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Kayak Paddle Blade

How to Paddle Your Sea Kayak Efficiently

The key to great kayaking is getting out there and enjoying what you are doing and experiencing.  Practicing some basic skills always helps to do this.  The foundational skill in sea kayaking is the forward stroke.  It is great to have a reliable roll and be able to high brace, leaning all the way over in the water, but unless you want to be a trick kayaker, you need a good, efficient forward stroke. Every time you paddle, you need to be working on the forward stroke.  If you consciously work on this basic part of kayaking, your skill and enjoyment will increase.  Here's how:

The Right Sea Kayak Paddle Size is Important

Paddle blades come in several sizes, depending on the paddling conditions.  Narrower blades cut through the wind better, but they lose speed.  Mir-size paddles are good for most paddling conditions.  They catch a good amount of water for good power and can usually be adjusted, or feathered, to deal with wind.  Wider blades catch a lot of water and can increase speed considerably.  The down side of wider blades is that they tend to flutter, can be hard on joints, and can catch the wind quite strongly.  The first step is to get the right paddle for your activity.  If you paddle more and longer journeys, then a lighter paddle is important.  A mid-range and narrow combination of paddles-mid-range for most paddling, narrow as a spare set and for windy conditions, is usually a good way to go.  Go to paddlefests and events in your area and try out the products available.  Make sure your sea kayak paddle is right for you.

Good, Upright Posture is Critical for Sea Kayaking

If you are slouching in the seat of your kayak, you are not getting maximum movement or power.  Sit up straight, with a slightly forward lean to be efficient.  This just becomes habit if you continue to work on being conscious of how you are sitting while paddling your sea kayak.

Use a Relaxed Grip When Holding the Sea Kayak Paddle

Holding a paddle with a death grip is tiring.  Loosen your grip on your paddle.  Hold it just tightly enough to prevent flutter and to maintain good movement.  This helps you relax in your paddling motion, which also slows down fatigue, letting you paddle longer and more efficiently.  Much of the key here is to just relax.  Sometimes the conditions get rough and scary, but working on relaxing usually helps with stability and certainly helps with efficiency while sea kayakaing.

Sea Kayaking With Torso Rotation Increases Stamina

Use the trunk of your body to paddle, not your arms.  We have large muscle groups in our torsos.  By using these large muscle groups predominately, we give ourselves more power and more stamina for paddling longer.  If you shoulders are rotating, most likely your torso is as well.  Try practicing with rotating shoulders.  If you are having trouble keeping a good rhythm and flow, put your rudder of skeg down to take the work to maintain good tracking out of the equation.  Teach yourself good forward stroke technique and paddle without rudder or skeg later.  Don't try to power your strokes as far back as you can. Stroke smoothly and rhythmically, and pull your paddle out of the water beside your hip.

More Paddle Strokes While Kayaking Means Faster Travel

Your speed comes from how many times your paddle is in the water.  Increase your paddle rate without the power pull at the end.  Taking your paddle out of the water at the hip helps increase your paddling rate and increases your stability.  

These are very simple techniques that anyone can do.  The key to getting a good forward paddling stoke is to continue to work on it on every trip, no matter how long the trip is.  By following these simple suggestions, and trying to be conscious of how you are paddling, you will improve your sea kayaking skills, become a better paddler, and enjoy your trips even more.

About the Author

Gary Ward has been leading trips and teaching in wilderness areas for 20 years. Having traveled from desert to sea, he spends most of his time now in coastal areas, exploring the boundary between land and sea, land and sky, and sea and sky, looking for the best kayaking destinations.

 

He can be found leading sea kayaking tours in the Gulf Islands of BC, teaching, and writing for his business, Coastal Bliss Adventures.

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