Canoe forward paddling games

Often self discovery leads to bad habits which then take longer to undo, if they can be undone at all, at a later date. At some point actual best technique for generating power efficiently has to be tackled. But I find modern coaching practices seem to frown upon such things. I always find it a shame that going into the technical aspects of padding is considered dull. Personally I find it fascinating and interesting and I get annoyed when the specifics of why things work in a particular way are not explained.

It took me three years of paddling before one coach, Simon Westgarth, actually explained to me the applied mechanics of powering a stroke, which could then be applied to all strokes. It is all very well explaining core powering, but quite another to actually apply and understand what that really means and how.

In short I think that getting people to understand the link between their paddle and their body is the foundation. Playing about with angles, getting them to do certain tasks etc could follow. But if people had a basic understanding that the paddle isn't moved by their arms in isolation from the very beginning they would have a simple foundation from which to move forward no pun intended.

But I know that suggestion will be frowned upon as being too technical for a beginner, even though, personally, I would be preferred to be taught that way. Slower start, but better in the long run. And you can still run games purely from a "core powering" perspective if you must. A kayaking blog. Post by WaterStillScaresMe » Mon Sep 15, pm I've taught many groups of people in many different situations outside of paddlesport. I'd say the first thing to remember is that any group of people has a personality of its own.

This personality may not be easy to predict Given this, you need to think in more than one dimension. What was the reaction of the individual people to your session. What was the reaction of the individual people to the group. And so on. Where this leads me is to say that it doesn't follow that it was your teaching that made the group serious. That said, you should definitely consider whether something about your manner had this effect, even if only for this particular group.

If you haven't done so, find someone you really trust they might not even be a paddler to observe and offer honest feedback.

Take this feedback - don't take it to heart be confident in your own judgement - but do listen be confident that their feedback has a basis and should be noted carefully. Take note also that once in a blue moon, no matter how skilled and flexible you are, you and a particular group may not work well together. And after all of this I agree that teaching forward paddling shouldn't come first usually. I tend to start, at least in river boats, with teaching how to turn Far more rewarding and fun as a first lesson.

But now to actually answer the question you asked When it comes to forward paddling, why not set people the challenge of finding out how many times they fail to keep the boat straight over m. Make a feature of it being a challenge.

Or have them count how many paddle strokes they can do without spinning. Make sure they know that it's providing a personal target that they will work to improve and absolute beginners inevitably beat their previous score each time you try over a number of hours. Or - one of my favourites - set up a calm and trusted environment and then have them paddle with their eyes closed under your close guidance i.

Always surprises people how far they can get. Hope that's all helpful. Sorry to go on a bit! Post by scottdog » Mon Sep 15, pm Wow some lovely ideas. They all new to kayaking. One of the first things I did was 'connectivity' knee location, upright posture, top torso separate from bottom, get them to do the wiggle.

They were pensive at first looked a bit shaky, but after a while they actually started looking good. But they looked too serious. I can see their mistakes and work on them. One puts the paddle blade deep into the water but puts the other blade in only half way.

The more vertical you hold the paddle shaft high angle , the more power you can put into the stoke. This also takes more energy, so holding the paddle less vertical low angle , serves better for long-distance paddling. You slice the blade up out of the water, plant the other blade in the water and rotate your torso to complete the next stroke.

Practice keeping your boat as quiet in the water as possible. This gives you the most efficient forward progress possible. And keep a relaxed grip on the paddle! Stay up to date on new arrivals, email exclusives, sales and more. By providing this information, you are opting to receive email communications from nrs. Log In. Perfecting the Kayak Forward Stroke.

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