Do you love being out on the water, but don’t know the first thing about paddling? If so, you’ll want to check out paddling virtuoso Tom Walton’s free paddle clinic this Sunday.
Walton is pretty enthusiastic about paddling, which is why he’s offering this clinic at no charge.
“Paddling has given me so much enjoyment, and I want to more or less pay it forward,” he said.
Now the clinic isn’t until Sunday, and since our time machine still isn’t working, that means we weren’t able to attend by press time. But, since we’re a media juggernaut around these parts, we called in some favors and pulled some strings to get a little sneak peek last week.
At the clinic, you’ll learn the basics of the forward stroke. There are five elements to this: rotation, elbow wing, catch, push/power and recovery.
Before you get in the water, you’ll do lots of work on dry land – my session was a strictly landlocked one. In my case, I was using an incredibly high-tech and expensive kayak Walton just happened to have handy, but don’t expect to use carbon fiber ones like that at the clinic – unless you bring your own.
Even though I was on land, Walton propped the boat up on stands that were capable of holding one Insider – the smaller of the two – allowing room to move the paddle as though the rig were in the water.
The first thing to do, he taught me, is to measure the paddle by putting the center on the top of your head. Your elbows should form right angles if you’re holding it correctly. You’ll want to keep your arms in this “box” the whole time.
Once the grip is established, it’s on to the paddling technique. I’d done some kayaking before, but never with any care of proper form or efficiency or anything. Turns out I’d been doing it wrong my whole life.
You want to use the big muscles in your upper body (or just regular-sized muscles in your upper body, for some of us), not your arms, to power the craft. You also want to keep your knees bent, and if you reach forward with the paddle on the right side of the boat, your right leg should extend and your left should be bent. It’s all about maximizing the efficiency of the stroke.
But it’s not always as simple as just paddling forward. Walton said it’s common to come across some, well, less-than-desirable water (paddlers have a name for this type of water that isn’t exactly family-friendly). If you’re paddling in shallow water, he said, it’s a lot harder to move forward because your paddle made waves create a drag on the boat.
Don’t worry, though, you’ll soon be an expert. If you attend the clinic, that is.
The clinic will be Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon at Quickwater Canoe & Kayak, 15 Hannah Dustin Drive. If you don’t have a kayak, you can borrow one – for free – from Quickwater, just call ahead (753-0025) because quantities are limited.
Happy paddling!
