Author Topic: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?  (Read 7620 times)

Wetstuff

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'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« on: October 22, 2015, 01:58:58 PM »
Soon as I get there.. F-Me, a SW has switched sideshore so, rather than fight it, I simply went over the dune to paddle bayside.  I'm getting so I remember 'the triangle' .. 'stacked shoulders' .. not stroking past my feet..  But how in the hell do you plant the blade and pull yourself to it - the blade.   All I seem to come up with something resembling a cripple's doggie style?! 

I keep reading 'Once you feel it.' Maybe one of you has an can explain what you are feeling and what parts of the body do they originate in. Thanks.   Jim


...and how's come the young fellow in the Naish animated GIF above this posting window is not stacking his shoulders?
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PonoBill

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2015, 02:11:13 PM »
I've never seen the value of that idea, especially since every paddle has slip. But I guess if it helps people concentrate on the catch, then it's useful. Paddling with good form is at least ten times harder than it seems. It takes about a year of practice to really get a stroke, and then a couple more to fix the stuff you're doing wrong. I've watched Dave Kalama tweak his stroke and his teaching methods for the last eight years, and he was working hard on it long before I really met him, other than a brief encounter in Hood River at the first Naish races a zillion years ago.

That might seem discouraging, but really you gain stuff every day you concentrate on your stroke.

The first thing you'll likely really feel is the first time you get your hips engaged. Suddenly you have this added power that comes without effort. It will come and go as you try to incorporate it into your stroke, but it's there when you need it. Everything else is pretty subtle, and shows up better on a GPS than as a "feel". You need about a ten percent change to feel a difference, and that's hard to come by in a single increment.
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Bean

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2015, 02:13:13 PM »
Walk to the nearest stop sign, grab the pole and pull yourself to it.  That's how you want to treat your paddle, like it's set in concrete.  You'll pull differently, I promise.

supsurf-tw

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2015, 02:25:49 PM »
Soon as I get there.. F-Me, a SW has switched sideshore so, rather than fight it, I simply went ove ..  But how in the hell do you plant the blade and pull yourself to it - the blade.   All I seem to come up with something resembling a cripple's doggie style?! 

I keep reading 'Once you feel it.' Maybe one of you has an can explain what you are feeling and what parts of the body do they originate in. Thanks.   Jim


..
To clarify in case you mis interpreted, it's pull yourself PAST the paddle not TO the paddle.  This makes you use your torso for the power rather than arms\shoulders.
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digger71

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2015, 02:32:06 PM »
After spending the day with Kalama in Hood River, the two main feelings were

1) A surprising amount of downward motion to plant the blade in the water for the catch.

2) As Pono mentions, engaging the hips in the stroke. 

After planting the blade solidly, the key for me was the thought of bringing my hip forward to meet my bottom hand during the stroke.  The power increase for me was significant and noticeable. 

PonoBill

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2015, 02:44:37 PM »
Soon as I get there.. F-Me, a SW has switched sideshore so, rather than fight it, I simply went ove ..  But how in the hell do you plant the blade and pull yourself to it - the blade.   All I seem to come up with something resembling a cripple's doggie style?! 

I keep reading 'Once you feel it.' Maybe one of you has an can explain what you are feeling and what parts of the body do they originate in. Thanks.   Jim


..
To clarify in case you mis interpreted, it's pull yourself PAST the paddle not TO the paddle.  This makes you use your torso for the power rather than arms\shoulders.

Nope. There might be a paddle coach somewhere that would say that, but not many.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

eastbound

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2015, 02:49:35 PM »
agree--no past the paddle--then the toilet flushes behind you

funny---the time i most feel the "pull to the paddle" sensation is when board is just starting to catch the wave and get on plane--the resistance reduces and the paddle slips less---feels great
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stoneaxe

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2015, 03:42:47 PM »
I always have to remind myself to drop my lower hand. If it's too high it throws it all off. Lowering your hand helps get the blade in deeper and forces better position of your hips. That was the biggest thing I took away from Dave's coaching. Instantly more power in my stroke.
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mrbig

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2015, 05:09:45 PM »
I am a little confused as there seems to be the thought and the act of driving the hips forward and the bending from the waist and twisting to engage the core. Are there two different paths or is my lefty dyslexic brain creating cognitive dissonance once again.

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PonoBill

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2015, 06:00:41 PM »
Nope, it's just a tricky dance. Reach out to that stop sign. Stack your shoulders. Now begin to untwist your upper torso and as it untwists, shove your hips forward. You just engaged a couple more big muscles in shoving you into that stop sign. You can also get a little thrust into your feet from the hip movement. Magic for unweighting a bit and shoving a board into a swell. I manage to do it all about once out of ten strokes, but when it comes together it's cool. You see a guy like Dave doing it and it's like clockwork. Blame Anabelle Anderson. It's all her fault.
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digger71

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2015, 06:27:59 PM »
I am a little confused as there seems to be the thought and the act of driving the hips forward and the bending from the waist and twisting to engage the core.

The hips actually move back during the reach to support the bend/lean forward and then come forward during the stroke.  Put your heels against a wall and try touching your toes to get a full visual of why they have to move like that.

While clearly still a power source, the upper body rotation to me is more about increasing reach.

Wetstuff

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2015, 07:34:08 AM »
Lotsa interesting thoughts.. thanks for the input.  This gets closer to what I was thinking of...   PB: "Now begin to untwist your upper torso and as it untwists, shove your hips forward."

Standing in my office.. when I plant the paddle on the RH side of my imaginary SUP ..and torque up a strong twist, it's my left hip, it naturally comes forward - not both.

Jim
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Tom

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2015, 08:15:39 AM »
One tip Dave K gave me was to finish with the lower hand touching my hip. This was to fix a problem I was having and was not for everyone. This makes me engage the hips on the stroke and helps a lot. May or may not help you, but you should try it and see.

SUPJorge

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2015, 08:25:07 AM »
Larry Cain's tip to engaging the hips is to "imagine you're trying to F- the paddle."
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PonoBill

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Re: 'Pull yourself to the paddle.' ...Eh?
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2015, 08:46:15 AM »
Lotsa interesting thoughts.. thanks for the input.  This gets closer to what I was thinking of...   PB: "Now begin to untwist your upper torso and as it untwists, shove your hips forward."

Standing in my office.. when I plant the paddle on the RH side of my imaginary SUP ..and torque up a strong twist, it's my left hip, it naturally comes forward - not both.

Jim

Yea, and the trick is to make it both. That's what Dave is teaching now, and it's useful. Larry Cain should be called the king of hips. Well, him and Annabelle, though I guess she'd be queen. When she thrust with her torso and hips the board almost comes out of the water.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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