Rhythm and Recovery Self Check: Why Your Boat Stops Between Strokes
Better Paddler series, part 4 of 4: rhythm and recovery.
Stand on the beach and watch a good paddler go past. The boat keeps moving between strokes. Now watch someone working twice as hard. The boat surges and stops, surges and stops. The difference is not fitness. It is what happens between the strokes.
This is the written version. The video for this part of the stroke is on our Instagram and Facebook. Watch it there to see it moving, then come back here and run the checklist.
Why rhythm matters
A stroke has two halves. Power on, through the water: that is the catch and the middle. Then recovery: the blade is out and you set yourself up for the next one. The common fault is having no recovery at all. You race to the next stroke, so the catch is rushed and goes in light, the exit gets dragged, and every stroke fights the last one.
Body. If I asked you to lift the heaviest thing you could, you would deadlift it with your legs, hips and back. You would not shoulder press it. Nobody deadlifts without setting up first. The recovery is your set up. Skip it and you arrive at the catch square and unloaded, with only your arms left to use.
Paddle. The blade can only grip well if it goes in clean and buried. A rushed blade goes in half way. The better each stroke grips, the more power goes into the boat and the further it runs before the next catch.
Nobody trains rhythm directly. It arrives when the pieces are right and they happen in the same order every stroke: spear, drive, light exit, set up.
The self check
Answer yes or no on flat water, where you can feel the boat run.
Is there a moment between strokes where the boat is still running?
Are you set up and wound up before each blade goes in?
Does your bottom hand finish high after every stroke?
Do your left and right strokes look and sound the same?
Over the same stretch at the same effort, are you taking fewer strokes than you did a month ago?
Failed a check? Here is the why and the fix
No to 1 or 2: you are rushing
If there is no run between strokes, there is no recovery. You are spending energy to interrupt the glide you just paid for. Give the boat time to use each stroke.
Drill: ballet. Take one full stroke, then let the boat run until it just starts to slow. Then take the next. Unhurried, hands high, tall in the seat. It is slow on purpose. You are teaching yourself that the boat keeps moving without you.
No to 3: your hands finish low
A low finish means you have to lift the paddle back into position before you can catch again. That costs time, and the next stroke starts short.
Drill: top hand pause. Hold your top hand still at the exit and bring your bottom hand all the way up to meet it before you go again. Exaggerate it. Twenty strokes, then paddle normally and keep the finish high.
No to 4: one side is different
A lopsided stroke very often comes from the angle of your paddle. One blade goes in right and the other goes in at the wrong angle, and the whole stroke goes out of balance. One hand sits higher than the other at the top, or you rotate more on one side than the other.
Sometimes it is concentration. Sometimes it is a habit you built around an old injury. And often the simple fix is changing the feather angle on your paddle. Get someone to film you from directly in front or directly behind and compare the two sides.
No to 5: the pieces are not right yet
A stroke count that will not come down is not a rhythm problem. It is a catch, middle or exit problem showing up as rhythm. Go back through the first three self checks and fix the first no you find. Then give it time. This is the part that takes months, not sessions, and it is worth it.
How to use this on your next paddle
Pick a flat stretch you paddle often and count your strokes over it at an easy effort. Write the number down.
Run the five questions.
Do ten minutes of ballet, then ten minutes of normal paddling keeping the same patience.
Count the same stretch again in a month.
That is the series: catch, middle, exit, rhythm.
The fastest way to get ahead
If you want a big jump in a short time, come on a camp. It is a proper getaway where all you think about is paddling. You get lots of video feedback on what your stroke is doing and how you are catching waves, and you put it into practice straight away, in conditions made for it, with like minded people. That is where the massive gains happen.
Not ready for a camp? Come to a session or clinic, your first one is free with the code firstsessionfree, or send me your footage for a virtual technique analysis.
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