A TIP for Craig after Video Review that should be helpful to Others…

Friday, April 23, 2010

From: Craig
To: Brent Reitz
Subject: Re: 2009 Wildside relay Video

Brent,

Thanks for taking the time to look at the footage and the feedback. What you say makes sense and is the area of the forward stroke I am most confused about. I have noticed myself while looking at my footage it appeared I was finishing the stroke further away from the boat than I thought I should. Also the pause before the catch has always been a struggle for me to get a good feel for. I will focus more on these areas and hopefully dial them in before I get too old to grip a paddle!

Craig,

The two areas you have noticed yourself having difficulty with, are two areas where MOST EVERYONE has difficulty…The TORSO-PAUSE is the most important of the two to connect with, so let's discuss that one here:

A tip to think about getting the “pause” going to your advantage, is to really not think of it like “a pause” with anything other than Your Torso….The Hands, Shaft, Blade…everything else keeps moving on a constant, but you need to hold-back the recoil of The Torso a split second, to allow the all of Those Other Moving Parts enough time to engage with the water fully…Specifically burying the blade fully and as far forward as is natually possible. The Torso-Pause may come to you easier if you think about the movement in these terms.

Once you get that movement ingrained, it becomes as automatic as your current movement is now. Let’s work on that one first, and remember to ask me about the “finishing too far away from the boat-thing” when we see each other next. Cheers, brent

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