Great thread
141 replies. All good discussion and no cheap shots. It is teaching me a lot.
If I understand the PNet practices, Discussion Forum threads are not archived. When (and if?) this discussion ends, I plan to load the printable version of the thread and copy it into a Word file so that I can refer to it in the future.
I have also been downloading the videos that have been posted to my desktop for future learning purposes.
Thank you all for this discussion. In my mind it clearly represents the best of what PNet can be.
The mechanics of the wedge
After completing an uncorrected forward stroke, the paddle is sliced forward to a point ahead of the canoeâs center of rotation. For a kneeling paddler, this will generally be anyplace ahead of the knees. The blade is then turned so that the leading edge is pointed slightly toward the hull.
At this point, the water pressure created by the forward momentum of the hull, will press the paddle blade against the hull and effectively nudge the bow toward the off side.
The maneuver can be completed by converting directly to the next forward stroke or can be enhanced by concluding with a sweep. A sweep can also be used to initiate a wedge, though in functional freestyle the sweep initiation or conclusion is rarely necessary.
Some key points:
When angling the leading edge of the blade toward the hull, do so gently. Being a bit too aggressive may lead to an unexpected swim.
Slicing the blade further forward before setting the blade angle will create a greater turning effect.
Generally less blade angle is better than more. Too much blade angle kills the forward momentum.
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A couple of additions
Go slow
The motion is similar but faster to doing a hard sweep. So do a hard sweep and let the boat ride to get used to the motion. Then add the paddle placement. The paddle placement against the hull sharpens the turn but at least you will be anticipating the movement and be less likely to be ejected.
This turn works best when learning in a calm pond under Lab Conditions. Then on the river you can tweak the paddle depth you place the paddle in the water so you donât hang up on underwater obstructions. Be aware that if you are negotiating a river turn by using this wedge the stern may get caught in faster current, spinning you out.
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the wedge can be,
usually is, a very effective and dramatic turning tool. Sometimes too effective, outside of âlabâ. In conditions such as are represented by these Barrens streams, I find that most often just a very brief, very brief, wedge placement is plenty to swing the bow, just a couple seconds, then transition to some sort of forward. I have heard Tim refer to this as a âwedge nudgeâ. Just a taste of wedge, as it wereâŚ
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The âGlarosianâ wedge wonât eject . . .
. . . you out of the boat no matter how much wedge force is applied.
However, since Marc taught me the maneuver and the name, Iâll leave the explanations to him.
hes currently knee deep in
toboggan woodchips⌠But I guess we can wait⌠I never heard of the Glarosian wedge⌠baited breath
Wedging too Aggressive
First time I ever tried Freestyle I launched myself right over the bow with an overly aggressive wedge.
Dang that was fun!
Glarosian Wedge
â Last Updated: Dec-06-14 7:12 PM EST â
It's been a long day at the folk school. We bent over 40 toboggan runners and assorted other stuff. I've finally unhurried myself from the sawdust and wood shavings.
Some years ago I was working with Mark Molina. I did a wedge in my usual manor which was to hold the paddle an inch or so away from the hull. Doing so allows you to use your arms as shock absorbers, especially if you got a bit too aggressive on the blade angle. Mark Molina commented that Lou Glaros (co author with Charlie Wilson of "Freestyle Canoeing") would do that. Glaros, Molina said, would never let the paddle touch the hull. I said to Molina that we should call such a wedge a "Glarosian wedge".
When I teach wedges, I generally include that variant. As Glenn pointed out, it virtually assures that you don't jam the hull out from beneath you, which many of us have done at one time or another.
Kim often teaches holding the paddle off from the hull briefly, after the placement, but then allowing the paddle to rest against the hull. That brief moment of delay smooths out the maneuver and generally prevents one from socializing with the fish.
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Another variant âŚ
is using an inverted jam (grip hand thumb forward). The grip hand will generally be further forward than the blade. Usually works best from a two point kneeling, a however as Marc mentioned, in functional FS a conclusion is not always needed. Just another tool in the boxâŚ
I always tend to teach both the standard jam and inverted jam. I also usually the method than Kim does-delaying the paddle placement against the hull until the turn begins to stabilize.
I did that too but
I landed on the dock at Church Pond in the Adirondacks in NY.
In the water sure would have been funner.
Toughest stroke to execute
in my opinion, although Iâve never tried it off an in-water recovery - that makes a lot more sense than trying to get proper placement on the blade when you are jamming it down at the bow.
An in-water slice into the paddle
placement definitely makes a whole lot of difference, as you csn feel the water pressure on the blade.
some historyâŚ
I was instructing traditional canoe before learning FS. In 18 years of teaching FS that phrase, âthe Wedge is just a Bow Jamâ was repeated many times. I say these words only to point out that I was uniquely placed to witness the contrast between and evolution of the Bow Jam into the Wedge. The Bow Jam as I was taught was a little used maneuver in river paddling to turn around an obstacle or bend in the river. I do not remember a conclusion being part of the Bow Jam. A slight heel was optional. The goal was to make a simple offside turn without losing momentum. When learning the Wedge, it became apparent that the only similarity to the Bow Jam was the placement of the blade against the hull at the Bow. In contrasting these two maneuvers it is important to remember that in FS canoe there is no current and the goals eventually became to make an 180 degree turn. This implied several things. First, a strong conclusion as well as a heel almost to or to the rail was needed. It was axiomatic that in solo canoeing, the thumb up blade at the Bow was the superior Sweep. Additionally for many years in FS, all maneuvers were done from a centered three point stance. The two point stance came along later as a result of competitions. So, it was that the Inverted Bow Jam was a perfect set-up to transition from the Jam placement to the Sweep conclusion and was taught exclusively that way. This was considered to be the most efficient method and points could be lost in competition if not done thusly. Since, the goals and dogma of the two maneuvers were so different I have no problem with one being a Bow Jam and the other the Wedge.
Now the two are being happily married into a union becoming known as Functional Freestyle and more traditional or dogmatic aspects are changing. I hope it continues as this is a great way to become a very efficient paddler. I would caution against completely losing traditional FS methods as they teach us so much about the interactions of blade, body, and boat and Functional FS could easily digress back to previous canoeing methods in which the higher standards of FS are not learned.
One-handed bow jam (wedge?)
â Last Updated: Dec-08-14 11:43 AM EST â
Bow jams can be done one-handed and prolonged with repeated dynamic pries. Here's a short video of a paddler doing it in a solo birch bark canoe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOqBWvD0J84
Bill Mason often did a one-handed bow jam in both flat and moving water, and "Canadian style" paddlers also seem to like the stroke in their radically heeled tandem canoes. The middle of this video (1:18 - 2:25) shows Becky Mason demonstrating the stroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqTYoy4zMZQ
Is this actually a jam or inverted jam (wedge) under Pag's historically refined terminology?
Apples and oranges
Freestyle is usually done with wider paddles that are also shorter in the blade. Also the wedge is done usually with two hands on the paddle; one on the grip and one on the shaft.
Ottertail paddles are used by Canadian Style paddlers for a variety of reasons which arenât all germane to this discussion. These blades are longer and narrower than the typical Sugar Island paddle.
Hence when doing a bow jam the tip of the paddle extends literally under the boat. Try it with a tandem heeled over. Two hands on the paddle tends to result in your being pulled out of the boat. By dropping the grip hand entirely and letting the shaft hand slide up along the paddle to the grip, two things are accomplished. First you can center your weight better to prevent ejection and another benefit is that long blade can go even farther under the boat increasing the speed of the turn.
So a comparison to Pagâs examples canât really be made as the grip hand is in the paddlers lap⌠for whatever other uses might be neededâŚ
Sooner or later every paddler has had the unsettling feeling of the paddle being jammed beneath the hull and wondering how fast the wetness will come. Simply drop the grip hand and you will be safe⌠let the shaft hand slide up and youâll be able to work the blade out from under the hull without following it into the water.
One-handed unrelated to paddle shape
A one-handed bow jam turn with repeated kinetic pries does not depend on paddle shape, although it may be easier with one shape than another. Here is Bill Mason (at 10:05) doing it with a traditional Sugar Island paddle shape, akin to so-called Freestyle paddles.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/path_of_the_paddle_solo_basic/
One can do the same thing in a narrow solo canoe with practice.
Itâs not relevant to this interesting thread, but some of us deny there are apples and oranges, or that there is any difference between so-called âFreestyleâ, âCanadian styleâ, flatwater and river canoeing. Technical canoeing of any kind is simply âcanoeingâ, which has many various named and even unnamed strokes, moves, maneuvers and hybrid linkages.
I wasnât referring to repeated pries
but to a single bow jam⌠Repeated pries are something that is difficult to master ( stirring the pot is something its called).
A bow jam has the placement against the side of the hull. However it can go under the boat as is common in Lakewater paddling . Which is yes related to FreeStyle.
Another consideration is that Bill Mason is paddling a twelve foot long boat with some 30+ inches of beam. Its hard to measure the waterline width of the boat heeled over though. Tandems heeled over usually become much shorter in the water and spin much faster once they get started ( they are slower to respond to paddle placement initially because of inertia due to greater mass). Its almost suicidal to do a two handed bow jam in one.
It may not be oranges vs apples but one fruit (Canadian Style) is lower on the tree than the other. There are some similarities of course, but also some differences.
Coupla major pointsâŚ
Number 1, I see no Inverted Bow Jams in the videos Glenn included. Number 2, all my comments are always in the context of American style solo canoeing as contrasted with Canadian style solo. The strokes shown in his videos are if I am not mistaken (could be), are called Standing Pries by Canadian style paddlers.
To further clarify, the Inverted Bow Jam or Wedge can be recognized after the initiation and during the in water recovery, as the blade is inverted by turning the grip hand and control thumb away from the body until the thumb points forward and at the same time turning the shaft hand inward by breaking at the wrist. At the paddlers discretion the Jam may be placed near the bow or a bit further down, but always in front of the center of rotation. In this position the paddler is well set-up for an American solo canoe sweep for the Conclusion.
Lets pause.
How relevant are our recent discussions to traveling canoeists? I see too many choir lately.
Lot of terminology here
â Last Updated: Dec-09-14 5:41 AM EST â
Let's see if I got it:
Bow jam = static bow pry with the leading edge of the paddle angled to the bow. What is an inverted bow jam? Is that the cross version?
Wedge = combination move that is initiated with a forward stroke or sweep, then a slice forward to a static bow pry with a lean to the onside, and then concluded with a sweep or forward stroke. (Thatâs a lot to write, never mind execute in the boat.)
I need to try it this weekend, but I think the slice forward will make it easier to get proper paddle placement than the Bill Mason style of jamming the paddle. They make it look easy in the video, but I canât do it. (And those single handed pries are even more amazing.)
As I have admitted before, Iâm a creature of habit, and I have gotten along quite well up to now using cross strokes (axle or post, mostly axle) for offside turns. I understand why solo Canadian-style paddlers in tandem boats would use a bow pry for an offside turn â with the boat healed over they canât do a cross stroke. For a paddler in a modern solo boat, though, whatâs the advantage of a wedge over one of the cross strokes (other than being another arrow in the quiver)?