Video: How to Edge while Kayaking

Learn how to edge in a kayak to carve through the river and paddle through eddy currents, in this free kayaking video lesson.

Video Transcript

The great thing about whitewater kayaking is going in and out of calm spots or eddies on the river and really curving turns. What we're really doing is connecting circles. So we're going to talk about how to paddle on edge in a circle just to get those basic principles down so when you go on the river it feels a little bit more comfortable. So remember we talked about in the basic principle is the edging or holding the edge and we talked about forward strokes, so you do need momentum and you need edge control. You also need the vision looking where you want to go, we talked about that basic principle earlier. So what I'm going to do right now is paddle in a circle and you're going to see me rotate my torso into the direction I want to go. So take a look at this! As you can see I'm just paddling forward on edge with forward momentum and look I'm looking into the turn with my shoulders. I usually tell my students to make sure that they have eye balls on their shoulders vs. just in your head, that way you're looking with your shoulders instead of just your head. I'm going to go around one more time. Now, if I want to make my circle bigger the paddle stroke in the inside is the key. As you can see I think, I'm placing the paddle about a foot away from the kayak and keep paddling forward on edge. If I wanted to make my circle smaller I place the back paddle closer to my boat and really turn my torso and you can see that my circle gets smaller. So practice paddling in circles and edge and don't get dizzy.

How to Edge while Kayaking

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