His first sentence made me smile. About a month after my Lumpy arrived I had my first GP lesson. An ACA intructor with a GP endorsement. I took maybe five forward strokes then was stopped and told I was “doing everything wrong.” Why? Because I use a high angle stroke, lowering it only in a stiff headwind.
I was fortunate that Bill Bremer had given me good counsel about classes and instructors, so was able to mentally shrug off the criticism and did what I was told until the class was over. Then went back to doing what’s comfortable and works for me.
Someone may have already pointed this out but balance is key to rotation (unless you’re paddling a barge). I do this exercise and as silly as it looks it works. https://youtu.be/ko4hKQJ39Fw
Really quick and dirty option - if belly fat is a problem. Get red light treatment, it can take off up to three inches in a week and that would definitely improve the likelihood of rotation. : -)
@DrowningDave said:
Someone may have already pointed this out but balance is key to rotation (unless you’re paddling a barge). I do this exercise and as silly as it looks it works.
That seems to be the norm for YouTube. I’ve never figured why anyone would video a kayak trip on a beautiful mountain lake and put some trashy rap “music” in the background. I see such things all the time. Then I hit mute.
Might be an okay exercise for balance (sans background noise), but he’s rotating only his upper body until he takes his feet off the ball and places them on a stationary object. Then the legs and hips come into play.
A certified personal trainer (who is also a paddler) recommended this balance training video. It’s not as easy as it looks:
It’s great that you are looking at improving your stroke, but you can have great rotation and still have a bad stroke and/or compromise your form–even get injured.
Perfecting forward stroke is a long term process and involves many variables. The good news is that it is an enjoyable pursuit and when things start lining up, there is no better feeling than gliding along with good technique.
Here is an absolute masterclass on all things forward stroke. It’s long, but provides enough info to keep you busy for a lifetime.