Poll: How often do you switch sides?

[sailsman63]

The various polls got me wondering: When single-blading in calm water, how often do you switch sides? For purposes fo this question, calm = smooth enough that you could safely paddle from either side. I know whitewater guys will have to switch constantly, depending on conditions, and that's not what I'm asking about.

Feel free to elaborate on your answer.

 

[memaquay]

I never switch, that's how I roll.

 

[lowangle al]

Hit and switch usually 2 to 4 strokes, getting more strokes on the downwind side. I use the wind to minimize switching when possible.


When using correction strokes to navigate I only switch when the wind changes from one side of the boat to the other. If there is little or no wind I only switch to give my muscles a break and usually revert back to my dominant side in a few minutes. It takes too much energy to do a J stroke when the wind is comming from your paddle side.

 

[latremorej]

In calm water with no wind I'll stay on one side until my shoulder needs a break.

Like Al, if there are any other factors, I'll paddle on which ever side affords better control

 

[Rippy]

In calm water with no wind I'll stay on one side until my shoulder needs a break.

Like Al, if there are any other factors, I'll paddle on which ever side affords better control

Same here. If I'm in a hurry, and the wind allows, I'll switch sides every time I sense that I may be slowing down.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Can't answer.
Monarch with a bit of rudder kick.Never.No correction stroke either. Can do about 40 spm
Upwind.. as many times as I can on one side before the bow starts to yaw off. Immediately to the other side..No correction stroke..who needs friction drag when you already have the force against you.
Lily dipping. forever. Paddling one side correction stroke
Hit and switch for the heck of it in a rockered hull like my Wild Fire.. this is weird...eight on my non dominant side and four on the side I normally paddle on. Something in my forward stroke is off on my good side and I have introduced a sweep component or I am not equidistant from the pivot point on both sides. I keep the stroke cab forward with no correction..
Whitewater paddlers never switch hands. Look at videos. You are confusing cross strokes with switching sides. They never move their hand positions(if they did it could be a disaster). If you intend switching to include cross strokes,when I am doing FreeStyle I do switch... count depends on the maneuver and the initiation

Those who have aching shoulders might consider coaching in the use of abs and torso rotation and keeping the stroke short and forward for efficient paddling.. Old habits though die hard.. your shoulders should not be one of them

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I also can't answer the poll fully as it's structured.

In CanAm canoes in quiet water I paddle 90% of the time with single-sided correction stroke techniques (always on my knees) with straight or bent shaft paddles, and 10% of the time time with switch technique (sometimes sitting, sometimes kneeling) with bent paddles. When I paddle single-sided-correction I stay on my strong side for long periods (thousands of strokes) until my shoulder tires and then I'll switch for a short period (hundreds of strokes) to single-sided-correction on my weak side. When I paddle pure Minnesota switch with bent shafts, I usually take three to six strokes on each side depending on which boat I'm in, none of which are racing designs, and on the wind.

When I paddle my ruddered outrigger canoe, always seated with bent shaft paddles, I stay on one side for scores or hundreds of uncorrected strokes and then switch to the other side for about the same number of strokes.

Whitewater paddlers never switch hands.

That's generally true, but not among all experts.

Nolan Whitesell preached that you are sacrificing half of your whitewater arsenal unless you are equally competent in hard rapids on both sides. He certainly proved that to me when I paddled the class 3-4-5 Chattooga and Ocoee rivers with him 30 years ago, and then watched him demonstrate three different ambidextrous rolls (high brace, low brace, and cross roll) on each side of his open canoe. Nolan would decide prior to each rapid and after each eddy stop which side he would paddle on. In addition, a minority of current top C-1 slalom racers, including the great Jessica Fox, now switch hands sometimes right in the middle of a slalom run.

YC is correct that a whitewater paddler, when committed to one side and unable to risk a hand switch in mid-maelstrom, will propel on the off-side as necessary with cross-forward strokes.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Being able top paddle both sides both for power and for steering/correction is an asset for sure I admit to being a klutz. If it can be dropped I will.

 

[Canotrouge]

I don't count, but I switch when I feel I need to of when my partner ask me to.... I'm ambidextrous in most things I do, and paddling is one of them, I can pale on both side equally... Other than when it is quite technical ww, and I'm with a newbie or solo, I favour the left side, of course you end up a lot on the other side if in the bow or paddling solo for all the forward off side strokes and the Xbow draws etc.

I use to race a bit and then it would be depending on the water/wind condition, usually around 5-9 strokes per side. but again it really depends!

 

[snapper]

The real answer is it depends. In my touring canoes I tend to paddle on one side and change every few minutes just to give my muscles a break. When really hitting it or working out I'll switch sides a lot more frequently; say every 5 strokes or so.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[blackfly]

how often do you switch sides?

You mean you can SWITCH SIDES!??

 

[lowangle al]

I think it's more critical to not switch sides in w/w when paddling tandem, having to rely on two high braces to keep from flipping to the off paddle side makes me feel uneasy.


I get a better workout paddling hit and switch, higher heart rate and more symetrical on your muscles. And you get where your going faster.

 

[sailsman63]

Wow, getting a lot if interesting responses, some of which tell me I had no idea where the lay of the land is... I'm not sure that I can answer my own poll, as I'm still developing my paddle technique, trying to find what works for me.

yellowcanoe Thanks for the data about whitewater paddlers. As you can probably tell, I've never even been into anything deeper than a few riffles. I have to ask: do you use a smaller paddle blade than is typical for your size of person? That seems like a fairly high cadence you have... If so, what advantages and disadvantages do you see?

Glenn MacGrady you and yellowcanoe must have much higher stamina in the shoulder muscles than I do... Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, or maybe just have not made my stroke efficient enough.

 

[Canotrouge]

I also can't answer the poll fully as it's structured.




That's generally true, but not among all experts.

Nolan Whitesell preached that you are sacrificing half of your whitewater arsenal unless you are equally competent in hard rapids on both sides. He certainly proved that to me when I paddled the class 3-4-5 Chattooga and Ocoee rivers with him 30 years ago, and then watched him demonstrate three different ambidextrous rolls (high brace, low brace, and cross roll) on each side of his open canoe. Nolan would decide prior to each rapid and after each eddy stop which side he would paddle on. In addition, a minority of current top C-1 slalom racers, including the great Jessica Fox, now switch hands sometimes right in the middle of a slalom run.

YC is correct that a whitewater paddler, when committed to one side and unable to risk a hand switch in mid-maelstrom, will propel on the off-side as necessary with cross-forward strokes.

My wife is a good exemple of that, not roll part, but deciding before and rapid or getting in or out of an eddy , she will pic the side that feel better for her in term of power and efficiency. She's not dedicated to one side... That said she won't switch hands per say!

 

[Canotrouge]

Wow, getting a lot if interesting responses, some of which tell me I had no idea where the lay of the land is... I'm not sure that I can answer my own poll, as I'm still developing my paddle technique, trying to find what works for me.

yellowcanoe Thanks for the data about whitewater paddlers. As you can probably tell, I've never even been into anything deeper than a few riffles. I have to ask: do you use a smaller paddle blade than is typical for your size of person? That seems like a fairly high cadence you have... If so, what advantages and disadvantages do you see?

Glenn MacGrady you and yellowcanoe must have much higher stamina in the shoulder muscles than I do... Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, or maybe just have not made my stroke efficient enough.

Just to say that when paddling sit and switch with a 7oz bent shaft, I was averaging 65 stroke a minute, On a trip with a traditional paddle I usually and loaded canoes, I average around 40...

 

[yellowcanoe]

you and yellowcanoe must have much higher stamina in the shoulder muscles than I do... Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, or maybe just have not made my stroke efficient enough.

I wont answer for Glenn but I use anywhere from a 9 inch wide 21 inch long blade for FreeStyle which is low cadence to a whatever width my Zaveral is and 18 inches long lighter for high cadence paddling.
My top hand never gets over my nose, my shaft hand is always in front of me and never a long stroke > Long strokes stress the shoulder and automatically become sweeps which you have to undo with correction strokes.

I use the twisting motion of torso rotation to power my stroke. My arms move very little. My elbows arent locked but you too can paddle similarly in an exercise with a beach ball between your arms. Holding it with the inside of your arms and paddling the canoe ( dont worry about direction) you will be forced to use your abs and not your arms.

Most paddlers I see have way too long a forward stroke and too long a paddle overall and they pick they paddle up and that makes them raise the paddle grip over their head.. Master the feathered recovery and all can stay low.

 

[yknpdlr]

When paddling solo, I stay on one side for many minutes at a time, for an indeterminate amount of time, usually I switch just to be sure i am getting an equal workout using muscles on both sides. i often think I should switch now, since I haven't worked the other side much lately. I maintain direction control using pitch stroke, or the Canadian, or other variations as needed. When not solo, I am usually racing or training for racing. with me as usual bow paddler, he stern paddler generally determines the hut-switch frequency. With the team i usually paddle with in C2, or C4,the frequency is usually every 8-12 strokes, sometimes as many as 20,depending on many factors. I personally prefer to stay a longer time on the same side in almost all cases. i can switch pretty fast in the bow, but for the rest of the crew, i feel that each 'hut' looses the equivalent of half a stroke of power (switching sides also means shifting butts from one side to the other, either by sliding on the seat or rolling the seat on wheels from side to side). in narrow channels of rapidly changing directions, such as maneuvering in Brown's Tract in the Adirondacks, on the 90-mile race for example, in the bow I go independent and switch whenever i determine the need in time to set up for he next bend, and the rest of the crew behind me, including the stern paddler does what is needed to assist as I initiate the entry into the turn, or to simply increase power and speed on the straight sections. When paddling in a voyageur(C6) in long marathon races, such as the Yukon 1000, we set up to switch about every 2 minutes, while paddling around a 55-65 SPM rate that I maintain in the bow. Sometimes for simple variety, or to catch a leading boat,or to escape an overtaking boat we will do a series of sprinting intervals at the same 2 minutes on a side rate

 

[pblanc]

Can't really answer this question. By switching sides, do you mean switching grip and shaft hands as in sit and switch paddling? Or do you mean executing cross-strokes without changing grip and shaft hands? Or do you mean either?

Using a traditional paddling style on flat water I will rarely switch sides, only occasionally doing so to balance out the work load on the arm, torso, and shoulder muscles a bit. If I paddle sit and switch I will change sides as infrequently as is practical and how often I do depends on the wind conditions and the boat. I will usually get at least 5 or 6 strokes before each switch paddling solo, more if paddling tandem sit and switch. If I can get the hull carving a bit, I find I can often get in 12 or more strokes per side between switches.

On whitewater I only rarely switch grip and shaft hands. I might occasionally do so for a critical ferry that would be off-side on my regular paddling side, or when I am just getting tired. As for being ambidextrous, that would certainly be nice, but the fact is that very few people are able to master the full panoply of on and off-side whitewater strokes without regard to paddling side. I am sure Nolan could, be he could do things in a canoe that ordinary humans could not.

Tom Foster was another highly proficient whitewater open boater and instructor. Tom was a strong proponent of picking a paddling side and sticking to it when it came to whitewater.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Jessica Fox, even at just 22, may already be the best all-around whitewater slalom paddler ever. She won the world championship in both C-1 and K-1 in 2014. I'm not sure any other slalom paddler, male of female, has ever done that. She won K-1 bronze in Rio, which did not have the C-1 event for women.

Here is a video of Jessica switching hands in a C-1 slalom race. She prefers to do upstream gate eddy turns with an on-side duffek (or post) turn, rather than a cross-bow duffek (cross-post), and prefers to do upstream ferries on her downstream side.

On a somewhat tangential note, I watched every C-2 whitewater run at the Rio Olympics, and no bow paddler ever used a cross-bow duffek or cross-forward stroke when doing an off-side eddy turn into an upstream gate. All bow paddlers did on-side sweeps while the stern paddler reached forward from the Gemini seating position with an on-side duffek. Simultaneously, they would sink the stern for an underwater stern slice pivot. This is all completely different from tandem whitewater technique in higher volume and open canoes of just a few years ago -- in which an off-side eddy turn (from the bow perspective) was executed by a cross-bow duffek and a stern reverse sweeping low brace.

 

[Guest]

The various polls got me wondering: When single-blading in calm water, how often do you switch sides? For purposes fo this question, calm = smooth enough that you could safely paddle from either side.

Feel free to elaborate on your answer.

I almost never switch sides with a single blade. I paddle on the left 99% of the time when using a single blade, as that is most comfortable with a damaged wrist. My left wrist is done in terms of any ungoonish gunwale pry corrective stroke, and even with right hand grip a single blade is not comfortable for long, so I use a double blade most of the time and “switch” with every stroke.

Aside from fast moving water, where I am still predominately a left sider, I use a single blade in too tight places and, most often, when sailing as an aux rudder (or just holding it as a comfort item).

Thinking back, prior to the wrist injury, and when I paddled a tandem, I was even then predominately a left sider. When paddling the big Clipper Mariner seated two abreast in the middle seats I always nabbed the left hand side.

I presume there is a correlation between dominate hand (I’m a righty) and preferred paddling side (left).

Unisidular. That really should be a paddling term.