Here's a query that has had me wondering for a while. Let's face it, male and females are not built the same. Men have more upper body strength, while females aren't built the same way. Some whould say we have bigger bottoms because the strength comes from the hips. Does anyone have thoughts on the different style or technique of the paddling stroke based on body type? We're talking about the digging deeper, the twisting or the movement from the core and the movement of the body to pull the blade. In other words, if you had opposing sexes, relatively the same height and weight in the same make of canoe, would they be competively the same with the same technique of stroke or would each use a stroking technique based on their sex and body type?
Submitted by ikipoo on Mon, 08/21/2006 - 8:21am
I have never heard any talk concerning that the stroke technique should be different between men and women. I have had the steerswoman from a strong club tell me that their ladies crew used faster stroke rate than the men to compensate for the difference in strength. The men were better able to effectively transfer their power through a slower stroke rate. Just one thought.
#1 Tue, 08/22/2006 - 8:44am
im not very knowledged with stroke technique and stuff even though i am a stroker haha but i would say that it basically would matter more on the body type of a person rather than sex. smaller frames such as myself require more twisting rather than using the arm muscles. but bigger guys may think that they could stroke and dig deep basically with their arms but it all comes down to fundamentals, which should all consist of basically the same steps. the lean, twist, exit and recover or something like that. haha i dont know what im talking about but hopefully it helps someone
#2 Mon, 09/18/2006 - 10:30am
As the other guys said, male female should have nothing to do with it really. Its more body type, tall, short, long arms etc.
Most important thing I found last year was the blend, over strength. We had some really strong guys in my team, but when we did not blend we did not move. Also the power phase is important, must be the same for all in the Kanu.
I am sure it is the same for female paddlers.
Regards,
Koka
#3 Fri, 09/22/2006 - 11:22am