Feathering

What exactly is feathering? (I'm a noob)

#2 Thu, 07/10/2008 - 2:45pm

nb, "drag the blade over the water"? Wouldn't that create, well, drag?

I thought feathering was bringing the blade out and around (like a 'c' shape) back to the entry point, as opposed to straight up, out, and forward - or "choo-choo-ing" as the Foti bros. call it in the video up there. And you kind of twist or roll your wrists as you do it, so the blade is more parallel to the water and slices through the air. Maybe?

Is this harder in choppy water, though, as YH brings up? I know I "choo-choo" more when it's choppy and windy, but I'm a noob, too, and could just suck.

I did experience some feathering at a hair salon the other day. Now THAT was a drag.

#4 Thu, 07/10/2008 - 9:49pm

What Shawn said but I think it's accomplished more through wrist action than breaking at the elbow. If you watch the Foti video, they seem to think not breaking that triangle is of paramount importance. Of course, you can't keep the arms completely straight throughout the stroke, but it's a good concept on which to focus. Watch the video a few times, you'll get the picture.

#6 Fri, 07/11/2008 - 1:22am

Feathering is definitely a necessity.....probably the only really useful habit in the canoe my father taught me.....well that and never paddle against the tide.......ok here is another....don't shoot at ducks when it's windy and you are sideways in your canoe!

I grew up in a place where the wind would pick up pretty good in the afternoon...and it was hard enough paddling a heavy fiberglass canoe in the wind by yourself, but definitely a lot harder paddling back to the house when you are 8 and you are not feathering your paddle. When you are a little kid...you really don't have enough strength to fight the wind so you pick up feathering your blade to limit the wind pushing your paddle back. You also learn to paddle behind objects and geographic landmarks to cut the wind for you.

Feathering is very easy even with a "locked" triangle position. On your recovery...loosen your bottom hand (you really shouldn't have a "death grip" on it anyway) and on your top hand, twist your wrist and point your thumb so that it's pointed straight and/on top! Kind of like you are going to give a thumbs up (with your top hand) but haven't lifted your thumb off your hand, yet. Your top hand will naturally go back to the right position when you are about to put your blade back in the water. This of course only in the recovery phase.

(useless bit of info not related to outrigger paddling: You can twist your top hand while the blade is still in the water...but that is for "sculling"...so that you don't make any noise in your recovery...only really useful in slowly sneaking up on ducks...cause you don't want the water dripping off your paddle to scare them. might come in handy when world falls apart and we have to hunt for our own food!!)

Ok back on topic: It sounds really complicated but isn't...if you just flick that top wrist every time it'll sound really nice and save you a lot of extra work fightin' the wind...whether you're 8 or 80 years old.

#8 Fri, 07/11/2008 - 3:56am

dan, i don't think anyone is calling for trunk rocking as being preferable to trunk rotation..people have different strokes so maybe the ones you've seen on video have their unique techniques (and make the canoe still go). rotation is just as critical for us also, and it's what we're TRYING to always do, although sometimes when you're trying to get on a wave, you rotate, rock, roll, shimmy, and squeeze all at once.

#10 Fri, 07/11/2008 - 7:41am

T-Popp,

I disagree.....(of course....that's what forums are for). I've never had a problem with my forearms locking by using a top hand twist...however .using the bottom hand to feather causes the forearms to hurt somethin' fierce. As for wasted movement...I can't see adding a 90 degree rotation of your top hand wrist to be a wasted movement when it will save your muscles from fatiquing and increase the speed of your recovery (less drag). It Also helps from having boat chop or a on-comeing wave from knocking the paddle from your hands. However....I paddle in places with a lot of wind, boat chop and sneaking up on ducks...is an option.

I'm off in a few days to do a 250+ miles in a 10 days....(annual trip)....I'll feather the whole way and give you a re-evaluation. Not really worried about forearm locking as much as hunger, thirst, sunburning, and a sorebutt.

#12 Mon, 07/14/2008 - 4:02am

You feather when the stroker feathers. You must do what the stroker does to match the catch, entry, power-phase and recovery. If the stroker has no feather during the recovery you adjust to match that technique for that stroker in those conditions. So, a good stroker does what the conditions dictates. Choppy rough water (my fav) feather over the tops of the swells. A sprint (World Sprints, for example) no feather...straight forward.
Also, the "popeye arms" (when your forearms cramp up) is from gripping the paddle to hard. Every recovery of every stroke...RELAX and breath...including your tight little fists!

#14 Mon, 07/14/2008 - 7:36am

It's all about the tar.

#16 Tue, 07/15/2008 - 9:20am

JC9 0 don't be afraid.
Tarring and feathering was one of the stranger manifestations of the American propensity for mob violence, the practice dates back to at least 1740 and didn't die out until after World War I--largely, one supposes, because tar and feathers began getting hard to come by.
Unlike its close cousin lynching, tarring and feathering usually wasn't fatal. One historian says it was employed chiefly when a mob was feeling "playful." But the victim usually had a lot less fun than his tormentors. A Tory assaulted by a mob in 1775 was stripped naked and daubed with hot pitch, blistering his skin. He was then covered with hog dung, feathers being momentarily in short supply. In 1912 Ben Reitman, companion of the radical agitator Emma Goldman, was beaten by a mob in San Diego, then tarred and covered with sagebrush. Afterward he spent two hours cleaning off the worst of the gunk with turpentine and tar soap.

Why feather when hog-dunging is so much more "playful".
I had no idea dung sticks to tar.
Also I'm glad all this kind of stuff is history now and we have progressed to water-boarding. Not fatal and so much more hygienic.

#18 Tue, 07/15/2008 - 7:01pm

Feathers aren't just for the bedroom anymore.

#20 Tue, 07/15/2008 - 8:17pm

So what's wrong with Oreo cookies? Deep fried or frozen, you can't go wrong.

#22 Wed, 07/16/2008 - 2:09pm

i be likin' 'ere this thread be goin'. now that paintuer has put such a fun an' pleasant spin on tar an' featherin', i think i`d much rather do that than be keelhauled.

#24 Wed, 07/16/2008 - 3:31pm