Pry-Rudder Paddle Stroke Tips for Whitewater Rafting

Video Transcript

"The job of the raft guide in the back of the boat is to make sure that the raft is going where it needs to go. The crews job is to get the raft there. So the guide calls out all the shots and does all the stirring strokes. What we're going to cover here is the pry and the rudder. The rudder is continual stroke, the guide does it the whole way down stream spilling where the current is taking the raft, so the guide is ruddering the whole time and then prying as a correct stroke. This is a nice strong pry to help turn the boat and then back to ruddering again to keep the raft in a straight line working down stream. Common mistake for a raft guide is to want to paddle forward along with the crew and that really doesn't help out. That way the raft is actually turning because there's more paddlers on that side. So the raft guide really needs to be sort of raising the vision, looking where they're going and making sure that they set the moves in time to get the raft where it needs to go. So steering is your main goal other than being in the back of the raft and entertaining for the rest of your crew."