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Outrigger Paddling Technique

1)       Set up: Do not over-reach. Think ‘catch’ rather than ‘reach’. Keep elbow slightly bent, relaxed and strong. Keep blade only 1” above the water. Top hand over the water. Solid wrist. Bottom arm extended. Square blade from the side.    

2)       The Catch: Place blade fully in the water. 1st gear, not 4th gear. Clean and quiet, locked in. Keep the torso solid, sit up like a sergeant major. Roll up the butt, push in the small of the back, push up the chest. Land the blade like a pole-vaulter. Initiate with de-rotating the hip and pressing the foot forward. 

  

3)       Pull-through: The hull is to go forward, so think forward! Pull close to the side of the hull. “Hand on hand”, allowing the blade to go deep into harder water. Top hand ends up on top of where bottom hand was, i.e. about 4” in front of the knee. Do not pull back too far. Top arm remains solid through shoulder, elbow and wrist. Keep the shoulders level. Accelerate from 1st gear to 4th gear. Rotate through the abs to engage the lats. The waltz: one count for the stroke phase, 2 counts for the recovery.Power = ½ x (mass x (velocity), therefore increasing speed results in more power than increasing mass.Power = (force x distance)/time, and force = mass x acceleration, therefore explode through the water, with less time taken, resulting in more Power.   

4)       Exit: clean and quick, drop the top hand into the hull while flicking the bottom wrist away from the hull. ‘Release the blade’.   

5)       Recovery: relax, allow the boat to run between strokes. Feather the blade. Relax the bottom wrist. Loosey-goosey wrist. Lead with the elbow.   ·         Headwind paddling: cut out the back portion of the stroke, work the first 3 gears, increase the stroke rate, slightly harder at the catch. ·         Swell riding: More forcefully on the catch (2nd gear), use the big gears more effectively, release earlier. Typical process for wave catching is:·         2 deep hard strokes (2)·         The rate blasts up until wave is caught (70), about 5-6 strokes·         Reach out, strong to keep on the wave (64).·         Call the change at the lull between rides (may be only after 10 strokes) Variability in stroke rate: the most successful teams have an ability to change rates to adapt to the changing ocean.

Notes by Steve Palmier
24 August 2001

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Posted by Steve Palmier

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