School me on sit/hit-and-switch in a short solo

[pblanc]

When you are paddling seated, as opposed to kneeling, the paddle blade will enter and leave the water a bit farther back. When you are paddling with a high stroke cadence the blade is moving quickly through the water. The blade may leave the water at or even a bit behind your hip but you are no longer applying power to it at that point, you are knifing it cleanly out of the water for the recovery phase.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Here's a third video of John Puakea discussing the Tahitian forward stroke. The Tahitians are the fastest racers in the outrigger world. He uses slow motion and stop action videos on a laptop to illustrate the Tahitian technique vs. the less efficient Hawaiian technique, and specifically talks about the length of the stroke and where the blade is removed.

Key points:

• Boat speed is a direct function of paddle time in the water. This, in turn, is a function of length of stroke, depth of stroke, and stroke rate.
• Whenever you take the paddle out of the water, the boat will begin to slow down. Therefore, air time must be minimized. However, air time is not minimized by increasing stroke rate.
• Air time is minimized by having a count of two beats in the water vs. one beat in the air for each stroke and return. The older Hawaiian count was one beat in the water and two in the air. This theory was to allow rest during the air return. (I don't know what theory CanAm marathon racers follow.)
• This all results in the blade being removed approximately when the elbow reaches the torso, which means the blade is slightly behind the hip. All out sprint speed may shorten stroke length slightly.
• Mechanics are de-emphasized, such as torso twisting and reaching. The pull-feel on the water is what is important after a proper catch insertion. The body, mechanically, will naturally follow a proper catch and down pressure push-pull.

 

[Tsuga8]

Seems to me that at a certain point, maximizing power of the forward stroke is going to cause more yaw in a short solo boat, without some of the corrective methods suggested above, such as heeling to carve, etc. I've actually turned down the power on my Canadian/pitch/etc strokes to reduce the waste inherent in yaw and correction (and thereby saving energy). No?

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Seems to me that at a certain point, maximizing power of the forward stroke is going to cause more yaw in a short solo boat

Maybe. As I said somewhere above, you may need to shorten your stroke if you are in a short, turny boat.

But yaw isn't just a function of the power of the stroke. Say you are stopped in the water. Now take the least powerful stroke you can. What happens? You instantly yaw. The faster you going, the less yaw tendency any given stroke of any power will have. Shortening the stroke will cause less yaw because your paddle will be further forward of the boat's pivot point than with a longer stroke. But then the boat will slow down unless increase your stroke rate.

To me, this is all a hassle, which is why I don't hit & switch in a short, turny canoe. By the time I flip the paddle over to the other side, I can be doing a minor J/C/pitch/Canadian correction to stop the yaw. I save hit & switch for when I'm paddling a longer, harder tracking canoe, particularly when I want to go fast, or upstream, or into the wind.

Even then, hit & switch is a very minority stroke technique for me. I find it boring, inelegant and unaesthetic compared to the rich variety of fluid single-sided corrections that meld into each other automatically when you are experienced, and which can make you go straight unconsciously without some paddle constantly flashing in front of your face. Additionally, if you like to paddle with long or heavy paddles, such as animal tail paddles, rapid tempo hit & switch paddling is klutzy and tiring.

For me. Maybe not for thee.

 

[Tsuga8]

Thanks, Glenn (and everyone else).

I'm with you completely on the enjoyable nature of fluid single-sided strokes. But, with all the hit-and-switch proponents on this forum, I wondered if I was missing something of value in not being able to do it effectively if and when I need or want to.