First day of class Chad, our instructor, is going over proper form for different paddle strokes: draw, pry, sweep, scull, cross-draw, cross-scull, cross-forward, and forward. Cross strokes are when you make a paddle stroke on the opposite side of the boat from where you normally paddle and you DON'T switch hands.
One thing, of many, that I have already realized is that I don't rotate at the waist enough when I do pry strokes to correct. I also don't rotate at the waist enough when I do cross-strokes. My lower back is going to be really sore tonight from all of this extra twisting. It does make a huge difference though, the proper form gives you so much more power in your strokes.
Another thing that I have realized is that when I am nervous I don't keep a vertical shaft! This turns my boat away from my paddle and I lose all of my momentum trying to correct. I need to make more of a C shape with my body to get my hands and the grip of the paddle to be outside of the boat, thus keeping the paddle shaft straight. This will be a really good thing to practice in the pool this winter to create some muscle memory!
Today's entire class was spent in approximately one mile of river. We started about 10am and ended a little after 4pm. Lots of paddling upstream!
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