Paddle Neutral
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 08:26PM 
In Norway last week, one of our guests asked specifically for some coaching, he wanted to learn something new and learn it in such a way he could practice and self check how effectively he was getting on. The week wore on sailing climbing kayaking it got to the last hour on the last day and we hadn't done anything. i pondered for a while about what to do i didn't want someone going away not having had there expectations met or exceeded.
We ended up sitting on the edge of the rib (boats had been tidied away) paddles in hand working on stirring! the aim of the session was to discover where neutral lay, harder than it sounds as the position moves depending on the direction of water relative to the boat and paddle. Once we had neutral it led to a greater under standing of what the blade was doing in the water, we then moved this on towards recognized strokes, and linking strokes through this neutral position. to finish the session we looked at means to self check, this included listening to the paddle traveling through the water (if you can here it your not pulling efficiently) and lightening the grip if the paddle is in neutral (and there is no wind) you should be able to hold the shaft with just a couple of fingers.
The session ended well, the client happy and i have heard since his return things are going well.
Reader Comments (1)
Richard, long time no see. Any chance of a ring please. 01294604520
Frank