How to transform a boring group paddle into a fun skill development workshop, without
having anyone even notice.
This video series is all about practicing skills while paddling with a group who like
to go from a to b.
Most of us enjoy paddling with friends.
But there may not be an opportunity to stop and practice the skills you need for a more
ambitious trip into the wild.
In this video you will learn to easily practice one of the most important sea kayak skill
for those who want to move with more control and ease.
You can easily practice it as you paddle.
It won’t slow you down.
In fact you may find that you end up saving yourself some energy just because you’re
becoming more efficient.
And no one will even notice you’re doing it.
Yet as you improve your comfort with edging, you start to use the design of the kayak to
help you move more smoothly and effortlessly.
Turning becomes much easier.
And it’s easier to keep going straight when the wind is trying to turn you where you don’t
want to go.
You won’t need to waste so much energy on corrective strokes that slow you down.
It will help you develop the fluid body movement you need to stay secure in the waves.
This will help you not only make everyday paddling more efficient and enjoyable...but
will also give you the security you need to paddle in waves without risking a capsize.
I just recently took my own edging to a new level and the benefits are way more ease and
pleasure.
Paddling feels even more like a dance.
It’s like the power steering on a car.
You barely have to make any effort and the kayak turns.
Almost like it’s reading your mind.
It will help you move even your fully loaded,hard to turn sea kayak with ease.
Using that edging is what makes the kayak so uniquely qualified to give you agility
on the water.
Yet most people never come close to developing this enough...and they don’t get to experience
the ease and peace of mind it can bring you.
It all starts with being able to move different parts of your body independently.
The best thing I ever did to improve how much control I have when putting my kayak on edge,
is not even something I practiced in the kayak.
A simple body movement routine I do from home helps me move my pelvis, spine, shoulders,
head.
All independently.
And that allows me to move them all together more smoothly.
And I feel much more secure when I put the kayak on edge.
I’ll leave a link in the description in case you want to learn more about this body
movement routine.
Edging is not about forcing the kayak on edge by lifting a thigh against the thigh brace.
It’s more about positioning your body in a way that makes the kayak go on edge, while
keeping just enough pressure on the thigh brace to give you stability.
It feels more like you are hanging on the thigh brace.
It should feel easy.
And secure.
Like you could paddle like that for quite a distance without tiring.
Your body weight is in balance.
And your head plays a critical role.
When you tilt your head to keep it balanced over the kayak, it moves your pelvis to give
you way more edging.
And you notice your kayak turns with more ease.
The practice is in edging the kayak and also keeping your pelvis free to rotate to keep
your forward stroke smooth and easy.
The tendency most people have is to lock the pelvis when on edge.
And I think that just takes all the ease and elegance out of it.
Your pelvis is the key to your agility.
And If you don’t learn to move it to help you, it’s probably the biggest obstacle
to having easy and precise kayak control.
I don’t know of a quicker way to gain this ease of movement then with doing the body
movement routine I mentioned earlier.
Here’s how to make it smooth and easy.
Let your pelvis rotate towards the side you are edging.
This will put you in a natural position to edge without effort.
It will also put you in a better position to save yourself from a capsize if you edge
too far.
It will put you in a more natural position to do a sweep stroke for a tighter turn if
you need it.
All while keeping your shoulders in a strong position.
And again it puts you in the perfect position to stop a capsize if you need it.
It puts your body in a more flexible position for keeping your head over the centre of the
kayak.
This is sideways.
This is with rotation.
Notice the kayak can edge more and still stay in balance.
More importantly it’s a lot easier, and you feel more secure.
As you paddle, let your pelvis move back and forth to give your forward stroke some power.
The opposite thigh is hanging on the thigh brace but there is not a lot of pressure there.
Just enough to keep you stable.
Your head can stay balanced on top of the kayak.
The more flexibility you have to keep it on the center of the kayak the more your kayak
will edge.
And the easier the turn.
As you can see there are a lot of moving parts here.
The pelvis has to rotate.
And also tilt to the side, and also tilt forward and back.
If you want to get good at this movement I made a video to show you more about how to
develop that, you can watch it by clicking the link in the description below.
You will learn about this new movement routine that helps any kayakers develop this quickly.
One way you get good at edging your kayak when paddling with a group is to challenge
yourself to avoid using your paddle or rudder to make a turn.
Try to use edging only.
And challenge yourself to make your turns tighter.
Like here as you can see I’m purposely paddling towards the rock so that I will need to make
a more effective turn to avoid it.
If you don’t need to turn, you can still practice edging by simply putting the kayak
on edge and keep paddling.
Challenge yourself to make this feel smooth and easy.
You can do that all day long, and turn a boring a to b paddle into a great skill mastery workshop.
With every little trip you go on making you more agile with your kayak…
This is a key skill that will make it much easier to develop any other kayak technique
you want to master.
to give you more paddling opportunities.
And maybe even get you ready for that life changing trip you’ve been dreaming about.
I hope this video helps you get more enjoyment from your paddling,
Thanks for watching.