RELATED TOPICS: Coaching Index | Reverse Sweep Strokes FORWARD SWEEP STROKESSweep strokes are the primary turning strokes of a kayak. A sweep stroke is a ‘Dynamic Stroke’ and is used to rotate the kayak around the axis of the paddler. Sweep strokes crop up all over the place, sometimes in not so obvious ways. If you’ve ever seen a play boater doing flat spins, stern dips or cartwheels you may notice that the primary stroke used is a sweep stroke (even when the boat is in the vertical plane). Mastering the sweep stroke is key to progressing into other kayaking disciplines. Forward Sweep Stroke (Right Hand Side)With the body in an upright position with a slight twist to the left (right shoulder should be slightly forward of the left), position the paddle so the right blade is completely in the water at the bow of the boat. The drive face of the paddle should be pointing away from the bow. Slowly rotate your torso so the right blade travels from the bow to the stern in an arc movement, ensuring that the blade remains submerged throughout the stroke. BODY
BOAT
BLADE
COACHING TIPSSome novice paddlers struggle with torso rotation and the paddle invariably doesn’t complete a full sweep. As a coaching tool it’s sometimes useful to have the paddler watch the blade throughout the entire stroke (from the bow to the stern) as this encourages good trunk rotation. EXERCISEThis is a simple little exercise that makes the strokes a bit more fun (mainly for younger paddlers).
Other variations include:
|