Whether you prefer a relaxing day on the water or an exhilarating experience in the outdoors, canoes offer something for everyone when it comes to float trips. Unfortunately, too many people on the water assume they know everything there is to know about paddling a canoe. Because most people have been in a canoe at least once or twice, it’s a common misconception that there is nothing to know about paddling a canoe. But look around the next time you’re floating downstream and you’ll see plenty of people fumbling around in their canoes at the mercy of the current and without a clue about how to control their movement. Learning the proper techniques of paddling a canoe will empower you to more efficiently handle a canoe on the water and prevent soreness at the end of the day. In this three part series, we’ll explain the proper way to hold a paddle, the anatomy of a stroke, types of canoe strokes and how to paddle a canoe in tandem.
While it may seem obvious and we might sound like your mother, it’s important that you and your kids wear a life jacket/PFD before taking your first step into a canoe. From beginners to advanced paddlers, PFDs can be confusing with all the straps and buckles. No two are alike. Be sure that your life jacket fits tight enough around your middle that it doesn’t lift off your shoulders and above your face when you raise both arms straight above your head. See our previous article on Properly Fitting a Life Jacket.
Once your life jacket is on you’re ready to grab a paddle and get in. Learning how to properly hold a canoe paddle from the beginning will prevent a lot of issues from occurring like a loss of power, unnecessary fatigue and in some cases tendinitis. Place your top hand on the top of the canoe paddle. The back of the top hand will be facing upward when your paddle is oriented vertically, your top hand clutching the stem of the paddle. Place your lower arm/bottom hand on the throat of the paddle. Holding the paddle horizontally in front of you, your arms should be holding the paddle wider than your shoulders’ width apart. Your lower arm and grip holds the paddle and generates the most power while your upper arm and grip creates the balance and accuracy of the stroke.
Once you understand how to properly hold a canoe paddle, you’re ready to learn the anatomy of canoe strokes. No matter what type of canoe stroke you use, all of them have three phases – the catch phase, the power phase and the recovery phase. Understanding the purpose of each phase will help you to master each type of canoe stroke that much more quickly. Though kayakers and canoeists may be required to vary parts or one or all of these phases, each phase still exists.
During the catch phase of a paddle stroke the paddle enters the water. In the case of a forward stroke, the catch phase entails the paddler placing the paddle in the water as far forward alongside the canoe or kayak as the paddler can with the face of the paddle entering the water perpendicular to the direction of the stroke. The power phase follows. Also known as the propulsion phase, it is during the power phase that the canoe or kayak is pulled through the water. The third phase is the recovery phase when the paddle is removed from the water and the paddler sets up the beginning phase for his next stroke. Good form during the recovery phase helps with the paddler’s execution of the next stroke. Now you’re ready to learn how to execute the forward stroke, j-stroke and draw stroke.
