Also
If you’re not in a sit on top and the seat slides and the feet are fixed (like in a rowing shell) your feet would have to be strapped in, thus reviving the phrase “roll or die”
Strapped
Most surf-skis have the feet srtapped and many racing kayaks have a bar to slide your feet under and pull against (in addition to the plate to push against). It should not be too much of a trouble to slide the feet out from under the straps in the case of a capsize. I think it is still roll or swim dilemma -;). Besides, if the seat is sliding, there will likely be no good way to have a spray skirt attached, so rolling will do little good with an open cockpit…
This is so funny!
sliding seats are for rowing…
as rotating seat are for kayaking…
Don’t try to re-create the wheel :D:D:D
I’ve raced easy slalom events in a kayak
but that doesn’t count, because a slalom kayaker has to be locked in, and can’t use legs to any significant degree.
But while I accept that Greg Barton gets something from his legs, adding a sliding kayak seat is not going to help.
It’s a simple fact
You need to pump off a solid peg.
With a sliding seat, you would end up loosing all the gain.
cheers,
JackL
Thank you
But you realize that you will have some of the know it alls tell you that you are racing all wrong!
cheers,
JackL
mechanics?
What type of stroke mechanics do you envision with a seat that slides fore and aft?
What will be the role of the top hand and “off side” during the power phase?
I’m having trouble picturing anything other than someone trying to “shoot” their boat down the course.
Well …
– Last Updated: Feb-18-10 2:02 PM EST –
Why do kayakers rotate or crunch forward? Because they would be arm-paddling otherwise. If you could have sliding motion of the seat, you could avoid arm paddling through that (and leg-paddle instead). Combine some leg-paddle with some rotation to accomodate the outward motion of wing paddles for instance, and you will have a theoretically much more optimized paddle trajectory through the water. To me there is absolutely no argument against this (there might be arguments for things that result from the sliding motion of the body but they would not be related to the paddle path through the water, I'm pretty sure).
Not that I am advocating that a sliding seat will be of ultimate benefit, but so far I've seen only speculation and status-quo quotes and no actual research that has lead to the conclusive result that sliding seats in kayaks are more harm than good or the opposite (and that includes my own theorizing!).
So, show me research or a piece of compelling evidence and I'll trust you (not anyone "You" in particular, "you" in general).
Keep in mind there are a lot of real good things that are not used in kayaking for various reasons. E.g. they may be banned in competition (remember those dimpled hull surfaces?), or too expensive, or too narrow-purpose, etc.
To me a "know it all" is someone who can't substantiate their claim yet keeps repeating it. Most of the "no way" replies I read in this thread fall in that category, unfortunately.
I don’t do research. Just experience
If you want a sliding seat go for it.
I’ll chuckle at you on the starting line, and when the race is over, you can remove your above post if you so desire.
Cheers,
JackL
ok, some simply questions
– Last Updated: Feb-19-10 2:09 PM EST –
I'm not coming as a know it all. I've just got some simple questions regarding a hypothetical sliding seat kayak stroke.
What type of stroke mechanics do you envision with a seat that slides fore and aft?
What will be the role of the top hand and “off side” during the power phase?
Will there be an opposing side or are you going to push with both feet at the same time?
I’m having trouble picturing anything other than someone trying to “shoot” their boat down the course. In a fixed or rotating seat the pulling side applies power by working against the opposing side. How do you maintain this leverage while the entire torso is travelling aft during the power phase? When one shoots the boat at the finish of a sprint the boat shoots forward a couple of feet but then decelerates very quickly as the paddler moves his/her center of mass back over the seat. Shoot too shoot before the finish and you lose all momentum. How will a sliding seat stroke avoid this effect?
speaking of rotating/sliding seats
I meant to ask you at Weeki Wachee, are you still using the fix seat and/or you went back to rotating one?
Javier
Exactly, Jack!
– Last Updated: Feb-19-10 9:18 PM EST –
Look at the fastest guys, they must be doing something right to be fastest, I guess?!? :D:D:D
fixed
I went back to a fixed seat in Fall 2007 and have stuck with it. I looked at the actual range of motion on the rotating seat and reallized that slippery shorts or a bag on the seat would get me all I needed. I had a lot more to gain from improving my technique and getting better transfer of power through the lower torso than I could get from a rotating seat.
Dependent on the swivel seat
I asked you because somehow I feel dependent on the swivel seat in my Nelo -I have used a fixed seat only a few times to practice rough water paddling, but never during an actual workout. Thus, every time I switch to my ski -it is all pain!
When I switched from the Kirton (fixed seat) to the Nelo (rotating seat) the increased in speed was overnight Above all, during long distance/flat water workout. (the comparison might not be fair -different boats).
Thanks for your input,
PS:
Nelo mentions, for instance, that during the finals (don’t know which one) at the last Olympics 8 Nelo boats were using 4 different seats (2 of each) rotating, fixed-standard, fixed-tall, etc… interesting!
Sliding seat
A sliding seat is no good in a kayak as you will lose all leg drive. There are swivel seat but these are for flat water kayaks, you are able to twist and use more leg drive with them but your legs control the seat so if you don’t use your legs much then it takes a while to master the seat.