Hitting skeg control with paddle

OK, so I’m sure this is due to poor paddling on my part, but the location of the skeg control on my new Impex Montauk is placed so that I occasionally will bang into it with the paddle, I noticed it has a dinged spot already on it, as if its original owner had the same problem. Is there anything I can do, besides becoming a better paddler, to help with this issue? Thanks.

I had similar issue with my Valley Q boat’s skeg knob rubbing my left thumb the wrong way when paddling. Likely due to poor technique though. Anyway I removed the VCP knob, which stood very proud of the deck and replaced with a home shaped chunk of UHMW that fits in slider slot and is flush with deck… It like factory rig has metric SS set screw to anchor to tube and cable. No more banged digits.

@Andy said:
Anyway I removed the VCP knob, which stood very proud of the deck and replaced with a home shaped chunk of UHMW that fits in slider slot and is flush with deck… It like factory rig has metric SS set screw to anchor to tube and cable. No more banged digits.

Smart!

Jon
https://3meterswell.blogspot.com

I used to hit mine occasionally but don’t remember the last time I did. Train yourself to rotate your torso and keep the paddle more vertical and the problem will likely solve itself.

UHMW?

@string said:
UHMW?

Ultra High Molecular Weight (Polyethylene)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene

Thanks all.

Ideally that is an indication of imperfect torso rotation. But if someone else has found it easier to replace that knob you may want to consider it. No one is perfect all the time, and you may be shorter than Sparky.

Thanks, Celia. I don’t hit it that often; just every once in a while. But, I find it disconcerting when I do. I will focus on improving my stroke and on torso rotation, but I’ll also keep in mind the possibility of replacing the knob if I keep bumping it. Good to have another option!

I remember hitting that knob all the time when I was a beginner - even though the knob is in a place where my hands should never be during a paddle stroke. I had permanent bruises on the upper side of my thumb.

I agree with the others. It is caused by a lack of upper body rotation. When you are a beginner, you pull the paddle through the water by bending the elbow on your lower arm. When you do that, you pull the paddle parallel to the kayak, and your hand will pass right next to the knob.

The cure is to paddle with upper body rotation. Sorry if I write something, which you already know about, but I like to be thorough:

When you paddle with upper body rotation, keep your lower arm straight during the paddle stroke, and drive the paddle by rotating your upper body. The lower elbow should only bend at the very last part of the stroke where you take the paddle out of the water. This will drive the paddle in an arc, away from the kayak, and your hand will not get near to the knob.

If you are unfamiliar with paddling with upper body rotation, you will at first find the concept impossible and think “There is no way I can paddle without bending my lower elbow”. But it is possible. Try to keep your paddle out in front of you with both arms straight and turn the paddle from side to side by rotating in your waist (or by using your legs to rotate your butt in the seat if your kayak allows that). Then do the same with a paddle blade in the water.

Thanks, Allan. I have taken a few lessons and am working on always using torso rotation, so I’m familiar with the movement. I’m sure I only achieve correct form some of the time, though.

However, I’m confused by your instructions, as my instructor has said one’s arms should not be held with no elbow bend because it is unsafe to be fully extended when the paddle is in the water. Perhaps I misunderstood him, and this only applies to arm positions above the waist, but he talked about a “safety box” and I took away from it that a fully straight arm position was potential for injury.

Also, just to be clear, it is not my hand that ever hits the skeg control: it’s the paddle shaft. I do feel I fit the kayak well, though in a perfect world I think I’d shave an inch off its width. So I also wondered it perhaps it is a bit too wide for me.

Thanks!

The straight versus slightly bend elbow thing will vary between instructors in how it is presented. There is an exercise which is always done the same way, to practice paddling with absolutely zero bend to force everything to happen via torso rotation. But implementing things for paddling forward starts to add stuff about protecting your joints, and it is correct that a slight bend in a joint is often a bit safer for long use than absolute straight. I play violin and have to impose some personal judgement at times in this area because of that. I find that using an absolutely straight elbow tends to cause more twisting on my wrist than if I leave a little give…

Whatever you are hitting the skeg cable with, it is likely suggesting that you are drawing the blade back a bit further in the water than ideal. I usually find the more effective solution when I want to fix this up (lilly dipping I don’t always bother) is to get my butt and core set up more erect, so as to start the blade into the water further forward.

Underrated but a good exercise in this direction is to do this with a faster cadence and shorter strokes. You will go as fast or faster, and it is good practice for if you are caught somewhere and need to boogie home. You can sustain this longer than long heavy drags to increase propulsion.

For a perfect stroke, ideally we should all be in skinnier kayaks. But at some point you need to paddle a boat that works for your general needs.

Regarding elbow bent or not … and torso rotation

The way I think of it is that

  • whether slightly bent or not, freeze the elbow in its position at the time of the paddle catch (i,e, when it enters the water)
  • do not unfreeze the elbow until the stroke is done (e.g. paddle at the hip)
  • this requires torso rotation to drive the paddle
  • once the stroke is done, unfreeze the elbow for a graceful paddle exit from the water

Thanks, Celia and Rsevenic, these are both helpful comments.

@Doggy Paddler said:
However, I’m confused by your instructions, as my instructor has said one’s arms should not be held with no elbow bend because it is unsafe to be fully extended when the paddle is in the water. Perhaps I misunderstood him, and this only applies to arm positions above the waist, but he talked about a “safety box” and I took away from it that a fully straight arm position was potential for injury.

rvsenic has it right. The important part here is that you should not move the paddle by bending your elbow (more) during the stroke. You make the catch, and then you drive the paddle with your torso, keeping whatever bend the elbow already had.

Regarding the paddler’s box, I have a slightly different way of looking at it:
When protecting your shoulders, it is more a question of where you have your arm relative to your torso, rather than a question of straight elbows or not.
The two dangerous situations are:

  1. Arms far out to the side, relative to your torso (because you did not rotate your torso in the direction you wanted your arm to move).
  2. Elbows and hands simultaneously at shoulder height or higher.

Especially no. 2 has ripped a lot of shoulders, for example when doing a high brace in big waves. The golden rule is that hands above shoulders is okay if you keep elbows down, and elbows at shoulder height is okay if you keep hands down (for example in a low brace). If you follow that rule, it is difficult to bring the shoulder joint in a position where you risk ripping it.

OK, thank you, that definitely helps to clarify your point.

My feeling is that a lot of these things are difficult to explain (without being able to demonstrate) to a beginner, and I’ve noticed that a number of things I was taught initially, but found confusing, have become much more understandable as I’ve paddled more. The torso rotation thing is one of them.

Anyway thanks for the effort to describe what you mean, I appreciate it, and now it makes sense to me.

@Doggy Paddler said:

My feeling is that a lot of these things are difficult to explain (without being able to demonstrate) to a beginner, and I’ve noticed that a number of things I was taught initially, but found confusing, have become much more understandable as I’ve paddled more.

I can tell you that this fact can be quite frustrating/challenging when you are an instructor. I teach in 16 hour weekend courses for beginners, and I know in advance that a lot of what I tell them, they will not be able to relate to by now. But they still need to know about it, because I may never see them again. So I try to convey the information in a way, so they may be able to remember what I said and work with it when they get the experience needed for actually understanding it. But still, I know that I am causing information overload during the course.

Very true in my experience too! For example, I took my first class last summer, was exposed to a ton of new material, the majority of which I struggled to comprehend, much less put into practice. I attempted to practice after the class but had forgotten or was confused about much of what I’d learned. Some of it stuck, though, and I also looked at videos, etc, to try to recall. Paddled a decent amount and took the same class again this summer. This summer I understood about 50% more than I had last summer, and some of the finer points are starting to make sense. Still, putting the info into actual practice is hard, and I feel that, as soon as I have semi-mastered one concept, I realize I’ve been doing another thing all wrong. But each time I “get” a bit more. And thus - slowly - I’ve improved.

I think I’m gonna be a beginner for another 10 years or so, though.

After almost 30 years of paddling, I’m still am intermediate.

Before the classes I was a significantly better paddler, for sure. :wink: