Video: How to Hold a Kayak Paddle

Learn how to correctly hold and grip a kayak paddle, in this free kayaking video tutorial.

Video Transcript

We're now going to discuss how to hold a paddle. First you want to decide exactly what type of paddle you have as well as what the offset of the blades are. I don't know if you can see, but one blade is in one direction and the other one is slightly offset. This paddle also has a way to hold it, this long part of the blade is towards the sky, the short one is not it's an a symmetrical blade. What you want to do is put your hands a little bit wider than shoulder length apart. In this case I have a bent shaft paddle so I have a really nice place to put my hands. What you want to do with your right hand is have these top knuckles aligned with the narrow part of the blade. The left hand your holding the paddle but it's loose. So the right hand is tight and the left hand is loose around the blade. The right hand is firmed but not white knuckled cause you don't want to be stressed when you paddle. You can use your right wrist to cock the paddle back and forth like so. We do this so when I put the right blade in as it comes through the water I can take it out and cock my right wrist back and if you look at the left blade, it is now in the position to place in the water and pull through. That's how you hold a paddle, you should definitely check if the blades are in a line, you hold the paddle slightly different, but make sure you hold the paddle appropriate to the type of paddle you have.

How to Hold a Kayak Paddle

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