The Power stroke is a propulsive action to push the boat forward using the body movement. It can be used to perform many operations in white and flat water with freestyle and creek boats. This stroke is very effective while getting into an out of the eddies and to boof (jump an obstacle). In flat water allows simple circular path through a series of strokes inside of the curve. This stroke is important to learn how to move your torso and increase its mobility.

How to do it

To begin, the body should be rotated slightly and leaning forward a lot. The body can be slightly lean towards the inside of the curve. The paddle must be vertical and your arms should be almost extended. The shoulders may also lean towards the inside of the curve as to follow the inclination of the shaft. The kayak movement is generated by bringing the body from front to back while the arms remain substantially extended.

As can be seen in the figure, it is important to focus that the kayak must move forward, while the paddle should remain steady as possible. A very common mistake is to think to pull the paddle as quickly as possible. This trend leads to deteriorate the efficiency of the stroke and reduces the effect on the kayak.

Video Tutorial

Exercises

To practice you can perform circular trajectory using the power stroke inside of the curve. This exercise starts by giving speed to the kayak; then let the kayak slightly turn on one hand and, without letting the boat turns completely losing its speed, you can start power strokes inside of the curve. A good power stroke will not change the trajectory to the kayak, but will push the boat only forward, leaving the curvature substantially unchanged.