ONE STROKE FORWARD, Know How
TWO STROKES BACK. PHOTOS: REID MCLACHLAN
2 3
4
1 The Back-Up Plan
5
BUILD CONTROL BY PADDLING IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION [ TECHNIQUE ]
It was a revelation when I first tried it. Everything was so dramati- cally different. I was on the edge of control; I was paddling backwards. It was my dad who first got me going in reverse. He had returned
excited from a symposium where he’d been canoeing with a freestyle paddler. “He said it almost like a mantra,” Dad told me and then he recited: “Anything you do forward you should be able to do backward.” It didn’t sound like a big deal, but then I tried it. Paddling backwards is a great way to teach solo and tandem ca-
noeists important concepts by taking them outside of their comfort zone—nothing feels natural and everything is new. Not only does this translate into more efficiency and grace on the
water, these are also skills that we can carry to moving water, whether back-ferrying a loaded tripping canoe or riding a sweet surf wave. There are two important pointers that will help for practising your
strokes in reverse. For solo paddlers, the most common problem at the outset is trim. It is critical to have your weight in the center of the canoe, or a little forward of center, so you are not stern heavy. Secondly, watch where you’re going! My clients get so focused on
their strokes that they forget what the canoe is doing and they run into the shore, each other, me, and once, even a wading nudist. All of the traditional strokes—including the J-stroke, draws and
pries—are fair game for backwards paddling, whether you’re solo or tandem. For a fun beginner stroke that’ll make you think about blade placement, try a reverse running stern draw. Practice it and impress your paddling buddies with a reverse dock landing or reverse eddy turn in moving water.
30 | Canoeroots The instructions below are for solo paddlers, but tandem paddlers
can try this if the bow paddler performs continuous reverse sweeps to both initiate and power the turn, while the paddler in the stern fol- lows the instructions described here from step two on:
1. First, gain momentum going backwards in a straight line with a reverse J-stroke. Now, just like its forward counterpart, initiate a turn with a hard reverse J at the end of the stroke.
2. With the turn starting, tilt the hull to the inside of the turn and slice your blade out and slightly behind you to set up the stern draw.
3. Open the blade to catch water by turning your grip hand thumb out. Doing this slowly, and gradually introducing more blade angle, will allow you to use the momentum of the canoe and carve a beautiful turn.
4. Hang on to the stern draw for as long as you can, allowing the canoe to pivot around your paddle.
5. For style points, finish off the draw with a palm roll and reverse J-stroke and now you’re set up to do the maneuver again, or maybe a reverse running pry sideslip, or a reverse low brace turn, or a reverse one-handed pry, or how about a reverse…
Becky Mason is owner and operator of Classic Solo Canoeing. She is a Paddle Canada Instructor Trainer and has been teaching people to go backwards, forwards and sideways for 27 years.
www.redcanoes.ca.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64