Bracing using the drive-face of the paddle

 

One of the strokes that is usually taught to people beginning to paddle kayaks is the high support stroke - unfortunately it is sometimes taught to be performed in a manner which is not only inefficient, but which also increases the risk of shoulder dislocation.

This web page describes a method of performing the high support stroke which I believe to be more efficient, requires less effort and causes less strain on the body, and is much less likely to result in shoulder dislocation.

I don`t like even using the name "high support stroke" - as it implies that the paddle should be held high. I prefer the rather long-winded description of "bracing using the drive face of the paddle blade".

 

The efficiency of the stroke in supporting the paddler

When looking for support during a recovery stroke, the maximum support is obtained from the interaction of the blade of the paddle with the surface of the water.

Note that bit again - "...the surface of the water".

A paddle blade that is below the surface of the water provides less support. It is therefore desireable to position the paddle so that the maximum amount of blade is on the surface - this means holding the shaft as low as possible, with the edge of the kayak being the limit.

However, when describing the high recovery stroke, beginners are sometimes taught that the paddle is held at chest height or above. In this position the blade makes quite a large angle with the surface of the water, such that part of the blade is still in the air, part of the blade is in the water, and only a small part of the blade is on the surface and actually providing the support. The paddler therefore has to increase the contact velocity to compensate ( ie - drive the blade down harder ).

To produce this higher velocity requires a larger amount of effort from the body; also, when the blade makes contact with the surface of the water, there is a higher rate of deceleration, which produces a more pronounced jarring effect on the body.

So the high paddle position, with its low efficiency, produces a more stressful stroke compared to a low paddle position.

 

Safety - or the risks to the paddler

A useful starting point for discussion is the human anatomy. Most ball joints in the human body are captive, in that the ball is contained within a cup shaped socket - the joint can move over a range of, say, 90 degrees, and any sideways force pushes the ball against the side of the cup, and so can be resisted.

The shoulder is however different, and is unique. In order to give the arm a range of movement which exceeds 180 degrees in all directions, instead of a cup, the ball at the top of the humerus ( the bone in the upper arm ) is held against a shallow depression at the end of the scapula ( the shoulder blade ). The ball is surrounded by cartilage which acts as the lubricating layer for the joint, and the joint is held together by muscle - and nothing else but muscle. Therefore any force on the arm which does not drive the ball against the depression has to be resisted by the muscle.

The low support stroke, when correctly performed with the elbow over the shaft of the paddle, is an good example of a stroke where the ball of the shoulder joint is driven straight into the depression in the scapula. It is therefore a completely safe stroke, whether used as a recovery stroke, a long term bracing stroke, or as part of the low brace turn.

In contrast however, if the paddle is held at chest height or above, as the stroke is performed, it is inevitable that the arm on the active side is projected out sideways from the body, with no part of the arm in front of the shoulder. Also, most people doing this stroke end up with the paddle behind the body, so that the arm is actually driven upwards and backwards at the shoulder, with the elbow behind the shoulder, and the hand behind the elbow.

If you are not convinced about this - watch some paddlers practising the high support stroke - pool sessions are very productive for watching this. With very few exceptions, you`ll see the paddle shaft held high, and their active arm behind their shoulder.

This results in the stroke being performed in a manner in which the shoulder is at the limit of its safe range of operation - any additional strain pushes the shoulder out of the safe range and dislocation results.

This can happen, for example, if the paddle hits the seabed when surfing, or hitting a rock with the paddle when going down a rapid.

 

So how should we be doing it ?

The two requirements that have emerged are that the paddle should be held as low as possible, and that when performing the stroke, the arm is well within the safe area of operation of the shoulder.

Both of these can be accommodated by selecting a starting position such that the paddle is held low down in front of the midriff, across the spray deck, with the arms slightly bent, and with the active drive face of the paddle facing down - on the side of the control hand, this is not difficult; however on the non-control side, quite a lot of wrist flexing is required, if you use a feathered paddle.

As the kayak is leaned over, the paddle is projected sideways to extend its reach on the active side, but maintaining its position low down in front of the abdomen.

At the time of contact with the water, the kayak is hip-flicked up as usual.

The final position of the paddle and arms at the time of contact are as follows :-

The key observation point is to look at your elbows - both elbows should be pointing downwards - underneath the paddle shaft - and tucked into your sides, or even in the water, level with your abdomen.

Despite any misgivings there may be, this is still a high support stroke, as it is the drive face of the blade that makes contact with the surface of the water, and whilst performing the hip-flick the body is still effectively hanging from the paddle even though the paddle is in front of, and not above, the body.

[ Compare this with the low support stroke, where the back of the blade is in contact with the water, and the upper body is leaning forward over the top of the paddle shaft. ]

 

The advantages of this kind of brace

There are a number of advantages of this method of bracing using the drive-face of the paddle blade, compared to the traditional method of doing the high support stroke. They are :-

 

Feedback on teaching and learning this kind of brace

In general terms, for novice paddlers, this alternative method has proved no harder to either teach, or for them to learn, than the traditional method of doing a high support stroke.

In contrast, it has proved to be very difficult to re-educate paddlers who have got used to the idea of doing a high support stroke by stretching upwards and outwards ( and usually rearwards ) as in the traditional method - dislocated shoulders only happen to other people.

 

Building on this kind of brace

In the section on the advantages of this way of bracing, I mentioned skulling and half-rolling. I think it is worth expanding on this.

When paddling in rough water, either on rivers or the sea, we use a mixture of bracing and supporting strokes depending on how bad the conditions are.

The low brace is an easy and safe way to brace, but it has limited usefulness if the conditions are bad. If a low brace isn`t sufficient, we do a high support stroke. If conditions are prolonged, we do some skulling. And if it all goes pear-shaped, we roll back up again.

Conventional teaching introduces all these strokes as seperate strokes - each one having its own set of "this is how we do this stroke".

However if we teach - or learn - the above way of doing a brace using the drive face of the paddle blade, then we can teach - or learn - these strokes as a sequence of strokes with progressively greater amounts of support capability.

Start with the low brace - and we teach or learn how to hold the paddleshaft low down over the spraydeck, with the drive face of the paddle facing upwards, and the elbows over the top of the paddle shaft.

Then we introduce the concept of rotating or flicking over the paddle, so that the elbows are now underneath the paddle shaft, and the drive face of the paddle blade is now facing downwards onto the surface of the water. The shaft is still low down in front of the abdomen, over the spraydeck. And this is now the brace using the drive face of the paddle blade, as described above.

Then we can move on to the skulling for support stroke, with the paddle held in just the same way, the shaft is low down over the spraydeck, in front of the abdomen.

In parallel with this development of the skill set, we can also be introducing and developing the skills in hip flicking - the side of a pool is excellent for this, but so is a suitable rock, a low jetty, even the bow of another kayak.

As the two sets of skills develop, we can combine them to do hip flicks back up from a static brace, or from a skull. And now we are well on the way to doing a half roll.

So just as we flow from one type of support stroke to another type as conditions get worse, so can we teach or learn these various ways of support in a progression of skills, flowing from one to the next one.

 

A final comment ...

It is well known within the NHS that the highest number of people who present to Accident and Emergency departments with dislocated shoulders are either horse-riders or canoeists.

Shoulder dislocations are a real risk within kayaking, and it is worth thinking about ways to lessen the risk.

 

 

 

 

 

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