Here is a short video in which Ray Goodwin demonstrates the technique of the basic cross-river S-turn from eddy to eddy.
Note that Goodwin does not insist on or restrict himself to paddling unidextrously (on one side only), as do Tom Foster and most experienced whitewater canoeists. Rather, he switches paddling sides in the eddy before the maneuver, so his paddle is always on the downstream side. It takes an extraordinary amount of practice to become an ambidextrous whitewater paddler; Nolan Whitesell was the best I've ever seen. But that's not the focus of the video, just an observation of mine. You can cross a current with your paddle on the upstream side using forward/strern pry strokes (river-Js) or with cross-forward strokes on the downstream side, as Tom Foster so elegantly does in his videos.
Note that Goodwin does not insist on or restrict himself to paddling unidextrously (on one side only), as do Tom Foster and most experienced whitewater canoeists. Rather, he switches paddling sides in the eddy before the maneuver, so his paddle is always on the downstream side. It takes an extraordinary amount of practice to become an ambidextrous whitewater paddler; Nolan Whitesell was the best I've ever seen. But that's not the focus of the video, just an observation of mine. You can cross a current with your paddle on the upstream side using forward/strern pry strokes (river-Js) or with cross-forward strokes on the downstream side, as Tom Foster so elegantly does in his videos.
