Paddling Technique

Paddling technique can be broken down into a series of different kayaking strokes. The Stroke page lists the different kayaking strokes, with links to descriptions of the techniques involved in each of them.

Basic techniques

Forward Stroke and Sweep stroke are the first ones to learn. These form the basis of all kayaking techniques. After that it can depend of the type of kayaking you are doing, as to which strokes are most useful. To balance on moving water it is important to learn Bracing.

Swimming and Rolling

While learning the basics you may experience a capsize or two. Initially this will result in a swim. Having suffered this cold wetness you may quickly become interested in learning to Roll. There are various rolling techniques, which are listed on the Eskimo roll page. Note however that beginners tend to place too much emphasis on learning to roll, when they would be better off working on the basic techniques described above.

See also Greenland Style and Euro Style techniques.