This information is compiled from some existing outrigger club documents and some current club websites. Recommended technique is for canoes with appropriate seats such as OC6s and other types of voyaging canoes.
In any endurance sport efficiency is the key to getting the best results with the least amount of effort and of all canoeing, outrigger and marathon racing puts the highest premium on efficiency. Observing a canoe race, you'll notice the leaders go by looking relaxed and going fast. Sometimes they don't appear to be working very hard. Then the rest of the teams follow, each one going slower but appearing to be working much harder than the leaders. What's going on here? Do the leaders have a much faster canoe? The fact is, they are simply much more efficient in their technique than the teams which they are beating. (They also may be stronger and better conditioned, but that is another story.)
Hence the rule in endurance sports: WORKING HARDER DOES NOT ENSURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GO FASTER.
"You can take your paddle and attack the water with it, straining every muscle in your body, throwing up big rooster-tails behind you, or you can slice your blade into the water, anchoring it solidly and using your entire torso, pulling it smoothly and evenly with much better results.”
Thus the Canoe Stroke Technique
· With the blade angle facing forward, your top hand goes on top of the paddle, and your bottom hand is about 5 or 6 inches above the blade. Sit with your foot on the paddle side forward and with your other foot set further back under the seat. The positions of your feet are an important factor in the stroke and in reducing stress and fatigue on your lower back.
· Power in the stroke will come primarily from two motions, the twist and the lean, and secondly from the drive of your shoulders. Your arms should not be involved at all except to hold the paddle. In order to keep your arms from trying to help with the stroke (your biceps and triceps are small muscles compared to your lats, lower back and core), you should try and keep both arms straight throughout the stroke.
· To begin the stroke, make a triangle with your arms as two sides and the shaft of the paddle as a third, and twist and move forward with the paddle. The optimum degree of lean (forward) will be unique to the individual team paddlers. Continue reaching forward with your bottom hand and set your shoulder. Your bottom hand should be forward of your top hand, and your top hand pretty much over the gunwale.
· So, your body should be leaning forward with a twist at the hips, and your back angling towards the side you are starting on, paddle side foot forward and off side foot under the seat. You now push the paddle down into the water quietly in order to not cavitate. Creating turbulence around the blade will waste energy, try to keep the water entry silent. Don’t stab with the paddle, but bury the blade completely into the water by leaning into it and pushing down with your bottom arm (if you drive down with your top hand and shoulder this will put excessive pressure on that shoulder and can cause injury). After your paddle is buried, your top hand will be about level with your forehead, and over the gunwale. If your top hand is too high, it can also put excessive pressure on that shoulder and can cause injury. If it is too high, consider getting a shorter paddle.
· When you have a firm catch (or plant), the power in the stroke is initiated by pushing off your forward foot. This will drive back your bottom shoulder, and you will sit up and untwist until your paddle reaches between your knees to mid thigh when you then start to take it out. You can practice this motion while sitting in a chair. The elbow on your paddle side should not go past your hip. If you pull too far back in the stroke you will kill the glide on the canoe by pulling it down into the water.
· Take the paddle out keeping your arms fairly straight. Do not drop your top hand or bend your top elbow. Try to avoid breaking the triangle.
· To return to your starting position pull the paddle forward along the gunwale with your top hand, while twisting and reaching forward with your bottom hand, letting the canoe glide while you get your body coiled, and ready to drive again.
· The most important things to remember are: keep your arms straight (above all, the top hand arm), power comes from your core through twisting and leaning and do not cavitate the paddle. Make your stroke as silent as possible, no bubbles, splash or any noise in the stroke because this is wasted energy.
· To reiterate the paddling stroke, make a triangle with your arms and your paddle. Sit up straight with your paddle side foot forward and your off side foot under the seat. Pull the top of the paddle along the gunwale with your top hand while twisting, leaning forward, and reaching out with your bottom hand until you set your bottom shoulder. Plant the paddle quietly unto the water by pushing down with you bottom hand. Push you body upright with your forward leg, and stop pulling when you shoulder are square and the paddle is knee to mid thigh. Slide the paddle out of the water and recover by pulling the paddle along the gunwale with your top hand. Avoid dropping your top hand and breaking your triangle. Paddle quietly so you can hear the birds sing. Repeat the stroke as often as necessary. Focus on using the proper technique especially when you are feeling fatigued. The real key to making this technique work is to keep a blade angle in the water such that the paddlers are applying a power stroke that lifts the canoe up and forward allowing the canoe to glide or run.
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