Forward Paddling Techniques for Whitewater Rafting

Series Summary

White water rafting is a outdoor team sport where a group of people get in an inflatable raft and work together to navigate rocks, rapids, waterfalls—and anything else that a fast-moving body of water can throw at you. Whether the objective is to get somewhere downstream, or you’re just doing your weekend warrior thing with a few close friends, whitewater rafting can be a fun and exciting alternative to becoming even more of a couch potato.

Rafting safely and effectively requires some basic training before you can actually ride the river rapids. Special paddle techniques and team coordination skills are needed in order to be able to keep control of the raft in a fast-running, ever-changing river.

In these free white water rafting training videos, learn the techniques and maneuvers you need to get started. Our expert guide will show you how to use the raft paddle effectively, including lessons on how to proper hold the paddle, where people should sit in the boat, how to do the forward and backward strokes, how to rudder, how to give paddle commands, how to do a u-turn, and more important rafting tips. So get out your river gear—your life jackets, oars, and decorative beer koozies—watch these quick videos, and take a white water rafting trip before another endless summer slips away.

Video Transcript

"We're going to talk about paddling forward and how to move your raft effectively down stream. You're going to have thumb under the t-grip here, top arm nice and straight, lower arm down here about a hands grip away from the blade. Place the paddle into the water and then using your upper body to turn the boat pushing the paddle. Let's have a look and see how these guys do. Paddling together, nice vertical shaft, paddle stroke finishing at the hip, both hands outside of the raft. It's very important you coordinate your paddling strokes so that you're effective as you work your way down stream. You want to make sure that the person in lead is initiating the paddle stroke and everybody is sitting behind him finishes at the same time, stops at the same time so that you're paddling nice smooth action. The person across from you in the front, the bow of the raft sets the pace so you guys paddle together that way the raft travels in a nice straight line, no wiggling. That way you're working as an effective team to get yourself down the stream. It's very important when your start getting into the larger rapids out there in the river."