One Hand Pull Drill

One of the most effective ways of feeling exactly what it ought to feel like to pull with the bottom hand is to pull with the bottom hand...I am not being funny. Sit in the OC6 or a small canoe. Grip the paddle where you ordinarily would with the bottom hand. Leave the top hand off the paddle entirely. Now try to take a stroke to propel the canoe forward. As you pull release your grip so that your fingers and thumb are only encircling the paddle shaft. Be careful not to hit yourself in the forehead with the handle as you pull.

What you ought to feel is that the paddle shaft gets wedged into the skin webbing between thumb and forefinger and conversely pulls against your little finger. This is exactly what ought to happen.

And you will also find that you cannot pull straight back, because if you do, the blade rises out of the water. You need to apply downforce with your bottom arm to keep the blade in the water.

Now do the same exercise but this time put your palm against the T-handle. Your fingers should be loose and not in contact with the paddle at all. Pull with the bottom hand without pushing down or forward with the top hand. Again you will feel that pressure in your hand. You will feel some force against your top hand that you must resist.

The key is to provide enough down and resistant force with the top hand that the blade stays in the water without too much effort with the bottom hand and arm. It is the balance of the two forces that allows you to take an effective stroke.

Please remember the top arm and hand are stabilizers that allow you to do work with the bottom arm. There ought to be only a little movement with the top hand and it should be down and back through the power phase to maintain a good blade angle through the stroke. That is why the top hand moves; downforce and keeping a good blade angle.

The very best way to learn about the canoe stroke is to go play in a small boat. Just noodle around playing in the water, varying the length of the stroke, the angle, the depth, the rate. You have to test this stuff out so that you get a feel for what costs you the least effort but gives you the best reward, boat speed.

BVB