Stroke Rate

There are many misconceptions about stroke rate. And there are many misapplications of the forces that make a canoe go. Some of you have heard this before but are still having trouble bringing it to your canoesport experience.
I will deal with these in order: ...

1. Stroke rate is a measure of strokes over time, usually measured as strokes per minute.
2. Stroke length has a bearing on stroke rate.
3. Canoe speed (which should be exactly equivalent to power phase stroke speed) has a bearing on stroke rate.
4. Recovery rate, whether fast or slow, has a bearing on stroke rate.
5. Paddle slippage and paddle drag has a bearing on stroke speed.
6. Ultimately stroke rate is therefore dictated by canoe speed, recovery rate, stroke efficiency and stroke length.
7. Only boat speed is outside of the individual paddler's control. Everything else the paddler or paddlers control.

And further:

1. Speed through the power phase is not connected to speed of recovery.
2. Length of power phase is not connected to speed of recovery.
3. The harder and longer one pulls usually the slower the recovery phase.
4. An unsustainable stroke rate is often required at certain parts of a race; the start, passing another canoe, and catching a wave to surf.

We as coaches are sometimes a little inexact about describing stroke rate and say things like "the rate is too low" or "we need more rate". What we are looking for is a higher turnover, which means more bangs per minute, which usually means more speed.

Consider this:

1. A catchier stroke will often accelerate a canoe to a higher speed.
2. The catchier stroke need not raise the overall stroke rate because recovery speed may come down to allow for sufficient rest between power phases.
3. If the canoe does accelerate, the goal is to maintain the higher speed.
4. It may be that the stroke utilized to attain the higher speed is not itself sustainable; it is too hard.
5. That does not mean that the higher canoe speed cannot be maintained. When we give the canoe "a bump" we are bringing up the speed in an effort to find a higher speed which can be maintained, perhaps by a different stroke than the one that got the canoe there.

The goal is to find a sustainable stroke rate which includes length, emphasis (whether catch, middle or meat or back and release) and recovery speed (rest). Remember that we have to try to find that sustainable rate which can be achieved by all five power seats in the canoe.

So next time you hear a discussion about stroke rate, think about what it means to the canoe's progress and to you and your fellow paddlers. It is not as simple as it sounds.

Brent