A More Powerful Forward Stroke

by

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Tim Dyer
White Squall Paddling Centre

I’ve been playing around with making the forward stroke more powerful, and here’s a thought. We try to get folks to track their top hand on a stroke horizontally in front of their face. This encourages the face of the paddle not to lift water and create drag. But – we all get lazy and drop that hand a bit, so I’ve been telling folks to consciously track their top hand in an upward slant in front of their face. Guess what – the result is a perfectly horizontal hand movement and a very powerful stroke. Give it a try and tell me what you think. Oh yeah, while you’re at it – the catch phase of the forward stroke is so important – and often paddlers have a firm grip on the shaft with their lower hand. Problem is, that results in the blade not centering itself on the sweet spot. You’re looking for that magic when you hit a golf ball really far – or a fine whack with a solidly hit baseball. You can only get it if you let the blade insert itself in the dark water and self centre – a slightly relaxed grip will allow that to happen quickly. A micro-movement with immediate results. Think I’m nuts – try it!

This article originally appeared in QAJAQ 24-1.

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