Having worked and talked with Greg Barton, taken a clinic with Oscar C, and watched countless videos of sprint kayaking coaching, I think the timing of the leg drive is pretty simple and is closely akin with the rowing stroke (I rowed at a very high level for many years). Simply put: the leg drive begins as soon as the blade is set and is the first 'body action' of the paddling stroke other than spearing the paddle into the water with the upper arm, as Oscar describes it . The leg drive "IS" what propels the boat forward and sets the body up for the rotation. In fact the leg drive 'causes' the rotation by driving the hip back and as long as one keeps their upper body square with the hips, the rotation is there! It is an error to think that the upper body rotation is seperate from the leg drive. You can think that the leg drive is the stroke, and body rotation is the leg drive. a powerful leg drive is the power of the stroke and the arms have to be conditioned to 'keep up' with the power of the leg drive. Rotation of the upper body or even pulling on the paddle, before 'hitting it' with the leg and driving the hip back can injure or aggravate the lower back. Oscar C. recommends stopping the power once the leg locks down. Many say to stop the stroke 'at the knees' but with the leg in motion it is hard to tell where that is. But definitely that is the end of the power part of the stroke. Each person has to find where that is. Then the rest of the stroke is just to let the paddle naturally exit the water. The legs should feel like driving pistons. If a leg goes down with enough force and you float into the next stroke's catch, you will have a short 'rowing like' pause between each stroke, something Greg Barton was famous for and gave him a lower stroke rate than his competitors.
I am new to surfski and found this very helpful. Question: I practiced this today and find that I can do this in smooth water. My question is.... what does one do when in open ocean and you are heading to a location and the swell is coming from your side? I find myself bracing my outer legs against surfski walls to balance and then can't 'pump my legs' like on this video because I'm bracing... any advice as what I should do for ocean swell from my side.. maybe I need to relax more?
Having worked and talked with Greg Barton, taken a clinic with Oscar C, and watched countless videos of sprint kayaking coaching, I think the timing of the leg drive is pretty simple and is closely akin with the rowing stroke (I rowed at a very high level for many years). Simply put: the leg drive begins as soon as the blade is set and is the first 'body action' of the paddling stroke other than spearing the paddle into the water with the upper arm, as Oscar describes it . The leg drive "IS" what propels the boat forward and sets the body up for the rotation. In fact the leg drive 'causes' the rotation by driving the hip back and as long as one keeps their upper body square with the hips, the rotation is there! It is an error to think that the upper body rotation is seperate from the leg drive. You can think that the leg drive is the stroke, and body rotation is the leg drive. a powerful leg drive is the power of the stroke and the arms have to be conditioned to 'keep up' with the power of the leg drive. Rotation of the upper body or even pulling on the paddle, before 'hitting it' with the leg and driving the hip back can injure or aggravate the lower back. Oscar C. recommends stopping the power once the leg locks down. Many say to stop the stroke 'at the knees' but with the leg in motion it is hard to tell where that is. But definitely that is the end of the power part of the stroke. Each person has to find where that is. Then the rest of the stroke is just to let the paddle naturally exit the water. The legs should feel like driving pistons. If a leg goes down with enough force and you float into the next stroke's catch, you will have a short 'rowing like' pause between each stroke, something Greg Barton was famous for and gave him a lower stroke rate than his competitors.
I am new to surfski and found this very helpful. Question: I practiced this today and find that I can do this in smooth water. My question is.... what does one do when in open ocean and you are heading to a location and the swell is coming from your side? I find myself bracing my outer legs against surfski walls to balance and then can't 'pump my legs' like on this video because I'm bracing... any advice as what I should do for ocean swell from my side.. maybe I need to relax more?