Went out on the kayak again tonight. Only for an hour but better than nothing. Here are a few things i observed. My paddle is too short. I have not measured it yet, but just seems too short. With my arms slightly more than shoulder width apart, my hands seem like they are about 13-15 inches from the paddle. I adjusted my back rest so it is leaning back a little. That helped my back a lot. No longer feel like I need a taller back. I do tend to not move straight in the water, probably my technique, but I tend to turn to the left a lot and find myself rowing 3-4 times on the left then I can go back to the right and left for a few strokes. Then I have to paddle on the left only again. I am having fun though so no worries. Oh, and my current life jacket is way too big for me, so I have to buy one anyway. Might as well get one for paddling.
The beginners left turn is common. 89% of the population is right handed. So in most cases the right arm is a bit stronger and in 89% of the time itâs more coordinated. That means the stroke on the left side is usually less efficient and sometimes a bit weaker.
So⌠tip to correct it early:
Watch the blades of your paddle as you rotate your torso. Do not pull your head and neck hard to either side, but turn the whole upper body to train yourself to have the correct motion and follow the blade in the water with your face and eyes. . By watching the blades you will see the angle they are at and how far out from the hull every stroke.
This technique is for training not long term use.
If you do it for a few hours youâll get the muscle memory of what a symmetrical stoke feel like on both sides and soon you will not need to follow the blades with your face.
Also youâll find the best posture for a good forward stroke is either straight up or very slightly leaned forward, not back. The straight or forward position makes it far easier to rotate the torso. Use torso rotation to move the kayaks and donât pull back on the paddle with your arms. The biceps are not the muscles you want to use for paddling. Do âtrunk-twistersâ with the paddle in hand and youâll see how much better the action becomes. Donât try for speed at all when learning. Learn to do a good stroke and then you simply get to a point you donât have to go slow anymore and the speed comes all by itself.
Your mom and dad may have taught you to walk at 1 year old but running came all by itself. Same with paddling. Learn the right way to do it and forget all about speed. slow it down until itâs good and very soon you can do good strokes without slowing down. Then the speed just comes out of no-where
Figured it was something like that, thx for the help. As far as leaning forward or being perfectly straight, ainât gonna happen, not for a while anyway. Slight lean back may be harder to twist, but straight up or forward means no kayaking for me. I am probably setting about 80 degrees so not way back. I was trying to make sure I was twisting, but kept defaulting to arm strength. Gonna be hard to break that habit. I normally just fall back to arms on things like this, not because I mean to, just habit my arms have always been strong enough to do what I needed them to. I will work harder on it though. Might have the wife record me, though I hate being on camera for anything.
One way to learn torso rotation is to do the âFranken-paddleâ.
Lock both elbows so they donât bent at all. You can raise and lower the blades with your shoulder joints, but no bend of the elbows allowed and that means absolutely none.
Now, go paddle your kayak.
Do about 1 stroke every 3 seconds. Catch where you should and cut-out where you should.
NO ELBOWS!
The only way to paddle the kayak that way is to use 100% torso rotation.
Do this for enough time to get a feel for that rotation. Enough so it feels natural for the body (if not the arms. ) When its natural to rotate that much relax the elbows so they have a bend in them and are not stiff, but remember to leave them like that and only bend the elbow on the power blade side AFTER the power is finished.
You only use the elbow to take the blade out of the water, not to power the stroke.
Donât buy any kayak paddle that they call an âoarâ in the description, that really infringes on their credibility as a paddlesports equipment company. You can find a similar quality paddle at any big box retail store for about the same price.
I will try that! one more question, is there an easy way to keep the straps for the j cradle out of the way, but still easy to put over the kayak? I tried the putting them on the opposite side, but then i have to toss them over and not only do i not want to have them hit my roof, i have a glass moon roof over 1/2 the roof. tossing anything like that is not going to work. It would be nice if I could find something to make the straps form a loop with the j cradle being the other side. then I could slide the kayak through the loop. I might try designing something that attaches to the cradle and holds the straps. I just didnât know if anything like that was out there already.
One thing that I hadnât seen mentioned here yet, was how important it is to have your knees splayed out to lock into the pads on the sides of your kayak. You control this with setting the length of your footrests. No, this shouldnât be so tight that it is âpainful,â but you should be solid enough to be âpart of the kayak.â You should be stable, then the paddling is much easier and more efficient! Yes you should twist your torso with your paddle strokes! Also this should help you with your back issue (I have a bad lower back as well), as you are more relaxed and not so tight in the back area.The more secure you are in your seat with your lower body secure to the kayak, it also keeps your lower back engaged into the lower part of the kayak seat. No you donât have to be looking for upper back support. Relax, and enjoy the scenery on your kayak trip!
So knees shouldnât be bent? I adjust the foot rest so my knees are bent. I am pushing myself back into the seat. And bracing myself, and I do notice a difference if I push with my legs as I row.
Btw my current paddle is 228cm from tip to tip. It seems to short for me, but really what do I know. Maybe it is just not knowing better.
The âfrog legâ position is another skeg vs. rudder discussion. Kayaking is a very opinionated sport after all .
An exercise that many instructors do, at least in this area, is to have students sit on the ground in the âfrog legâ position with someone standing behind them. The standing student then places their hands on the side of the seated personâs shoulder and applies an increasing amount sideways pressure. The process is repeated with legs straight out in front. The straight legged position can be held against greater sideways pressure. Doing this exercise sitting lengthwise on a narrow bench is even more interesting.
This illustrates as well, the proper technique of keeping oneâs body in the center of the kayak rather than leaning outboard during edging and bracing.
Thigh braces are engaged in dynamic water, certainly. But the upward press into the thigh braces diminishes the transfer of power, which initiates from the foot, through the hip, then to the torso rotation of the paddle.
This is not to say a paddlerâs legs are rigidly straight or clamped together, but are relaxed with a moderate bend. Watch any experienced paddler and you will see their knees bumping the underside of their spray skirt even if they are leisurely cruising along. Paddlerâs legs are rarely not moving, yes?
Back issues do require some adaptive techniques and the frog leg position may relieve some of the pressure. So can a cushion under the knees, which has already been mentioned, and allows for a straighter leg position. High seat backs can be problematic for re-entry, but several of the back sufferers I have paddled with do rely on them for comfort on long paddles and have practiced re-entry techniques that work around the impediment.
Best advice is to take some classes or join a group that can mentor you based on your individual needs. Nothing substitutes for eyes-on from experienced paddlers who can give you a good foundation upon which to build a long relationship with your kayak.
Well, what I do, both when we had a minivan, and now, is loop the strap through the upright. We have this j cradle:
JayLow J-Cradle Rooftop Kayak Mount â Yakima
Then I walk the strap around the car, to the opposite side as the kayak will be loaded. You can see that the upright slants. That is enough for me to âsee sawâ the strap, by alternating pulling on the ends, and âwalkâ it up to the top, where it will stay, resting against the top of the padding. I then let go of the strap, letting it rest against the side of the car.
After the kayak is loaded, I then walk the strap back around to the side, lifting or âsnappingâ the strap over the kayak, while maintaining a grip on the ends of the strap. Then I thread it around the cross bar and engage the cam buckles. This works because our straps are long enough, of course.
Started kayaking in my late sixties. Back issues as well. After 3/4 to 1 hr my back starts aching. I use a technique from canoeing where we used the north woods or voyager stroke. The uses the back muscles is including in the stroke. The movement helps relieve the stiffness. It also increased the power of your stroke. Good luck.
Ok thanks. The problems I have is one, my roof is too high to reach my straps to work them around the kayak like that. Not only do the straps not hangs down enough to reach from the ground, I canât reach high enough to get them over the kayak. My other problem is the kayaks fit tight enough together that once they are both on, I can not move the straps between them. I have tried a step ladder and can not reach in far enough still. I had a lot of luck with using a pair of 36â grabbers to hold the straps up, but that takes an extra person. I am working on a new method to take care of this. Pictures to come as I work it out. My rough plan involves attaching a light spring steal strap on the top side of the cam strap. This will get attached to the top side of the j cradle. I am hoping this holds a loop in the strap, or holds the strap above the kayaks, but still allows them to be tightened down normally.
I had the same problem with the J rack so I attached the strap to the top of the J by putting the strap while holding both ends over the U top and passing the strap end through the loop formed. Then adjust the lengths so the cam end is long enough to reach maybe 6 " from . the bottom of the kayak. Do this before putting the kayak on the rack so you will need to measure the required length before adjusting straps. Before mounting kayak using an extra strap though the cam will let you easily bring the cam over your boat once on rack. The just undo the extra one. Hope this makes sense. If the loop tends to slide to the side can thread a piece rubber or neoprene where the cam strap goes over the U to increase friction or just work it back to top of U using the extra strap.
Would a back support band like weightlifters use help, Maybe not as heavy duty LOL, an elasticized one perhaps.
Allegedly the back support should barely touch your back, sit uprightâŚwith my back I canât, I have to lean against it somewhat. I have my backsupport low for a while then raise it when the back gets sore.
A lot of people find putting a pool noodle or something similar under their thighs/knees seems to help the back.
Most footrest donât need tools, my pelican I tilt them towards the stern and slide them forward or backwards. My delta has a tab, I fliip, adjust footrests and lock them in place