[DRAW STROKES]

by ray killen, ACA and BCU certified instructor

Let’s start by defining a couple of terms: A dynamic stroke is where the kayaker moves the paddle to make the kayak go through the water and a static stroke is where the paddle is just placed in the water and held there while the movement of the boat (while at speed) does the turning action.

There are different dynamic draw strokes that you can use, any one of which will do just fine.

There is also a static draw stroke which is applied when your kayak is in motion. This moves the boat on a 45 degree angle and takes a lot of practice to perform it effectively. This will not be covered in this article.

The idea behind the draw stroke as well as every other stroke, is to imagine the blade being placed in molasses or thick mud. Do not think of pulling the paddle toward you. Plant the paddle in this ‘mud’ and lever your kayak towards it.

Out of water recovery

Starting Position. The blade is placed fully into the water, out from the boat but in the vicinity of the hips, Keep the power face in and the lower arm fully extended. The body is straight with the torso twisted toward the ‘draw’ side. The upper forearm is held in a comfortable position next to the forehead and over the opposite gunwale (right arm over left gunwale for example) and should form a ‘window’ to look out of.

Keeping the upper hand from moving, pull or ‘draw’ the boat towards the paddle using only the lower arm. The lower elbow should be kept close to the body. Once the shaft is next to the hull, slice the blade toward the stern and raise it out of the water. Place it away from the boat again in the starting position and repeat the process. If you pull directly toward you, the boat moves sideways but if you pull slightly toward the bow or stern, it is possible to sideslip the kayak.

In the water recovery

Another way to perform this magic is to keep the blade in the water for the duration. The starting position is the same, however, after the kayak is drawn next to the paddle you rotate the blade 90 degrees so that the blade is perpendicular to the kayak Now you can push the paddle out from the boat again, rotate 90 degrees and repeat the movement. If you fail to turn the blade on the recovery, you will probably capsize and this may be a part of the learning process for you. Remember, whether you do something correctly or do it all wrong, you learn something either way.

Sculling draw

The last of the dynamic draw strokes is the sculling draw which is probably the one most often used but usually gives people the most trouble at first. Begin in the starting position again but don’t hold the paddle as far out; 12 to 18 inches being about right. With the upper hand acting as a fulcrum (again, hold it still), you move the paddle parallel to the kayak in sort of a shallow figure 8 just as if you’re spreading icing on a cake. As you’re doing this, keep pressure on the paddle toward the boat. Use strokes about 3 feet long. You want to avoid short choppy strokes since every time you reverse direction, you lose the pulling effect.

This one takes more practice but once you get the hang of the sculling it will be easier to learn the side sculling brace. This is where the Paddler has the kayak on it’s side and is laying half submerged in the water staying afloat by moving the paddle back and forth near the surface.

With any of these strokes, you should be lifting the ‘draw side’ knee to edge the kayak to allow the water to slip under the hull. If you edge the other way, you may pull water onto the hull which could throw you off balance.