory".

There is not time to teach your class everything you know and definitely not enough time on the first day. It's probably best to teach only what they need right then and hold the rest until they are ready for more. Don't overload, talk less and let them do more.

Fundamental paddling skills are:

1. Balance
2. Boat Lean
3. Basic Body Mechanics
4. Paddling Strokes for power and turning
5. Coordination and Fluidity
6. Timing

The Terminology of Paddling
This is might be part of your introduction to strokes on land or after allowing some self-discovery. These points are typically repeated many times thru a class.

1. The Three Types of strokes are power, turning, & bracing
2. The Stroke components are CPR:

   Catch -

   Precise Placement of blade, well forward and fully submerged.

   Propulsion

   Blade perpendicular to pressure, slow steady pressure, end at knees,

   No splashes, swirlies, or noise.

   Recovery.

   The only quick move, both catch and power are relatively slow and deliberate.

3. Key Concepts of paddle Strokes:
   • Bury the blade fully in the water, keep it square, clean, quite, and close to the boat.
   • Shaft Hortizontal and blade farther from boat, the more the boat will turn.
   • Shaft Vertical and blade closer to boat, the boat goes straighter.
   • Pull for power, don't push
     • Pull CG forward with the paddle blade
     • Pushing with the paddle blade from behind CG, turns boat and lifts water.

Effective Body Usage and Bio-Kinetics

A. Avoid shoulder injury or dislocations.

Keep hands in Paddlers Box-in front of your chest and below top of head.

B. Rotate to use large torso muscles for strength and endurance.

C. Use arms to connect paddle to torso muscle, not as main power.

Strokes and maneuvers are about control of the boat. For best results, control paddle position with upper body and control the boat lean with your lower body. Solid Control means that the paddler, not the river, chooses the boat's angle to the current, it's speed across the water, and which way it leans.

The Instructor's demonstration of these maneuvers should make each look easy. This series of nine basic maneuvers, beginning with the water confidence drill, is often used as a warm up drill and is an excellent indicator of a paddler's level of control. When conditions are good, most beginners will be able to do the first level drills in just a couple of hours. Use all of the maneuvers, choose levels of drill for each as appropriate to provide a postive experience and also to challenge each participant to improve.

Maneuvers (practiced on flatwater)

1. Launching, carries, landing.
   • -- pages 53 & 89 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave....
   • Not really a maneuver, but this is usually first, and is where a lot of people first get wet.<
   • Place the boat parallel to shore, brace paddle across boat to bank, step in keeping lean slighly toward shore and on the paddle.

    

2. Water confidence and comfort drill introduces J-leans and braces, improves balance, devlops awareness and control of boat lean.
   • -- pages 59, 93, & 141 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
   • Most common reason for capsizing is your control of boat lean.
   • Keep head still and in normal upright positon
   • First, rock the boat from side to side while keeping body centered, start slow and shallow, increase until water comes to each edge.
   • Next, set a fixed boat lean and hold for 15 seconds, then shift to opposite side and hold.
   • Progress to high and low braces, and when appropriate, to rolls.
   • Keys: Keep head above butt, body upright, relaxed, and flexible at hip.

    

3. Spins (onside and offside):
   • Boat pivots in place, use J-lean to raise side of opposition
   • -- pages 68, 105, & 147 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
   • Do 360 degree spins with forward sweep, reverse sweep, bow draw, stern draw, and stern pry. Progress to various combinations.
   • Do 20 degrees, stop, then return 20 degrees to focus on stern draw and stern pry.
   • Keys: Blade fully submerged, vertical, and quite. Progress to torso rotation and raise side of opposition.

    

4. Forward:
   • Boat moves in reasonably straight line with use of correction strokes
   • This may be the most difficult and the most useful series of drills. Maybe best to spread over the full weekend instead of just one session.
   • -- pages 63, 98, & 142 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
   • Introduce with constant forward travel. Kayak alternates stroke, canoe uses forward combined with stern draw/ply/rudder and may need cross forward to start moving.
   • Progress to two stroke acceleration drill: With boat still, take two strokes and stern correction to hit target two boat lengths in front of boat.
   • Advanced classes also do one stroke acceleration drill. With boat still, use one stroke, boat lean, and stern correction to hit target three boat lengths in front.
   • Acceleration drill is used for leaving eddy and many other times when quick is important.
   • Keys: Paddle blade square to stroke, shaft vertical, and stroke parallel to keel line.

    

5. Reverse:
   • Boat moves in a reasonably straight line with use of correction stroke
   • -- pages 73, 118, & 148 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
   • Same drills as above but done in reverse with bow corrections

    

6. Stopping:
   • Boat stops within a reasonable distance without spinning
   • Practice with Spins, Forward, Reverse and Abeam drills.

    

7. Turns:
   • Begin with boat moving forward, then use correction stokes to turn in broad arc made while underway.
   • Progress to 180 degree U turn with either stationary draw or Duffek combination strokes
   • Advanced classes do this drill in reverse also.
   • -- pages 45, 76 & 128 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.

    

8. Veering, Carving
   • paddling the inside circle
   • -- pages 45, 74, 123, & 149 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
   • Use leans and precise forward strokes with no correction
   • Progress to vary size of circle with different boat lean, then with different stroke placement.
   • Advanced classes progress to nearly straight line with 10 forward strokes and no correction.
   • Advanced classes do this drill in reverse also.
   • Keys: steady boat lean, precise forward stroke ending well forward of C.G.

    

9. Abeam:
   • Boat moves sideways without headway and constant angle
   • Use Draws, add underwater recovery, then sculling strokes
   • Raise side of opposition
   • Keys:Placement of Paddle, awareness of change in boat angle

    

10. Sideslips:
    • Boat moves sideways with headway and constant angle, a significant challenge for many paddlers.
    • -- pages 80, 132, & 155 of Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave.
    • Use Stationary Draw, shift to each side,
    • Place paddle in feathered position, allow to still, then open face 15 degrees, scull as speed bleeds off.
    • Advanced classes do this drill in reverse also.
    • This is one of most useful manuevers for entering surf waves, running technical rapids, and jet-ferrying
    • Keys: Placement of Paddle, Vertical Shaft, awareness of change in boat angle

Whitewater Manuevers

Reference Materials:

1. Catch Every Eddy Surf Every Wave, pages 53-82 Kayak, 89-134 Solo Canoe, 140-157 Tandem Canoe. Foster & Kelly, 1995
2. Basic Canoeing, Jon Rounds and Wayne Dickert 2003
3. ACA Kayak and Canoe Instruction Manual, pages 53-75, Guillion, 1987
4. ACA Instructor's Manual 2005
5. Performance Video.
   • Solo Playboating...The Workbook, Kent Ford,
   • The Kayakers Playbook, Kent Ford,
   • Video for Canoe is Drill Time, 1997
   • Video for Kayak is The Kayakers Edge, 1992.
6. ACC Basic River Canoe Course Outline
7. ACC Basic River Kayak Course Outline
8. Links