Forward! by Elmore Holmes May, 2005      Paddlers who are serious about getting good are always pondering the technical aspects of the sport.  An aspiring world or Olympic champion, on a so-called "recovery day," might do a light session on dead-calm water that has no apparent training value to the casual observer, but I would bet that he or she is thinking hard about various stroke components: where the blade enters the water; the position of the hands, the elbows, the shoulders through all the phases of the stroke; the torso rotation; the transfer of power through the body to propel the boat forward at the knees or feet.      Most of the paddling I'm doing these days is centered around the forward stroke as it is practiced by paddlers of touring kayaks (i.e., sea kayaks), surf skis, wildwater kayaks, and sprint K-1s.  All these paddlers need constant work on their forward strokes.  Such is obvious with beginner-intermediate tourers, but even the world-class folks can pick out components of their strokes that they could be doing better.

Elmore's columns appear monthly at the Outdoors, Inc.,website: www.outdoorsinc.com

Sources of information
     Learning good stroke form is a multimedia endeavor.  By that I mean that no one source of information will force your body into doing perfect strokes to the exclusion of all other sources.  Different people learn in different ways: some respond well to video, others like to study diagrams in books, and others need hands-on instruction.  My advice: seek out all the information you can, and soak it up like a sponge.
     Interaction with a knowledgeable human being can bring about the fastest possible improvements in your paddling because it's, well, interactive.  Having somebody to offer feedback and to help nip bad habits in the bud is invaluable.  For many people, this means hiring a coach.  A good coach is easier to find in some parts of the country than in others, but they are around if you look hard enough.  National team-caliber athletes have long financed their existence by hiring themselves out as coaches.  Other potential coaches might have very little paddling talent of their own, but possess a wealth of knowledge simply from being fans of the sport for many years.
     Of course, investing in a coach is a deeper commitment than the average non-Olympic-aspirant is willing or able to make.  But there are other ways to learn from other people.  A very simple one is watching really good paddlers and talking to them about their methods of learning.  This is a strategy I have excelled in over years of attending competitions with national-team caliber athletes in both whitewater and open-water racing.  If you can't find the time to seek out accomplished paddlers or coaches, you can at least get a friend to shoot some occasional video of you on the water--you never look quite the way you think you look in your boat, and it's a good opportunity to spot flaws on your own.
     Then there are the learning tools that don't require another person, and even though they might not produce results as fast as a coach would, they are well worth the few bucks they cost.  One of the first tools for learning the kayak forward stroke that I got my hands on was a small spiral-bound book: The Barton Mold, a case study of Olympic champion Greg Barton written for USA Canoe/Kayak by long-time U.S. slalom team coach (and fan of all paddling disciplines) Bill Endicott.  The book is hard to find in print now, but an e-book version is currently being posted at www.daveyhearn.com.  In addition to a biography of Barton and an overview of his training year, the book contains diagrams depicting the components of a good stroke and a series of photographs shot from various angles of Barton paddling his boat.
     A couple of videos are on the market that have helped me a lot in my forward-paddling endeavors.  The Brent Reitz Forward Stroke Clinic is a splendid production designed and hosted by Brent Reitz, one of the best wildwater kayakers the U.S. has ever had.  In this video, Reitz breaks the stroke down into five components--the torso rotation, the "chicken wing" (elbow lift), the catch, the bent-arm push-through, and the exit--and demonstrates each one vividly.  This video is available at www.wildsprint.com.  Another good video is The Kayak Forward Stroke, hosted by world champions Greg Barton and Oscar Chalupsky and available through their boat and paddle manufacturing company, Epic Kayaks (www.epickayaks.com).  This production also studies the discrete components of the forward stroke and highlights them with slow-motion and freeze-frame footage of paddlers in action.

Putting theory into practice: Stroke Drills
     I mentioned at the start of this column that you ought to think about your stroke every time you are in your boat.  But once in a while it's good to engage in more earnest stroke practice, in which you isolate and exaggerate each individual component of the stroke.  This is where stroke drills come in.
     I learned a number of stroke drills while competing in whitewater slalom in the last decade.  I was a little skeptical of the impact that a bunch of silly-looking drills on flatwater would have on my whitewater paddling, but my attitude quickly changed once I realized how much they were helping me.  While open-water touring and "straight ahead" racing does not require the variety of strokes necessary for slalom, I have adapted some of these drills for practicing the forward stroke:
     *The "hesitation" drill.  This is one I learned from reading The Barton Mold.  Once your blade has exited the water on one side, hesitate for a couple of seconds before inserting the blade for a stroke on the other side.  This is an excellent balance drill because your stability is at its lowest at this moment between strokes.  It also encourages you to focus on inserting the blade cleanly and as far forward as possible.
     *Paddling on one side.  This is a good way to focus on one stroke from start to finish, because rather than flow right into a stroke on the other side, the paddler must "re-wind" his body for another stroke on the same side.  I typically do a set of twenty strokes on the left, followed by twenty on the right, and so on.
     *Backpaddling.  You've gotten pretty good at the five phases of the forward stroke, but do you know them backwards and forwards?  Besides giving you another slant on practicing your stroke phases, backpaddling also remedies muscle imbalances in your arms by working those muscles the forward stroke doesn't work.  Backpaddling is a little tricky in a boat with a rudder, and if you have an overstern rudder you might want to flip it up.
     You can add variation to all these drills by doing them with your boat leaned on one edge, then the other.  Good balance is essential to making every stroke count.
     I'm sure there are drills other than the ones I've listed here.  I encourage anybody reading this column who knows other drills to write me an e-mail and tell me.

     Developing good stroke technique is the single greatest advancement you can make in your paddling.  It doesn't matter how fit you are, or how fast a boat you are paddling; if you don't have a good forward stroke, you'll get beat by someone who does, even if that person is out of shape and paddling a slower boat.  A good stroke is an invaluable asset for you non-racers, too: you'll be able to paddle farther and see more wonderful sights while expending less energy.  And you'll have a lot more fun, just knowing you've striven hard to do something really well.