Our Club provides information on how members can improve their Paddling techniques.
Whether you are a competitive member or simply wishing to improve your technique to gain more enjoyment, the following Paddling technique documents will assist you.
Phase One – The Catch
Burying the blade in the water is called the ‘CATCH’ and it should be well in front of your body critical to initiate a powerful stroke. This is where most novice paddlers are the weakest and it is the point at which even veteran paddlers fail when they start losing power due to lack of conditioning……Read More
Phase Two – Power Phase
Many paddlers think that they are pulling water past their bodies to make the boat move forward; but this doesn’t make any sense at all. In fact, the paddle, once it’s in the water, moves very little in relation to a fixed point in space and that the boat is actually pulled up to this fixed point during the POWER phase……Read More
Phase Three – The Finish
The power stroke is brought to an end when the elbow of the lower arm is aligned with body and the shoulders are parallel to the seat i.e. the neutral position, with the blade still fully in the water. Any power applied after this point, which is certainly possible, results from over-rotating the torso……Read More
Phase Four – The Recovery
The RECOVERY is the key to the forward stroke technique as it sets up the CATCH well forward of the torso.The most efficient RECOVERY is achieved by rotating the torso to push the outside shoulder straight forward while the inside shoulder is pulled to the back i.e. in reverse of the STROKE……Read More