lean and high cadence
If you keep the same (fast) cadence with leaning that you’d use without leaning, isn’t that simply moving the stroke forward? Shouldn’t you then just be located a little more fore in the boat (maybe changing trim accordingly) and paddle without lean?
Is the purpose of the forward lean be extend the power phase or move it forward?
Apart from the trim issue
– Last Updated: Jun-09-13 1:32 PM EST –
Leaning forward at the plant, as opposed to sitting upright, allows one to utilize the lower body by thrusting the pelvis forward during the power phase.
Also, since pretty much all boats taper towards the ends, moving the stroke forward where the boat is narrower allows one to keep the power phase of the stroke closer to the keel line of the canoe, as well as closer to the pivot point, which results in less yaw and makes cross-forward strokes easier bio-mechanically.
It’s a Wall of Water
And setting up that way adds resistance at the “positive” angle. “Explode” at the catch was coined by Hungarian World Champion paddler Balazs Bobella, and many outrgger paddlers have adopted the technique with great success.
In shorter boats, especially ww boats,
one adjusts trim for momentary changes in water and intended course by leaning forward, leaning back, or sitting upright. The way most ww boats are designed, leaning forward pushes the bow down so that it tends to run straighter, faster. Leaning back “unlocks” the bow, while the stern on slalom boats can still slice from side to side.
On the difficult and turbulent Olympics slalom courses, c-1 paddlers were often leaning a bit back to allow the flatter back parts of their boats to skate over holes at drops. If you were to see the same paddlers on a much easier course, much of the time they would be leaning somewhat forward, with the same high stroke rate, hammering to get from gate to gate as fast as possible.
Fishform slalom boats (examples being OC-1 slalom canoes made by Millbrook) are managed a bit differently. Since their bows are broader and flatter than their sterns, one can lean forward a bit and maneuver the bow by changing the position of the catch. When trying for more speed, sometimes one sits up or sits back a bit to push the stern down to make the boat more inclined to track.
I made all that up. Mostly.