Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Technique => Topic started by: Night Wing on August 09, 2016, 05:47:47 AM
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Since I've basically been in drydock because of my left hand, I've been surfing YouTube watching others on how they do they paddling. Earlier this morning, I came across Travis Grant demonstrating a new paddle stroke he is using in conjunction with his old paddle stroke. There are subtle changes when comparing his two paddle strokes.
When I get my left hand healed and I'm allowed to get back on the water with my sup, I'm going to try his new stroke for my flat water cruising. The link to Travis' video where he talks about and demonstrates his new paddle stroke is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypY0Kw4qmk
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Just saw this too. Interesting how in the new stroke he's "trying to keep the paddle in the water as long as possible" ie way back behind his feet which is something we have always been told creates drag and slows you down. I love how things change in our sport. Soon we'll realise that actually really short wide boards are faster than long narrow ones.. ;)
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Just saw this too. Interesting how in the new stroke he's "trying to keep the paddle in the water as long as possible" ie way back behind his feet which is something we have always been told creates drag and slows you down. I love how things change in our sport. Soon we'll realise that actually really short wide boards are faster than long narrow ones.. ;)
It was interesting when you start applying some proper scientific data collection how some longstanding theories get debunked. For example, the 'not pulling past the feet' thing came into question as soon as Larry Cain whacked some sensors on and measured that (in the case of himself and Jim Terrell) it wasn't the evil we'd been led to believe..........
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Night Wing--thanks, that's a great video. Having him show both techniques and discussing the pros and cons is way more helpful than just seeing somebody doing or talking about one. I also like that he realizes the stroke knowledge is in flux, so there's no absolute right or wrong.
ukgm--I noticed that "pulling past the feet" thing also. I wonder how much of that is actually still applying force, versus letting the paddle slide past the feet and out of the water smoothly. I'd guess the not pulling past your feet advice has become so engrained that people have distorted their strokes to create a choppy, abrupt pull-out instead of a smooth, natural one, trying to adhere to that advice, which was probably originally intended to mean "don't apply force past your feet". So letting the blade go past your feet might really improve your stroke, but the reason may be that it creates a smoother, non-abbreviated finish, leading to a better transition into the recovery, versus it adding a lot of extra length of stroking with power applied.
Another thing with technique is people will try new ones, which do work better, but they don't fully understand why, and misinterpret why it's working better, sometimes for years. I'd love to see Travis Grant talking about his stroke a year from now to hear what he's learned.
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Just saw this too. Interesting how in the new stroke he's "trying to keep the paddle in the water as long as possible" ie way back behind his feet which is something we have always been told creates drag and slows you down. I love how things change in our sport. Soon we'll realise that actually really short wide boards are faster than long narrow ones.. ;)
They are, when they are on plane! ;D
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It seems for sprints it is good to get out early and get back in fast - but for distance it is fine to take out a bit later to save energy and decrease cadence. Most do not use the same stroke all the time in all conditions. We certainly do not. So the varied descriptions of different paddle strokes used at different times makes perfect sense.
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Hey Eagle, who are the "we" that you sometimes mention; are you involved with a race team?
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Just saw this too. Interesting how in the new stroke he's "trying to keep the paddle in the water as long as possible" ie way back behind his feet which is something we have always been told creates drag and slows you down. I love how things change in our sport. Soon we'll realise that actually really short wide boards are faster than long narrow ones.. ;)
Look at the bright side, this change does not require changing any material :-) easier to embrace when you do not need to take out your wallet....only you board.
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thanks for posting that.
I am finding that the more I concentrate on keeping the blade deep, by bending my knees in my case, the faster the GPS goes. The trick is making muscle memory and the brain do it all the time. Havent figured that out yet.
ed
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Actually, you're getting the wrong thing out of this video and this technique. We've adopted Johnny Puakea's stroke in the Hood River OCC, and he's been here to train us a couple of times. I missed both times, unfortunately, but we're drilling in the technique and our coaching is all about the Puakea stroke.
"Long in the water" is one of the mantras, but the stroke is all about the catch, and then putting downward pressure on the paddle with much straighter arm. I angle my wrist back a little to remind myself to stroke down. The reason the paddle is "long in the water" is that the blade is deep. If you concentrate on getting the blade out early, you won't get the downward force and depth that continues the power of the catch for a longer period. It's still a short power stroke--maybe five or ten inches longer than the torso rotation, shoulder stacking stroke that Travis calls his "old" stroke. You aren't pulling past your body (or feet on a SUP board--that's still just a waste of energy and slows the board or boat. But you concentrate on catch and driving downwards and get the blade out when it coasts up.
We also pay attention to stroking slower and returning faster. You also don't reach as far since you want the blade to catch immediately. We put the blade in "like you're sliding it into a mailbox", pushing forwards and down. Another mantra is "Bend forwards slowly, sit up fast". Hard to do, but what that's about is keeping the power of the catch going by pushing downwards and going deep in one smooth movement. Once the power is off the blade, you sit up quickly so the blade comes out of the water and snap your recovery stroke forward.
Very hard to get it all right, but it's powerful.
The biggest problem with that stroke on SUP is that it's exhausting and hard on my back. I can do it all day in an OC6, but on a SUP there's too much lower back torque.
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When I started sup about a year ago, coming from a long background in surfski, marathon canoe, and nordic ski racing, I was skeptical of the hyper rotated stacked shoulder stroke. I could see that it was going to be hard on the shoulders and was not natural to me. Instead I intuitively combined a marathon canoe catch (not over rotated or over stacked in the shoulders) with the body mechanics of double poling on skis. The other nordic skiers that started sup all naturally did the same thing. Basically focusing on downward compressive force rather than rotational torque to power the stroke. This seems to be similar to the puakea stroke that travis is playing with. Easier on the shoulders, more demanding on legs and cardio, which plays to the strengths of nordic skiers. The glutes actually do most of the work double poling. I try to recreate that on a SUP. Here is an example of modern double pole technique if anyone is curious:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs79OMKTSyM
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Hey Eagle, who are the "we" that you sometimes mention; are you involved with a race team?
Bean - not on any race team. But paddle with a number of really good racers and sponsored riders from time to time. Keeps you firing at max just to keep up -> while they paddle at a leisurely pace. Really helps with stamina speed and technique. But getting the 23 has been the best as my balance has improved tremendously. Riding our other wider boards in adverse conditions is now a breeze comparatively.
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putting downward pressure on the paddle with much straighter arm.
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Can you explain what you mean by that please?
Everything else is clear. I've also been working this for a couple of summers.
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When I started sup about a year ago, coming from a long background in surfski, marathon canoe, and nordic ski racing, I was skeptical of the hyper rotated stacked shoulder stroke. I could see that it was going to be hard on the shoulders and was not natural to me. Instead I intuitively combined a marathon canoe catch (not over rotated or over stacked in the shoulders) with the body mechanics of double poling on skis. The other nordic skiers that started sup all naturally did the same thing. Basically focusing on downward compressive force rather than rotational torque to power the stroke. This seems to be similar to the puakea stroke that travis is playing with. Easier on the shoulders, more demanding on legs and cardio, which plays to the strengths of nordic skiers. The glutes actually do most of the work double poling. I try to recreate that on a SUP. Here is an example of modern double pole technique if anyone is curious:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs79OMKTSyM
This is an interesting concept. I like it.
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When I get back on the water, I want to try this new stroke for another reason. Since my sup is 8'11" and considered short for flat water paddling, I want to see if this new stroke will affect side to side nose wag.
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putting downward pressure on the paddle with much straighter arm.
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Can you explain what you mean by that please?
Everything else is clear. I've also been working this for a couple of summers.
You push down hard with your top hand. You can't really push down hard if your arm is curved inward or your elbow is bent. If it doesn't feel awkward you aren't doing it right. I'm not convinced it's the best technique, but there's no question in my mind that it firms up the catch and extends the power section of the stroke. I think Annabelle was doing something similar early in her career, but she changed her stroke. I suspect it was screwing up her back or shoulders.
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So, are we seeing a migration to a unified stroke technique or is this merely an additional technique for the arsenal?
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Great post on the double pole technique!
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With his new stroke he's describing my stoke exactly. I've just found on my own that, the deep long stroke is what allows me to go the fastest and maintain the most glide. Maybe it's just because of my height or inherent lack of flexibility, but rotating my hips and shoulders bending the upper elbow never worked for me. I tied for years to get that turn, but it never produced the speed for me. This new technique that Travis is trying, has given me more speed. It's great to see this because it reinforces what I've been doing in my stroke. I'm sorry, but the whole past your feet thing is out the door for me. My paddle my be past my feet at the end of every stroke, but it's still going deeper and giving me a longer power stroke.
Paddling in the evenings lately has given me the opportunity to paddle along side the Dana Outriggers. I can match speed with most of the crews. My unlimited is gliding the same speed as their 6 man canoes and my stroke is matching their stroke. The long deep is what I found works to maintain that kinda of speed.
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Am old, short, and flatwater paddling is my form of Cardio Rehab.
All this new information is great. Good technique is always better.
Have been having soooo much fun paddling with my Vivioavtive HR gadget. Real data which is NOT scientific.
On my 14' Bluefin have seen a top speed of 5.89 mph. No wind no current. If races were only a half mile..
Keys were on toes, bend knees, sink the paddle to the hosel, and a longer pull. Just added a twist from my toe. The Connor sit stand still eludes me. I do it and am slower.
Max HR no longer 185!!!! YAHOO!!!
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The whole "don't pull past your feet" thing has been continually misinterpreted to be "don't let the paddle go past your feet". People who are doing the SUP version of a Tahitian stroke get the paddle out early to increase cadence. If you choose not to do that, it's not going to affect any aspect of your stroke other than cadence.
But if you're trying to pull on the paddle when it's behind you, the blade angle directs a lot of the force upwards, which pulls the rail down and doesn't do much of anything other than that. Your body is in no position to apply much power anyway. All of these improved strokes focus on catch and extending the power of the first third of the stroke. After that it's all a question of cadence and recovery.
Measuring on video, when paddlers let their blade be pulled to the surface by the forward motion of the board instead of withdrawing the paddle like a sword from a scabbard, the length of time their stroke takes nearly doubles, and their recovery time is longer too, because the blade starts further back and has to be either lifted or winged out to clear the water. On video or with instruments--both Larry's and mine, the board is slowing from the time the blade reaches your feet until the start of the next catch.
What this stroke does is supply enough power to overcome that longer deceleration. The reason Travis considers the older stroke to be more restful is that it's more efficient--less deceleration time means the next stroke starts at a higher speed. The Tahitian-style stroke shortens the deceleration time and maintains a higher average--or the same average with less work. I find the "Puakea" stroke to be great for getting into bumps, but I modify it with a quicker recovery by pulling the blade out vertically, sacrificing smoothness for quick recovery and brutal acceleration. I focus on pressing down on the handle with my top arm, leaning forward into the paddle, and keeping my arms straight. But I switch back to the "old" tahitian stroke quickly, because I can do that endlessly on a SUP. Now that I'm sometimes "Puakeaing" on downwinders, I have to do my Healthy Back exercises a few times a week or I start creaking around like the old geezer I am.
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When I get back on the water, I want to try this new stroke for another reason. Since my sup is 8'11" and considered short for flat water paddling, I want to see if this new stroke will affect side to side nose wag.
To paddle a short board straight, try reaching out to the side and pulling the blade toward the board at the beginning of the stroke instead of pulling just parallel to the board.
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It will definitely affect it: It will be worse. Without rotation, a little elbow curl, and shoulder stacking you can't keep the shaft as vertical. tilting the top of the shaft in towards the center offsets the blade to the outside, creating turning force. That's both theoretical and practical--I notice I have to change sides a lot more when Puakeaing.
By the way, Johnny has a great design for outrigger paddles. I don't like the handle, but i like the shaft and blades.
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I found the same Nordic Skiing resemblance in the sup stroke that some of the others here noticed. So much so I purchased a Ski Erg for my home gym about a month ago. The power curve and muscles required for each are extremely similar even though both arms are used together on the skis. You still have to brace from your core to extremities (Hip to feet,Hip to hand) before you can apply force. Then it's a down and back movement with the hips while bringing your chest closer to your thighs. Anywhere you loose tension in the system( unnecessary bending/flexing) causes bleeding out of power. All things that feel right when you do them on the board feel the same on the Ski Erg. I've used the Sup Erg and didn't feel it replicated the sup stroke power curve/feel to any great degree. It was certainly tiring but the same muscles and force vectors felt pretty correct for the machine but not the actual board. Not the same with the Ski Erg. It felt right the first time I did it. Sorry this isn't an add for the machine just an agreement on this newer stroke explanation resembling Nordic Skiing.
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The shorter the board, the shorter the glide, the quicker the recovery needed, the higher the cadence, the shallower the stroke. Outriggers and flat water unlimiteds have have similar glide. A long deep stroke works well. When I paddle my 9' surf sup a couple of miles (which I do to get to specific breaks), I have to take quick little shallow strokes. I can maintain a pretty good pace, but I can't pull hard other wise my board just sinks and bobs. It truly is a sweeper stroke. It feels like I'm quickly sweeping dust off of steps. Just short little strokes keeps a steady micro glide going.
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Actually, you're getting the wrong thing out of this video and this technique. We've adopted Johnny Puakea's stroke in the Hood River OCC, and he's been here to train us a couple of times. I missed both times, unfortunately, but we're drilling in the technique and our coaching is all about the Puakea stroke.
"Long in the water" is one of the mantras, but the stroke is all about the catch, and then putting downward pressure on the paddle with much straighter arm. I angle my wrist back a little to remind myself to stroke down. The reason the paddle is "long in the water" is that the blade is deep. If you concentrate on getting the blade out early, you won't get the downward force and depth that continues the power of the catch for a longer period. It's still a short power stroke--maybe five or ten inches longer than the torso rotation, shoulder stacking stroke that Travis calls his "old" stroke. You aren't pulling past your body (or feet on a SUP board--that's still just a waste of energy and slows the board or boat. But you concentrate on catch and driving downwards and get the blade out when it coasts up.
We also pay attention to stroking slower and returning faster. You also don't reach as far since you want the blade to catch immediately. We put the blade in "like you're sliding it into a mailbox", pushing forwards and down. Another mantra is "Bend forwards slowly, sit up fast". Hard to do, but what that's about is keeping the power of the catch going by pushing downwards and going deep in one smooth movement. Once the power is off the blade, you sit up quickly so the blade comes out of the water and snap your recovery stroke forward.
Very hard to get it all right, but it's powerful.
The biggest problem with that stroke on SUP is that it's exhausting and hard on my back. I can do it all day in an OC6, but on a SUP there's too much lower back torque.
That explains a lot, and it's a great example of how technique can get misinterpreted. If you don't know what's going on, you might see the longer stroke and think it means you need to concentrate on adding power at the back of the stroke, which you explained is the opposite of what you should be doing. Pretty soon the well-meaning, bad advice gets spread everywhere.
The other thing is that even if you watch videos and get your motions to match Travis Grant's, that doesn't mean your stroke will be right, because you also need to know all the things you mentioned about why you do this or that, where you put the power, etc.
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Just saw this too. Interesting how in the new stroke he's "trying to keep the paddle in the water as long as possible" ie way back behind his feet which is something we have always been told creates drag and slows you down. I love how things change in our sport. Soon we'll realise that actually really short wide boards are faster than long narrow ones.. ;)
It was interesting when you start applying some proper scientific data collection how some longstanding theories get debunked. For example, the 'not pulling past the feet' thing came into question as soon as Larry Cain whacked some sensors on and measured that (in the case of himself and Jim Terrell) it wasn't the evil we'd been led to believe..........
You can test this theory yourself (I will try it next paddle session). Just do a onetime drill, where you start your stroke at your feet and see if you move forward and how much. Then report back here.
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The phase where the paddle blade passes your feet (as Travis is describing) is when the blade is the deepest and pretty much the end of the power phase. So recreating that phase of the stroke by attempting to start an your feet is impossible. The paddle continually goes down as you and the board pass it. Driving the blade down gives you the strongest pull. If your recovery point is at your feet or past your feet is the point. It's going to be different for everyone. I have long arms and a 90" long paddle, so I can drive the blade down a long ways. It's going to end up behind my feet on recovery just because of how deep it is.
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It seems obvious that it would be impossible to stop at an arbitrary point. All other sports that I have played involving a swing always teaches a follow through. Golf, tennis, baseball, and hockey. You don't try and stop at the moment of impact..
It feels like the discussion of paddling with power past a point is different than trying to stop and go to the next phase suddenly.
The reality of glide differences in type of craft, as well as length was very useful to me. I am faster on a 14' even though I have way less cadence and am hardly the strongest guy out there.
This type of discussion, both theoretical and experiential, is a great thing! Cardio Boy is weaker, has less stamina, but FASTER post SCA.
Far freakin' out!
Mahalos to all who have contributed!!
;D ;D ;D
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Yes, imagine how screwed up your baseball swing would be if you tried to stop the bat from swinging past a particular point at the end of the follow-through. The negative effects would ripple forward all the way back to the start, and you'd hit with less power.
The other thing I liked about Travis Grant's explanation, with PB's enhanced description, is that it's a reminder how your recovery is already starting when your paddle is still going backwards. If you pulled with force all the way to the point where your paddle stopped going backwards, then you'd have a hitch in your stroke between the pull and the recovery.
As usual, it reminds me of swimming, where the back of the arm stroke in freestyle or fly involves swinging your hands out to the back and side, which creates momentum that carries your hands and arms around and right through the recovery. If you don't do this, you'd push water back until your hand had nowhere to go, and you'd have no momentum going for you. Then your hand would stop, and you'd have to use your arm muscles to lift your hand out of the water and all the way back to the front to start another stroke. You'd have the greatest, most powerful pull, but all you gained from that would be more than lost with the slower, high-effort recovery that that long, strong pull would set up.
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Pdxman, Great observations from yet another discipline!
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Good discussion.
A deep stroke does make the "sword" style recovery difficult. I don't expect these two styles to converge, they have little in common other than trying to get a good catch.
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Ya Bill,
Tried to figure it out from Todd B. vid years ago. Oops. Major forearm burn.
I suspect that personal instruction from Kalama would fix it.
From your experience it's clear that it works really well in DW. I still use my bogus Haole Tahitian Treat in the Rec Races I do for fun when I am trying to finish with a kick.
Unfortunately, last year Hummingbird Heart got up to over 200 and I got zapped by my Cyborg Implant. No fun..
BUT, that was last year!! ;D ;D ;D
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There is a new video on paddle stroke with John Puakea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arAJhcoQ_BY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arAJhcoQ_BY)
The content would be great except that most of the sound is missing.
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Actually the content is still great ;D
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Nice video by Puakea. A beginner can learn lots of great info on these videos in this topic thread.
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Night Wing--thanks, that's a great video. Having him show both techniques and discussing the pros and cons is way more helpful than just seeing somebody doing or talking about one. I also like that he realizes the stroke knowledge is in flux, so there's no absolute right or wrong.
ukgm--I noticed that "pulling past the feet" thing also. I wonder how much of that is actually still applying force, versus letting the paddle slide past the feet and out of the water smoothly. I'd guess the not pulling past your feet advice has become so engrained that people have distorted their strokes to create a choppy, abrupt pull-out instead of a smooth, natural one, trying to adhere to that advice, which was probably originally intended to mean "don't apply force past your feet". So letting the blade go past your feet might really improve your stroke, but the reason may be that it creates a smoother, non-abbreviated finish, leading to a better transition into the recovery, versus it adding a lot of extra length of stroking with power applied.
Another thing with technique is people will try new ones, which do work better, but they don't fully understand why, and misinterpret why it's working better, sometimes for years. I'd love to see Travis Grant talking about his stroke a year from now to hear what he's learned.
Of course there is also pulling past feet from to points of view...Observer and paddler.
Watch very carefully and you'll notice that the paddle that goes past the feet from another craft point of view does actually stop and exit at the feet on the board in relation to the paddler himself.. (Hope that makes sense?)
What I am saying is - I believe that if you film the exact same stroke from two different cameras, one onboard looking down and one on the shore or another craft looking at the paddler, you'll see two different things!! You'll see the blade exiting at the feet on the onboard camera and you see it exiting past the feet on the other camera!
I don't think anybody has taken this into account yet?
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Of course there is also pulling past feet from to points of view...Observer and paddler.
Watch very carefully and you'll notice that the paddle that goes past the feet from another craft point of view does actually stop and exit at the feet on the board in relation to the paddler himself.. (Hope that makes sense?)
What I am saying is - I believe that if you film the exact same stroke from two different cameras, one onboard looking down and one on the shore or another craft looking at the paddler, you'll see two different things!! You'll see the blade exiting at the feet on the onboard camera and you see it exiting past the feet on the other camera!
I don't think anybody has taken this into account yet?
When I get back on the water, I'm going to fully test his stroke from mine and see if it makes a difference on a short sup (8'11") like mine.
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I tested the Puakea stroke vs. my normal stroke on yesterdays fin testing. Puakea was about 2 tenths faster. Wears me out though, I was panting like a dog after 100 yards.
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PonoBill said...I tested the Puakea stroke vs. my normal stroke on yesterdays fin testing. Puakea was about 2 tenths faster. Wears me out though, I was panting like a dog after 100 yards.
I guess I don't understand how the "Puakea stroke" would require more energy than say "Larry Cain's" described stroke.
Also, regarding technique, I do find it a little confusing physically to lead with the paddle side hip during the "catch", and then rotate the hips during the inital "power phase" (paddle side recoils back while the other hip thrusts forward), but the during the end of the power phase and beginning of the recovery, you are suppose to thrust both hips forward during the unhinging of the back. Maybe I'm trying to incorporate both stroke techniques and they are incompatible.
Thoughts appreciated.
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My testing of the Puakea stoke is the same as PonoBill. I think it’s faster because you get more body weight on the blade, but the pull part of the stroke is heavier. I don’t know if its body position or recruiting new muscles that makes if feel harder.
I tried Larry Cain’s technique on thrusting the hips forward at the end of the stroke while the paddle is still in the water, but it screws up my rhythm. It will take a major reprograming on my muscle memory to incorporate it. So to answer your question, I don’t think its incompatibility just a lot of drills to get the timing right.
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I don't know enough about body mechanics and efficiency to answer, I'm just giving my impression. In general, if you're going faster you're using more energy unless you dramatically increase efficiency. I don't think this stroke does that--if anything it seems less efficient but more powerful.
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Here is the latest Puakea stoke video form Evan Leong at standuppaddlesurf.net, he had some good pointers for us, the sound quality sucks but you get the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8rDOujsiM4
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^^ awesome. Thanks.
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Thanks for making the video Robert. John Puakea should write a book or make a DVD on all of this.
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To hear him say "try not to stack your shoulders too much, because you loose strength in the ability to push your paddle down." This has been messing with my head for years..... This is my stroke. It's nice to hear it from an expert that what I've found works best for me, is a good technique. :)
I paddled with Rob Rojas yesterday. He just got his new unlimited. We swapped unlimiteds and compared the two. His is 19'6 x 24, mine 18' x 25. His is a couple pounds lighter than mine, and more volume. I think mine tracks better. Might be because my fin is closer to the tail than his? He also has a new KeNalu paddle that he digs.
We did a side by side sprint and our stokes and rate are very similar. He weights his paddle and doesn't stack his shoulders that much. He has better reach than me for sure, but I hung in there. ::)
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^^ yeah, just wait long enough and you may get lucky and it becomes trendy!
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I find that angling my upper hand a little bit backwards effectively reminds me to push down with each stroke.
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Here is the latest Puakea stoke video form Evan Leong at standuppaddlesurf.net, he had some good pointers for us, the sound quality sucks but you get the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8rDOujsiM4
at 1:40 I'm thinking "oh - boat wake, those kill me...better watch how to.......ooops...ok not just me....." :D
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Used the Puakea stroke on a downwinder today. It's 4:00 AM and I woke up with a numb, painful hand--carpal tunnel kicked up. Probably won't do that again.
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I could listen to Travis Grant all day. That video of him explaining his stroke was really great. He isn't as polished a presenter as the likes of Dave Kalama or Danny Ching, but he has a huge "believability" or "trustworthiness" factor. Maybe its just the sheer humbleness of his delivery. You don't doubt that he believes what he is saying, and he's telling you as much as he knows. Whereas you do wonder with some hyper-competitive athletes if what they are saying sometimes contains some disinformation - after all, it must be hard to give your competitors gratis the benefit of your hard-won experience.
The message that probably no-one has the perfect stroke (yet) suggests an open-mindedness and willingness to experiment that could see him at the top of his game for some time yet. I hope he does some more videos. It's fantastic that he is so generous to those around him (including his competitors) in these interviews. What a class act.
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I find that angling my upper hand a little bit backwards effectively reminds me to push down with each stroke.
I'm not sure I understand what you are doing but if you are breaking your wrist, that might be what might is inflaming your carpal tunnel. I recommend keeping the wrist straight, not bent.
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A10 I agree 100 percent with your assessment of travis grant. He has more humility about his mastry of the stroke than most of the pompous jackasses on this forum. And yes, as you are all thinking, I am clearly one of the pompous jackasses.
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The simple fact that he was willing to listen to Johnny tell him that most of what he was doing is wrong says a lot about him. Of course he needed proof to go after a new stroke, but the proof is there, it's faster. It's also harder on your body, at least it is on mine, and that's not too surprising. Travis has the conditioning to handle that. He's also hugely experienced, which doesn't always come across. He was relatively unknown in the SUP world prior to the 2013 M2O, but he's been paddling all his life--mostly outrigger canoe. It's not farfetched to call him the Australian Danny Ching. I remember a conversation with Dave Kalama years ago when he said "wait until Danny Ching starts racing SUP, he'll be hard to beat." I had no idea of who he was talking about. I'd never heard of Travis before 2013, but that's just USA navel gazing--we don't look outward much.
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Both Travis and Johnny seem pretty legit and willing to give good advice in the vids. They both come across sincere.
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Simple question. When trying to incorporate a twist is it more efficient to push off the toe or the heel?
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Just came back paddling the AS23 and tried to specifically track what I was feeling with torso twist. My foot was basically balanced from toe to heel during my normal paddle stroke. But on sprint would expect more toe to heel dynamic balance. With our wider boards - balance is not as critical and you can get away with a lot more crap technique and not fall in. But for the most part - I try not to think what I am doing. And instead just do it intuitively. For the most part that works for me. But then I just paddle around randomly most the time just for a bit of fun and relaxation. :)