The secret to speed

[CMC]

I totally agree with SUP Ninja.  You have to have a good grasp of the proper mechanics and why it works,  then you can work on technique. without a proper knowledge of basic fundamentals  you will never know what you are doing wrong.You have to spend time out on the water with a grasp on good basics and why it works. It's like a golf swing you can take  some of the top 20 golfers in the world and they will all have different swings but they have solid fundamentals and a good grasp of the mechanics of a good swing. Their swings look similar but they all have their own style or technique. In paddling it's the same, if you look at the top paddlers like Danny Ching, Dave Kalama , Ekolu Kalama and Scott Gamble their paddle strokes all look very similar. Their fundamentals are SOLID but their technique varies slightly. The one thing all good paddlers are good at is engaging the large muscles of their core to do most of the pulling, they engage different techniques for different situations ( tahitian or Hawaiian)  for paddling up wind or downwind. The reason for this is to be efficient and conserve energy so they can paddle longer and faster. without proper technique you will not be in the game for very long, you will damage yourself eventually.

I agree with both of you.  You firstly need a sound knowledge of the fundamental goals to be able to reach them.  This is the point of my post.  Back to my example of the OC6.  If you are not aware that good timing and technique makes the boat run better you may simply paddle differently for ever and never get the most from the crew.

Just as you say, if you not aware that great technique works better, you may just use bad technique forever......  You can paddle or paddle smart.  The smart money is on working out why the fast guys are so fast taking something from it and then making it work on your own and there is no easy way to do this, in the end time on the water is the ulitmate tool but be aware that it will take you forever to undo bad techniques.

[PonoBill]

OK Ninja, I misunderstood your post. We're saying the same thing. You have to have good technique to advance. If you don't have the basics down you'll build in a bunch of bad habits and get as fast as you can paddling like crap. You might be fast, but you'll hit a wall you can't get past.

At the CCBC there was a lady named Krystyana who was paddling a 10'6" surfboard and just flat flying. Se did the whole 31 miles without breathing hard. Terrible technique--pulling to the back of the board and swinging the paddle way out to get it back. She overcame bad technique with sheer athleticism, high power to weight ratio and long, long arms and legs. If someone teaches her to paddle she'll be unstoppable. There was another guy on a surfboard who's technique was so bad I couldn't watch him. I assumed he'd drop out before we got five miles. But he was in the lead group the whole way. Every stroke was a lurching, maximum effort full body twitch. Horrible. Again, he made it the whole way in the lead group. Solid muscle. I bet his body fat was under 3 percent.

If these folks learn to paddle they will jump to another level. But as they are, a fat geezer like me can keep up with them. My technique still leaves a lot to be desired, but it's good enough to save my ass.

[1paddle2paddle]

Hey Bill, how does the Tahitian stroke work with full bore short sprints (1/4 mile or less)?  I've got a "decent" technique (maybe mediocre is the more appropriate word) but when I try to increase the stroke rate for a short sprint my technique goes to crap.  Is it a function of practicing and gradually increasing the rate?  Is it something you just have to do a hundred thousand times and you will be able to speed up the stroke without losing the technique?

[Old School]

removed - no need to start an argument.  maybe CMC is right and  I misunderstood.    

[CMC]

I thought he was simply talking about bad technique creating injuries that undoubtedly lead to no longer being able to paddle.

Technique over strength all day and night.