Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Long Forgotten Muscle Groups

My wife and I bought our Kayaks on Memorial Day weekend. We have been spending a fair amount of time on the water - but this past weekend we took the basic techniques and safety course. Practiced both Saturday and Sunday maintaining the "Paddler's Box" and not "Chicken Winging". In a nutshell, this involves a lot of core rotation to make use of more than just your arms in paddleing. Also in a nutshell, I can barely move today without lots and lots of pain.
Also - in the course, I was the only one that volunteered to go into the water and be rescued. We did both and assisted "T" rescue and an unassisted "rescue yourself" recovery. I was able to accomplish both - but what really got me was that no one else wanted to get wet? My thought is that I did not want the first time I went swimming unintentionally to be without the direction and oversight of a qualifed instructor??? The rescue part was the last part of a 4 hour course. There was one guy there - maybe 8-10 years younger than me. His wife did not participate staying on shore. As the class was breaking up, he paddled on off to the landing area. A few minutes later, he shows back up, sheepishly, and says he was "told" he had to get wet. I laughed inside while I stayed and watched the proceedings. He only did an assisted rescue though.....

Sounds like you are well on your way. Practicing rescues can be fun, as long as the water is warm.

The evil DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). On days I blast my muscles or when I first start lifting from a long hiatus I experience that crippling pain. Strangely, its worse not on the day after, but always 2 days later. Good job getting into it and not being a land lubber, the pain will only make you a better kayaker!

After learning a bit about proper paddling technique, I was practicing my rotation so that I am using more than just my arms. The side benefit is that I am more flexible now and can actually turn when backing the car rather just a cursory turn of my head. Who woulda known?

Once you get that rotation thing going, kayaks really are a breeze to paddle.

One tip that really helped me with paddling efficiency -- besides making sure your thighs and feet have solid contact with the hull and footpegs -- is that when you want to be going in a straight line, you never really want to draw the paddle back past your body. You should reach the paddle as far forward as possible/comfortable and draw back only to where you're sitting. Any further and your energy will go into turning the boat.