It's been a long time since I posted anything here. I finally got an OC-1 this year, though I'm still racing mostly SUP. I've been practicing, but other than being one of the world's fastest huli-ers my progress has been slow. A few days ago Dave offered to teach me how to paddle my OC-1 since I'd been whining to him how much I suck at it. After watching me for a few minutes he agreed that I really sucked and showed me what I was doing wrong. He started off with a simple little drill that made all the rest of his instruction much simpler.
I said "you've got to write a post about this. If you do I'll shoot and edit a video of it". So he did, and I did.
If you read the post, and/or watch the video, GO DO THE DRILL. You get nothing from just reading it or watching. You'll all be convinced that he's absolutely right, and that you already knew how important reach is, but nothing will happen to your stroke. You have to do the drill. I spent a morning fooling around with it and my OC paddling has improved dramatically.
It's as simple and trivial as a drill gets, but what a difference it made.
http://www.davidkalama.com/?p=292
Submitted by PonoBill on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 3:13pm
Great drill and great video! Can't wait to try it. Watching Dave do the drill demonstrates that the torso is already fully uncoiled by mid stroke. When he does the rear half only, there is no torso rotation and very little energy being released. This is a clear demonstration of how important it is to create that energy by rotating the shoulders and uncoiling in the first half of the stroke. Thanks so much for posting that.
A quick question I've always wondered for the more experienced paddlers out there. Everything else being equal (technique, power, etc.) if a paddler has a longer reach (e.g is taller) will he require fewer strokes per minute to travel the same distance as a paddler with a shorter reach (e.g. is shorter). For instance, does the paddler who is 5 foot tall have to paddle more strokes per minute than the paddler who is 6 foot tall? If so, has anyone figured out the formula for what that difference in stroke rate would be for each inch of reach or something similar? (Hopefully, OCPadder has some some folks how are gifted in physics out there who can answer this question).
BTW Pono, I hate to disappoint you, but I have you beat on the world's fastest huli-er. :)
#1 Mon, 03/14/2011 - 6:07pm
Makes sense! Gonna try it this evening after work. Thanks for sharing...
When I huli, I always look for fish while I'm under there :-)
#2 Tue, 03/15/2011 - 9:15am
BTW Pono, I hate to disappoint you, but I have you beat on the world's fastest huli-er. :)
I don't know, I did two today that were pretty spectacular. One second I'm paddling and smiling, a microsecond later everything is blue and bubbly.
#3 Tue, 03/15/2011 - 6:16pm
you should try to rig the ama on the other side ?
#4 Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:37pm
I tried this once, Hiro. Very weird sensation at first, unconfortable for a good 15 minutes.
At least it lead me to understand I was relying too much on my left side buoyancy.
Now my ama is set much more lighter, and I try to sit perfectly straight with no further consequences than improved tracking and speed !
Worth a try !
#5 Wed, 03/16/2011 - 3:39am
LOL Pono, I know what you mean. I miss being in my whitewater kayak where I can just roll back up. I gotta start learning to brace one of these days.
#6 Wed, 03/16/2011 - 12:27pm