Looking for tips to paddle faster

It may improve your forward stroke at high stroke rates caused
by more precision with the orientation of the blade for the `catch’.
So indirectly feather angle may affect your speed.

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Kalliste 99.7 @ 75 spm = 7,477.5

Less wrist flexing feathered.

Still burying the blade to much for my style. Reaching more is good when I reach my arm is straight fully extended fully extended for catch phase.

Your paddle blade is going 8" below the surface. Still not holding paddle centered at times.

Don’t think you driving with your legs with each stroke.

I have wider reach but my hands are about 4" off the blade with my 205.

Put paddle resting on your head make right angle at elbows for width. I usually go tad wider than that.

Forget speed get the right technique speed comes later. Can’t measure it that accurately anyway to many variables wind and currents. Numbers come after many outings.

Place drip rings where you want your hands to be and keep them next to rings.

My drip rings are 4" from blades and my blades go 2" below water maximum in calmer conditions.

Excellent video on torso rotations and forward stroke

Lean forward

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If you’re serious then find local coach, or arrange to travel to a coach. Spend time in person on water with your equipment. It’s the best only solution for musicians and competitive archers, etc. Sounds like you want to fitness paddle.

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A year later and hundreds of miles, I can finally sustain 5mph consistently. I have to make efforts. Here is today’s paddle. My rotation looks poor and re reading a lot of the comments, I need to evaluate where I plant the paddle and do maybe 50/50 push pull for more speed.

My kid signed up the rowing team and I paddle along them. Gives me incentive to paddle faster to keep up and film my kid

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Video doesn’t work.

It should work. It’s a public listed video.

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Nearly no rotation mostly arms. You head is rotating not your torso the major portion of the time. Paddle entry is rough and loud.

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It might be perspective, but the paddle seems to be held too high.

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Paddle is possibly to long which makes you tired faster and slows down you your cadence, and also make silent and clean entry more difficult. JMHO

I use a 250 cm paddle and can sustain a 72 tp 80 stroke per minute cadence, so I disagree IMHO.

If you can’t do something, it’s presumptuous to give advice on a topic such as low angle paddling, or the the advantages/disadvantages (yes there is trade off) of a long paddle, and how to make it work more efficiently.

I can appreciate Olympic style kayak racing, but let me present the value of modeling the technique thevway @szihn presented it to me in his laid back homespun way:

If I were tasked with teaching someone to drive, I wouldn’t take them to DRAG RACE. I must admit, that makes sense. When I taught my kids to ride bikes, I didn’t buy them a $5,000 bike road bike and didn’t sit them down to watch the Tour de France.

This is true my cadence is not consistent as I do slow down my paddle over time even though I do not feel “tired”. I am using a 210cm. I had tried a 205cm but I thought it was too short then but I may be wrong as I watch these videos of myself.

I will work on more torso rotations. It feels like I am fully rotating but the video shows otherwise. Here is another raw video in 27mph wind gust. A year ago I was still timid to go in such wind. 2 years ago was a definite no. So I am evolving to improve my paddling

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How high does you hand go in relationship to your head? From other videos you have posted I think it’s to high for my personal liking if it was me.

From what I gave read over the years you cruise rated should be a speed you can maintain for at least 45 minutes or more continuously.

Your technique seems choppy and not smooth. I’d try reaching further forward for a longer stroke. Leg drive can be another important factor. When I want to go fast leg drive makes my hull roll slightly side to side fairly consistently I don’t see that in you deck. Your deck looks more erratic and more up and down in movement.

When in my tandem Libra XT and paddling with my partner in unison I can really feel the side to side movement like a steady rhythm. Also happens in my Extreme hulls if I want to go home fast.

Elizabeth O’Connor has a school based in CT I took some lessons from her when I started. Not sure if she still instructs but school is there last time I looked. Many years since then but I still hear her critiques. She was telling me I wasn’t driving legs properly and I’m like how the hell does she know :joy: she can’t see them. Now I understand it from how the boat is moving. She could spin her kayak on a dime.

If I was you I’d try to get some instruction from Marshall at the River Connection. When someone is paddling alongside you and watching you ever second and coaching it sinks into your head but possibly not you body. I find myself criticizing myself constantly. Most people or groups I have paddles with are not really interested in speed or at a higher pace for extended periods. Tow or three hours with a qualified instructor is worth every penny. All that said my cat probably goes better in the water than me.

He ask about his high angle paddling style which has zero to do with low angle paddling.

The older we get, the faster we were.

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Oh! He’s talking to you!

I’ll ask you to go back to the graphs from 23 Jun posted by the person asking for advice on paddling. If you look at his high angle speed graphs, you must notice the speed fluctuations. He posted his cadence with various paddles, acknowledge inconsistent cadence, yet you suggest that he reach further, overextend and further disrupt his cadence rythem. Do you not understand the value of maintaining a condistent cadence to fatten out the stoke to glide ratio.

I posted low angle graphs. I know you don’t like low angle paddle technique because it interfered with speed, you know, from excessive yaw. Do you think I could improve my technique with by switching to high angle. Ignore my grandaughter’s chart. She’s only 11 yrs old and hasn’t learned low amgle yet.