How To Perfect the Kayaking Forward Stroke

From George Sayour,
Your Guide to Paddling.
Stay up to date!

The kayak manuever known as the forward stroke is a relatively easy technique to master. That being said, it is also one of the most commonly distorted strokes in kayaking. This "How To" will guide you through the steps that every kayaker should know for maximum propulsion across the water as well as the proper ergonomic technique for wrist, shoulder, and torso safety. These directions are written assuming a right-handed paddler. If you are a "lefty" simply reverse the directions.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 15 minutes to get the hang of it

Here's How:

1. Hold the Paddle Properly:
The forward stroke can only be executed safely and properly as long as you are holding your paddle properly. Your hands should be about shoulder width apart, the paddle should be facing the right direction and oriented properly.

2. Determine Your Control Grip
Most kayak paddles have blades that are offset from one another. The best way to describe this is if you were to lay the paddle on the ground, one blade would lie flat on the ground while the other would be angled upward. This makes it necessary to maintain the correct grip. If you are right-handed your control grip will be with your right hand. If you are left-handed your control grip will be with your left hand. The control grip does not change positions once it is on the paddle.

3. Maintain Proper Posture in the Kayak
You should maintain an agressive, yet comfortable, position in the kayak. Sit upright with your legs securely in the thigh braces and the balls of your feet against the foot supports.

4. Rotate Your Body
To take a stroke on the right side, rotate your torso counter-clockwise while extending your right arm and retracting your left arm. This is the step that often performed incorrectly. The key to it is the torso rotation.

5. Take The Stroke
Place the right side paddle blade in the water near the feet and rotate the torso so as to pull the blade through the water along side of the boat. Be sure to retract your right arm while at the same time extending your left arm.

6. Setup For The Next Stroke
As soon as the stroke is over your paddle should be setup for the next stroke on the left side of the boat. Continue the rotation of your torso to obtain the maximum reach on the left side of the boat.

7. Rotate Your Grip
At this point you need to bend your wrist on the control grip hand. Allow the paddle to rotate in your other (loose) hand until the paddle blade is lined up to enter the water at the proper angle. Grasp the paddle with your "loose hand."

8. Take The Stroke
Place the left paddle blade in the water near the feet and rotate the torso so as to pull the blade through the water along side of the boat while retracting your left arm and extending your right arm.

9. Repeat

At this point, you should be paddling along rather smoothly. Keep repeating Step 4 through Step 8 until you need to correct your direction with another stroke on the same side of the kayak or until you get to your destination.

Tips:

1. If you are a "righty" use a paddle designed for a right-hand control grip. If you are a "lefty" use a paddle designed for a left-hand control grip.

2. Don't hold the paddle too tightly, even with your control grip. This will cause fatigue and possibly undue long-term stress.

3. There are a number of different design features to consider when buying a paddle. Make sure you buy and use the right length and thickness paddle.

What You Need:

* Kayak
* Paddle
* Body of Water

http://paddling.about.com/od/technique/ht/use_paddle_k.htm?p=1

Army Guard Set to Fly New Euro Helicopter

May 14, 2008
Military.com|by Christian Lowe

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- It's an old adage that the Guard and Reserve are the red-headed step children of "Big Army." It's the guys on active duty that get the newest, shiniest, priciest piece of gear while the part-timers get the cast offs -- last year's equipment on its last legs.

Well, that's about to change in a few weeks when the Army National Guard receives its first of 200 UH-72A Lakota helicopters to replace its inventory of Vietnam-era UH-1 Huey and OH-58 Kiowa utility helos and some UH-60 Blackhawks.

Yes, the Big Army's already gotten about 20 of the new Lakotas to free up some of its Blackhawks for duty in Iraq, but the so-called "light utility helicopter" is purpose built for the Guard to use for domestic medivac situations and other state-assigned "general support" missions.

"For a lot of missions in the U.S. we don't need a Blackhawk," said Col. Neil Thurgood, director of the Army's utility helicopters project office, during a visit to the manufacturer's Columbus assembly plant May 9. "So, we're going to save the taxpayers some money."

Based on the Eurocopter EC-145 -- a commercial bantam-weight helo used commonly for hospital "life-flight" missions -- the UH-72 takes advantage of all the modern amenities typical of its class. With two engines, advanced rotors and a glass cockpit, pilots say the Lakota is easy -- and safer -- to fly than its predecessors, particularly the venerable Huey.

"I've been flying Hueys for years and you've got to be on the controls all the time," Thurgood said. But with the Lakota's advanced flight controls and auto pilot, "squeezing the stick the entire time" isn't in the cards anymore.

"I was coming into the airfield and all I had to do was turn some knobs and dials until I was in a hover, the auto pilot did it all," Thurgood added.

For Guard pilots who already have some stick time, it'll be an easy transition to the UH-72, Army officials here said. Pilots will have to attend a 10-day course on the Lakota at a Eurocopter facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, before they fly their home-station birds, and maintainers will have to do roughly the same thing to get up to speed on the LUH's modern systems.

New Guard pilots will simply leave initial flight training and attend the same 10-day course as their more experienced brethren.

"The transition won't be a problem at all," said Lt. Col. Jim Brashear, LUH product manager.

But a helicopter that program officials claim is one of the few Army aviation contracts that's adhering to projected cost and schedule timelines does have some limitations. For one, the LUH isn't built for a combat environment, so Guard units who deploy to a war zone won't get to take their shiny new helos with them.

"They'll still be able to fly their Blackhawks when they deploy," said Keith Roberson, deputy director of the Army's utility helicopters project office.

While officials here cite the LUH as an example of what can go right with an aviation program, the helo has seen its share of controversy. In July 2006, after the Army awarded the $3 billion contract to American Eurocopter -- a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company -- competitor McDonnell Douglas Helicopters protested the decision, throwing the program's future into doubt.

The UH-72 emerged from the fight unscathed, but critics later charged the aircraft was ill suited to some environments, including so-called "high-hot" conditions like mountaintop wildfires and the deserts of California.

"There are no areas in the United States that we think we can't take this aircraft," Roberson countered.

The Lakota is being manufactured partly in Germany; with final assembly here at this newly-built plant in rural Mississippi. Through the rest of this year, more of the aircraft will be assembled at the Columbus plant, with the entire end-to-end production of Lakotas coming from domestic manufacturers by mid-2009, officials say.

The Lakota's foreign designers "are fulfilling their promise to shift production from Germany to the U.S.," Thurgood said. "That's contributing to our industrial base and our economy."

© Copyright 2008 Military.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.military.com/news/article/army-guard-set-to-fly-new-euro-helicopter.html?ESRC=eb.nl