We’re trying to get people to want to
come to our symposia. The target is the exploring paddler… not the one trying to get the top edge.
At this point I don’t want to go either but that has more to do with how crappy I feel.
The symposia are so much fun in person and I feel we are totally ignoring the audience
Let’s Touch on the Cross Forward stroke
I mistakenly thought we had covered this topic earlier. But was politely reintroduced to reality when Charlie stated “Kinda sorry our moderator has decided to skip the Cross Forward, a very valuable stroke for those of us still on our knees, but, of course, pretty useless to the sitters in the group.”
We’ll put the Back Stroke on the rear burner for a short while.
White water paddlers are generally familiar with the cross forward as it’s a quick, powerful way to correct for or prevent yaw without switching hands or to accelerate/conclude a cross duffek. The application in freestyle is similar but more nuanced. I’ll let Charlie lay it out for the group.
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CROSS FORWARD
– Last Updated: Jan-21-15 8:36 PM EST –
The Cross Forward Stroke is an excellent recovery from most rotational cross strokes or maneuvers, as it is effective in stopping rotation and accelerating the canoe forward in a new direction. It is also used in sprints, counteracting the torquing effect of a Forward stroke without the drag of correctional movements.
On horizontal recovery from an onside Forward, rotate the torso, swinging the feathered paddle across the hull while maintaining hand placement with Control thumb pointing Offside, across the canoe. As the paddler leans forward to the catch, the control hand is raised and the Control Thumb flips to point Onside, orienting the paddle to load the powerface.
The Cross Forward force loads the powerface through a short movement, parallel to the keel line, ending as the blade reaches the paddler's Offside knee. Carrying the blade further aft can result in catching it under the hull for a wet exit. Keep arms slightly bent and rigid, powering stroke with the torso by bending forward and torso rotating to the catch, then sitting upright, powering the stroke with the back's adductors and a pelvic/hip thrust.
It is easy to maintain a vertical shaft angle with the top hand outside the rail. A loose shaft hand significantly extends the catch further forward. Pitch the blade to a closing angle of attack to resist torque if needed. The Control Thumb points forward for in-water recovery to successive Cross Forward Strokes. The in-water recovery need be carefully pitched neutrally to not effect hull direction, but as on all very short strokes, in-water recovery allows increased cadence compared to horizontal recovery. With the cadence loss and effort involved with crossing the hull, we always want to take at least two Cross Forwards.
The Cross Forward can be directed to add a cross bow draw component, turning the hull offside, into the stroke. It can also be directed along the rail to add a seeping component, accelerating the boat into an onside arc. Recover Onside horizontally, swinging the feathered blade blade across the Bow to successive onside forward strokes or into an onside maneuver. For Sprint Starts, use a Forward stroke, then two Cross Forwards before recovering back Onside, counteracting the hull's initial torque from standing start.
The practice mantra is the Cross Inside Circle of Tom Foster fame. We start with two sweeping and uncorrected Forward Stroke which start the hull arching offside. Swing the paddle across the hull and apply successive Cross Forward Strokes at fairly high cadence. The bow should lock into a pin, with more resistance on the onside bow plane than the offside. The stern will skid onside with a noticeable gurgle and the canoe will carve a fairly tight circle to offside. Tightness can be adjusted by heeling the hull, an onside heel tightens the arc for most flatwater hulls and by adding a little Cross Bow Drawing component to the stroke. When the bow pin is lost, and it will be, employ two sweeping onside Forward Strokes, to re-set the pin for successive Cross Forward Strokes.
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Nicely put, as ever…
Anyone wanting some photos to go alongside Charlie’s excellent introduction… or a different style of presentation… might try the opening post in the link I’m inserting below…
Minor details:
- Dropping the lower elbow (so the forearm is parallel to the rail) gets our body into the right poosition… though a preferable (external) focus might be on “gathering” water;
- The stroke is initiated low down: in the ankles / hips - difficult to describe here… but involving significant tension in the abdominal and gluteal muscle groups - good tightening of belly and buttocks;
PBlanc summarises the latter as follows:
**** Quote *****
When Tom Foster taught me the cross-forward stroke years ago, he emphasized incorporating a strong pelvic thrust forward during the power phase. He likened it to “scooting your chair up to the dinner table with your hips”. This can be done with regular on-side forward strokes as well, but really helps get some more power on the cross-forward because the stroke is short.
***** Endquote *****
A decent cross forward stroke heavily dependent good basic core strength and conditioning… with those who excel on the offside tending to be pretty damn fit, with a very good power-weight ratio!
http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?43807-Cross-Deck-Power-Strokes
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So is this the new pnet Freestyle Forum?
It could be but:
The intent of this thread is to promote freestyle as a discipline that can improve any canoeing experience. I felt that in order to reach that goal, it had to be hosted on a site that catered to the general canoeing public. Putting it on a blog or other device that could only be accessed via the freestyle website (http://freestylecanoeing.com/) would be preaching to the choir. I’m pleased that whoever runs Pnet has allowed us to use this forum. I assume it is a mutually beneficial arrangement in that we are bringing traffic to the site.
I hope to keep this thread going until spring, when we will have likely worked our way through the remainder of the quadrants. When spring rolls around and we all get back on the water, I’ll use it to remind folks about upcoming events.
While Pnet is a great site for this purpose, let’s not forget that details about the various events and lots of information about freestyle canoeing in general is posted and kept up to date on the freestyle website. http://freestylecanoeing.com/. Registration materials for the various events are located there as well as contact information. Another useful resource on that site is the Crosspost. The Crosspost is the journal of the freestyle committee of the ACA. It is published irregularly, when we have the resources and materials to do so. There is tons of useful information contained in the back issues.
I hope this discussion is having the desired effect. We’ll get a good indication in the spring, if we see an increase in attendance at events.
I like the use of the term control thumb
and by extension I assume, “control hand”. I’ve been using the term “grip hand” or referring to the direction of the thumb of the grip hand. Though obviously I’ve heard the term control thumb/control hand before, I think that I/we should embrace it as being simpler and more descriptive.
When working my way upstream
and staying tight to the inside of a bend that happens to be toward my on side, I’ll often use cross forwards with a bit of a sweep component. I’m often too close to the shoreline (staying in the slack current) to paddle on side and the inefficiency of hard J’s can make upstream progress difficult.
AdkCS in July
For any of you who would like to experience freestyle canoeing in your boat, on the water - the Adirondack Canoe Symposium will take place July 10 - 13, 2015 in Raybrook, NY. Raybrook is midway between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. It is very close to truly magical paddling opportunities. In addition, you will enjoy good food, fine camaraderie, and the call of the loons at night.
More information will be posted here and on www.freestylecanoeing.com soon.
At the AdkCS, in addition to receiving excellent instruction, you will have the opportunity to meet these pnet folks in person (plus many more dedicated canoeists, boat and paddle makers) and discuss the finer points of canoeing by the fire, while enjoying a glass of your chosen beverage.
Paddling offside circles
is a great way to practice the cross forward stroke. I can easily get my WW boat (Dagger Encore) to carve circles (onside or offside) while leaning into the turn, but it is a lot harder in my Yellowstone Solo. Maybe I need to lean the YS away from the turn?
catbird 1 is one mean chef
after all happy paddling happy tummy
Another Tom Foster mantra
“When the boat is turning to the offside, you need to be paddling on the offside”.
Maybe this is more whitewater than functional freestyle, but you can see an example of this in this short video from this last Sunday. (Yes, I take a lot of video, especially when I’m paddling alone):
http://vimeo.com/117129294
The quality of this video isn’t the best due to the fog and the rain, but you can see some cross forward strokes at about 00:23 as I enter the eddy on river left, and a few more at about 00:30 as I peal out. At about 00:36 the boat starts turning back to the onside, so I need to switch back to a forward stroke.
You can see some more cross forward strokes at about 01:10. It’s always interesting to see yourself paddle. In this case my form is not the best. I notice that I don’t cross over with a feathered paddle, and I only keep the paddle in the water for about half of the recovery. Power isn’t bad though. I do manage to get myself back up to the wave, even though it kicks me right back out again.
Again, maybe this goes beyond functional freestyle, but it’s another example of one paddling style helping you learn another. I practiced cross strokes a lot because it’s an important WW skill. Now I use those same skills paddling my Yellowstone Solo on flat and moving water.
Wisconsin Canoe Symposium
Is June 19-21, 2015 in Westfield, WI for those not wishing to wait for the Adirondacks in July. Check out www.freestylecanoeing.com for event and registration information.
As long as we’re listing events
Let’s not forget:
The western PA Solo Canoe Rendezvous June 5-7, 2015
(Tandem canoeists are welcome)
The Midwest Canoe Symposium Sept 10-13, 2015
The Pine Barrens Canoe Symposium October 16-18, 2015
Reverse Headway, the BackStroke
– Last Updated: Jan-26-15 8:42 AM EST –
As Marc noted, every now and them we need to retrace our last few strokes and may not have time or opportunity to turn the hull around.
[I'll try to resist calling this the Republican Stroke?]
The Back Stroke force loads the backface and is short and powerful. We use an in-water recovery to maintain a tight cadence. The key is keeping the top hand out over the rail so the paddleshaft is vertical.
We torso rotate aft to a catch behind out seat with the paddle shaft dead nuts vertical control thumb pointed abeam to load the backface. The very short stroke is powered by torso rotation and the abdominals, both arms bent but locked as struts, the top hand traveling with the blade. Before the blade comes abeam the knee, rotate the control thumb aft and slice back to successive catches.
From forward movement or dead in the water, the initial backstroke will torque the boat offside, so dial in a little Reverse J, pushing abeam as the thumb rotates aft. After a couple corrections, the Backstroke will run the hull straight aft if that top hand is far enough across the rail.
Directional adjustments can be made with slight reverse Js or a slight reverse sweeping component, Keep you backstrokes short and violent. Lengthening the stroke turns the hull offside,
Twenty years ago I was being filmed for a backstroke section of a training video. The wind was howling, the waves were high, I was being screamed at by an Italian-American filmographer and I couldn't hear him over the wind. Duka, everything was duka, and worse, the hull kept turning offside.
It wasn't until we saw the rushes that I understood. The wind, the waves, the yelling all sevred to allow that top hand to creep in over the rail. I'd been using a series of weak Reverse Sweeps. So it goes, physics counts.
Video Clips of Backstroke
Backstroke stern mounted GoPro @ 1X speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bReUPAO9shk&feature=youtu.be
Backstroke stern mounted GoPro @.25X speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWM9X8aNi3A&feature=youtu.be
Backstroke bow mounted GoPro @ 1X speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-_BrDaVBuc&feature=youtu.be
Backstroke bow mounted GoPro @.25X speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWM9X8aNi3A&feature=youtu.be
I could probably have had my grip/control hand out a bit further over the gunwale.
Hmmm - challenging to illustrate!
For those who prefer to see what’s involved… I’m afraid finding decent online footage of reverse paddling is tough - and my quick trawl of Youtube threw up some awful modelling.
These two are better than most, with an excellent mix of camera angles illustrating the whole-body engagement in the stroke, with weight loaded on the blade and the power phase initiated from the ankles / hips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB1Gx7X9k3g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ihzYwWn1w
Key thing: the hips should be significantly rotated prior to the tip of the blade entering the water… and the wind up should continue until our shoulders are almost parallel with the rails - allowing us to get our torso over the blade.
Top tip: when practising, mix in compound back strokes… even if they are not your focus… and check that you’re not winding up any less for the regular stroke than you are for the compound stroke!
Ps. The strong wind-up aids watching where we’re going at each catch!
For keen students…
No right / wrong answer to this… but any of us can benefit from a clearer understanding of our own stroke… so:
- Get in a boat and start driving the boat with a series of reverse-J strokes…
- Focus on each pressure point in turn: buttocks, feet, ankles, knees… left side and right side…
- Throw in a compound back stroke / cross back stroke and see if anything changes…
1st query - does the key pressure point shift from the start of the back stroke to the end of the back stroke?
2nd query - is your body transmitting as much as possible of the drive you’re gaining from the blade?
lots of good points but
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve not yet described the compound backstroke or the cross back stroke (referred to in the fs vocabulary as cross reverse). The target audience of this thread is those interested in exploring freestyle more so than those already well versed in it.
Functional Freestyle is for Tandem Too
– Last Updated: Jan-27-15 7:43 PM EST –
Before we get back on topic I thought I'd introduce another teaser composed by my good friend John Powell. It is comprised of clips I took during a trip in Florida, a couple of years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67X5N5RVUBo
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