It is a fun, long set of riffles. The channel seems wide open, and the speed and splashes of the rapid enhance the fun you have been having. Suddenly you have a few rocks to avoid and without thinking you switch your paddle to the other side and slam in a back rudder stroke. Another rock looms ahead, and after another flurry of switching sides you slam in yet another inefficient back stroke. You made the moves, but the abrupt flurry of braking was a noticeable disruption to the flow of your paddling.
A common bad habit was the fault: indiscriminately switching sides. The problem is that if you always switch to make a move, you will take longer to develop a full repertoire of strokes. For instance, you are much less likely to develop a good stern pry to help you make it to the best surfing waves. Besides it is far more impressive to make a move on your off side.
On the other hand, occasionally switching sides while you paddle is perfectly okay. Switching helps you use different muscle groups, and develop a nice rhythm when you are going a long distance. In addition you get good forward power on each stroke, and you don’t develop an offside.
Paddling on the upstream side makes it easier to get into eddies. It is especially nice to have your paddle on the upstream side in shallow areas, on the inside of a bend, or on the opposite side of a reaction wave.
I propose that you switch sides to make a move only on the hardest 5 or 6 major moves of a day’s paddling, or, systematically approach your paddling so that you can do basic moves equally well on both sides. In any case a wild flurry of switching sides is inefficient and poor form. You need to find a personal balance between gaining temporary efficiency by switching sides, and developing a full repertoire of quality strokes on one side.
So what strokes need a tune up to help you avoid the Frantic Side Switch? In the next few issues, we will look at the best correction strokes: The Stern pry, stern draw, and the J stroke.