Re: Rule of Thumb?

Posted by LeeG on Jun 4, 2004

Mac, the funny part is that it's kind of hard to try something different when gripping onto a paddle shaft. A few million years of evolution says "stick in hand,,must grip,,opposing thumb good, pull hard" But in paddling there's nothing intuitive that says "belly move body" which is the movement for power and placement of the blade. Your abdominal muscles rotate your torso slightly to plant the blade like a wound up spring,,then your torso muscles unwind moving the blade in the water so that the little joints and ligaments that haven't evolved for transmitting entire body weight and kayak can be lined up well for best transmission of effort. But a walking talking homo sapien sitting in a kayak will feel tippy when twisting off center,,so sitting square to the centerline swinging monkey arms is what's intuitive. But it's not efficient for going forward or turning.

In Response to: Re: Rule of Thumb? by Mac on Jun 3, 2004

Replies:

• Re: Belly Move Body by Mac on Jun 4, 2004