Stroke/brace question

Dave Frank said:

On a similar note I see newer and some not so new paddlers using the power face of their blade as their go to low brace. Learn to low brace with the back face of your blade. It is easier to slice out of the brace and into your next stroke and is more protective of your shoulders.


-Dave
(Seven two 0) 298-2242

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I'm new, so everything is a bit less automatic. I am finding that when it comes to bracing, it is hard to think about what to do, as it happens so fast. I've tried to learn all the different braces, and imagine using them so when I'm in that position, I use it.

As it stands, I find my first level of bracing is while paddling and feel I'm losing my balance, I simply flip my hips and right myself without changing my paddle position. This probably happens the most. I kind of set for this possibility when I face any large wave in front of me, by placing my paddle into the face of the wave as I go through, and use that stroke as support as well as momentum to punch through. This is also one area I'm curious on, as I cannot find a resource that talks about where to place your strokes while going through the waves, but have experimented some, and found this works best. I'd love insight about this.

The low brace is one I've never felt like I can practice in a meaningful way, but I find myself using it a few times a run. Mostly on wave train situations where I get tipsy and I didn't have my paddle in the water. I do it in a sweeping forward motion, like I saw in the Gene videos. It gives me support, and fixes my posture at the same time. I still feel there are more times I could use this, but I do feel good that I find myself doing it instinctively at least some.

I've used a classic high brace only once and I over extended my arm, which resulted in a little soreness in my right arm. Since then, I have pretty much never done a classic high brace, but instead, have used a sculling brace while trying to keep my elbow low. This usually happens while morphing from one of those forward strokes that failed to give enough support then I scull back forward and continue to try and hip snap up. This doesn't happen all that often, as I really haven't hardly hit the water for my last several runs unless attempting to surf, which I tend to go over from catching my upstream edge which doesn't seem to give me a chance to save myself as my sculling brace hasn't seemed to help if I'm falling towards the upstream side of a hole.

If you have any insights on what I've said, I'm eager to learn.

I think too many people focus too much on bracing, rather than focussing on paddling methods that would minimise the need for bracing in the first place.

As Mac Cooper aludes to, positive driving paddling eliminates a lot of need for bracing. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for it, but I would say that it is one of the last things you should learn, and then as someone with some experience.

Bracing by default is a defensive method of paddling, so if you train it to the point of becoming a natural reaction I feel something is wrong. Instead you should be training positive driving strokes, natural instinct to put key strokes in the right places, and adaptive body posture and a flexible waist as your natural form. A brace should be a last, last resort when all else has failed.

If you absolutely must use a brace then the active brace as demoed by Simon Westgarth and his Gene17 videos, as you mention, is a good way of doing things. But even then if you take coaching personally from Simon the brace is waaaaaaay down the table of things to do. He will focus on stopping the need for it in the first place because a brace only treats the symptoms, not the cause.

As I said there is a place for the brace and I am not dismissing it, but I am saying that it should be right down at the bottom of your list of priorities. From a personal perspective I have only ever used a low brace. If I go over to the point of a high brace I simply go over and roll. I have seen too many shoulder dislocations from high braces to risk it.

A common problem with high braces is improper technique (which is why people try to avoid it), however it can be done correctly and save your shoulders. I think the important part of a high brace it not leaving your paddler's box (aca stuff here) Imagine trying to hold a large box with your hands on the outside and your elbows at 90 degrees. This should be the basis for your form in all paddle strokes. If your hands leave the outside of the box, you will drop it or over exert yourself trying to hold it. This is a lot of the basis for all paddle strokes where effectively you are rotating your body so that you can maintain this general arm form.

For a high brace in this mindset, if you extend an arm out to gain more leverage, you are opening up your shoulder for pain and dropping the shit out of your box. Instead, practice purposefully holding your elbow in towards your core when you rotate your blade for a high brace. It kind of looks and feels like jazz hands, but with your elbows in, you won't extend your arm into a dangerous. When you brace, you are right, your hips will snap in the opposite direction much like you are finishing off a roll, with your head being the past part of you up. You'd be surprise of the power you can get when you rely on your core instead of your arms for kayaking.

Also, just throwing it out there, in colorado you will want to avoid rolling and will want to learn the brace.

Anyways, my primary question was what you'd call it if you do this hip flick/head dip while doing a regular stroke. It is sort of like a brace, but you do not have to do anything but paddle and hip check. Do you guys never have to do that? I see it in videos all the time, but no one ever talks about it. I'll see a sequence in a single video showing several of them going down one stretch of waves. I find it hard to believe this is bad. Sometimes they sort of lean on their strokes with their bodies curved, which is clearly showing them using the stroke for support. Mostly I see this in large water.

And as far as my issues, I was looking into this because of 1 large crashing wave I run into on my typical run as well as a couple other large wave holes. They completely stop you and crash over you. Before I started doing a paddle stroke through the wave, which also provides a bit of support, I rarely made it through without rolling. I was wondering if this is how to go about getting through this type of wave. I've also spent time searching for info on how to deal with this type of wave to no avail.

I've since tried to learn the basics of bracing and have noticed I will occasionally toss in a low brace. I probably wouldn't need it to stay up, but it seems to me it is a good practice to learn, so I've not tried to stop myself. The high brace, like I mentioned, is something I've only done once, with a couple sculling braces since, which were mostly attempts to save myself when flipping while surfing. While I admit my surfing skills suck, everyone flips while surfing.

Anyways, yes, I'm a noob, and it is hard to figure out what is best when I always run into contradictory advice.

A sculling brace is a dynamic high brace. Proper lean and enough speed is all you need for most waves. I would guess there is a sweet spot on the crashing wave you are missing or you aren't reading a hit coming from one side or the other in the crash.

I think what you are referring to is in fact a hybrid stroke/brace. Sometimes called the flying DeLaVergne, EG Lean or ear dip boof. It's an advanced technique for setting vertical bow angle when landing. It's also steezy as fuck.