Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

"Curls for the girls"

Posted By: Craig Mackinnon
Date: Friday, 24 May 2002, at 9:44 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogma and Gurus (Brianne Corbett)

: Could it be that maybe the
: real power is coming from the body's biggest and one of its highest
: stamina muscle groups... the thigh muscles? The hip/torso rotation may be
: nothing more than the effect of contractions of the thigh muscles... the
: cause The subtle evidence is that pressure on the footpegs.

: Any ideas on this?

We could go on endlessly with questions like: what about the calves, the hip flexors, the gluteus, the internal rotators, among others? But efficient paddling isn't about a hip flexor or oblique in isolation--it's about the entire body working together. Paddling--when done to maximize power and efficiency--is a compound and complex full body movement. No one uses only the quadriceps, obliques and triceps--and you can't analyze the muscles individually and in isolation. The large and small muscles of the body work in concert: contracting, stretching and stabilizing.

As in most full body dynamic movements, power and stabilization is derived from the trunk while incorporating the legs and arms—think of throwing a discus, a punch or shot putting. I like the “throwing a punch” analogy to kayak paddling. Stand up and throw a right arm crossing blow. Did you use just the triceps and obliques? Did you use just the quadriceps? If you did it powerfully and efficiently, you used nearly the entire body--and the trunk was a key component.

Many people can't understand, appreciate or even capitalize on the full body nature of kayaking because they lack the flexibility, strength, cardio-vascular capacity, experience and knowledge to do so. Although paddling styles vary, the fundamental and consistent feature between all styles is the effective incorporation of the trunk--and of course the powerful muscles of the legs are used for stabilization along with the arms. The non-kayaking exercise that has most benefited my paddling is most likely heavy dead lifting. Why? Because the dead lift is a compound movement much like paddling.

And we could get stuck in a semantic quagmire regarding what is a "torso" movement and what is a "push/pull" movement--but can you effectively "push" or "pull" without the trunk, without utilizing and stabilizing other parts of the body? And we could get lost in arguments about "over rotating". But what about comparing an aggressive slide stroke movement with a Greenland style storm paddle versus a low angle Euro movement. Might they use a slightly different mix of flexion/extension/rotation/etc. and stress slightly different muscle groups? Isn’t a consistent feature that they both derive power and efficiency from the trunk? If you are teaching, don’t you start with and stress fundamentals—parts of the stroke that are consistent regardless style? Or do you tell them to just go to the gym and do “curls for the girls”—or isolate the obliques and triceps?

Granted, someone paddling a rec boat on a pond may never understand the concept of paddling as a compound movement. But ask someone interested in maximizing power and efficiency--a racer, for example--and you start to hear about "rotation" and the trunk. Or just lock yourself in a kayak and paddle for five straight hours in rough surf. Questions about the importance of the triceps or disputes about "over rotation" become pointless. If you don't use the full body in rough surf--particularly the trunk, you won't last long. Although forward stroking in rough water may be the most dynamic forward paddling possible, the same principles can apply to flat water. A "full body" stroke that utilizes the trunk is also one that can be used for hours efficiently on flat water paddling, assuming you have the flexibility, strength, endurance and cardio-vascular development to do so. I provided the link above because the outlined fundamentals or at least something similar works for me to produce efficient and powerful strokes in a variety of conditions and over a variety of distances and duration.

The best way to answer these questions, test these theories and most importantly discover what works is to get out on the water and paddle--going forward in challenging conditions takes more than analysis and theorizing. Hit the surf. After a short period of trial and error, you'll either incorporate a "full body" method or head to shore in pain. And if you're open to new experiences and methods, you will discover what works for you--as most of us have. It never ceases to amaze me how much can be learned--how much you are forced to quickly learn--by paddling in the surf zone.

Hope this helps,
Craig

Messages In This Thread

Forward Stroke Revisited
David -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 9:45 a.m.

Forward Stroke Link:
Craig Mackinnon -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 11:15 a.m.

why you hide behind an authority? *NM*
risto -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 1:16 p.m.

Re: why you hide behind an authority?
Shawn Baker -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 1:20 p.m.

Re: teachers
LeeG -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 5:53 p.m.

re-inventing the wheel is fun....
risto -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 12:20 p.m.

Re: re-inventing the wheel is fun....
don flowers -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 1:05 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Link:
Ted Henry -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 3:59 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Link:
don flowers -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 6:40 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Link:
KenB -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 7:13 p.m.

Thanks for the link *NM*
don flowers -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 8:52 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
Shawn Baker -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 1:19 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
Randy Knauff -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 3:18 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 5:14 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
LeeG -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 6:03 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Pedal=Paddle
dave mcadoo -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 6:18 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
njkayaker -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 7:01 p.m.

Re: Forward Stroke Revisited
David -- Wednesday, 22 May 2002, at 10:50 p.m.

Dogma and Gurus
M.Hamilton -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 2:10 a.m.

Re: Dogma and Gurus
David -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 10:23 a.m.

Re: Dogma and Gurus
David -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 10:34 a.m.

Re: Dogma and Gurus
Shawn Baker -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 11:30 a.m.

Re: Dogma and Gurus
LeeG -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 12:16 p.m.

Paddling "styles"
Craig Mackinnon -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 12:20 p.m.

15 heads are better than one....
David -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 11:56 p.m.

Re: correction
LeeG -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 10:23 a.m.

Re: correction
David -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 6:15 p.m.

Re: correction
Jed -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 9:31 p.m.

Re: Dogma and Gurus
Brianne Corbett -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 8:44 p.m.

"Curls for the girls"
Craig Mackinnon -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 9:44 a.m.

Not necessarily
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 1:24 p.m.

Not necessarily...
Craig Mackinnon -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 3:38 p.m.

Re: Not necessarily...
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 5:02 p.m.

Re: Not necessarily...
Greg Stamer -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 6:49 p.m.

Thanks for clearing that up, Greg.
Brian Nystrom -- Saturday, 25 May 2002, at 9:21 a.m.

Re: Thanks for clearing that up, Greg.
Greg Stamer -- Tuesday, 28 May 2002, at 12:12 p.m.

Re: Thanks for clearing that up, Greg.
Brian Nystrom -- Tuesday, 28 May 2002, at 12:28 p.m.

Dogma Rulz, Catma Drools
Jed -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 12:32 p.m.

A good demo of torso rotation benefits
Pamela -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 7:36 p.m.

Maybe not dogma but it seems to help
Jed -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 8:08 p.m.

Re: A good demo of torso rotation benefits
David -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 12:00 a.m.

Over rotation
M.Hamilton -- Friday, 24 May 2002, at 12:39 a.m.

Not MH above,but a prank based on a conversation *NM*
MH -- Saturday, 25 May 2002, at 5:34 p.m.

Interestingly, no one used the word "cadence" *NM*
risto -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 1:40 p.m.

Re: or breathing *NM*
LeeG -- Thursday, 23 May 2002, at 10:14 p.m.

or,... synchronizing the lot... *NM*
risto -- Saturday, 25 May 2002, at 8:45 a.m.

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