Snappy Exit

The Introduction

Since I retired from canoeing in 2004 I have looked for a way to give something meaningful back to the sport that I loved so much. I thought about coaching – but the commitment of time and emotion that is required of a full time coach is not something I am willing to give. I have done several volunteer jobs, of which the task of Chair of the Competition Committee for the 2009 Worlds is proving most fulfilling and puts me in a position to ensure that a tangible legacy gets left for the athletes of Nova Scotia.

I also became involved with the Canadian Sport Center Atlantic’s Sport Science program, specifically the video analysis portion. I have been working with the Dartfish software for close to a year and a half now and I think that the Sport Centre and I are finally ready to offer something useful to the athletes of Nova Scotia in this area. Link Here to see what we’ve got.

The purpose of this website is twofold. Number one I needed a place to post my Dartfish analyses. That will come soon.

I also wanted to start documenting some of my own views about canoe technique. Hopefully this can give coaches, and athletes a reference that they can use to teach and learn good technique.

So without further ado – here is my first post.

The position of the blade of the paddle is the most crucial part of any canoe stroke. Every athlete tries to apply as much force as possible to the blade in an effort to propel the boat down the course. But where does that force actually go?

Well, for those of you who failed (or never took) High School Physics, we can break that force into two components (well… actully it’s three – but we will forget the left to right movement for now) - one component is parallel to the direction of travel (i.e. down the lake), the other is perpendicular to the direction of travel (i.e. up and down). And even those of you who are not physics geeks will have heard the famous quote, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is one of Newton’s laws (extra points if you know which one). All that means for us is that if you pull back on the paddle, the boat experiences a forward force.

This picture shows the force at the catch:

So we see at the catch you are pushing the boat forward and causing the bow to rise up out of the water. Now obviously there is some advantage to be gained in lifting the boat at the start of the stroke, but quantifying that advantage is something that will have to wait for a future post. The point is that both of these force components are beneficial to your stroke.

This one shows the force when the paddle is vertical:

When the paddle is vertical you have all of the force on the paddle propelling your boat forward. This again is a beneficial force.

This shows the force when the paddle has past vertical:

Once the paddle has past the vertical position you are beginning to apply an upward force to the blade – which will in turn (according to Newton) cause a downward force on the boat. This downward force on the boat will cause the boat to sink, displacing more water – making the boat harder to push forward. So what you are doing here is actually applying a force that will cause the boat to slow down.

Now, the longer the blade is in this negative position the less effective your applied force will be. In fact the more angle you put on the blade the more force you use to drive the boat into the water. This is why every coach you will ever have should be telling you to get the paddle out of the water quickly.

That is the basis for all canoe technique. Whether it’s C-1 or War-Canoe, Sprint or Marathon, Dragon Boat or Outrigger. You must try to keep the positive angle for as long as possible, when you get past vertical get out as quickly as you can. I realize that it is simplistic, but if you don’t understand this you will never understand the canoe stroke.

Next we will start talking about how to get the force from your body to the blade.