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Down River Racing Technique

Summary of main general points from B. Endicott's publication

by Robyn Khorshid (with thanks to Piers Goodman who lent me his rare copy)

© 2002, Robyn Khorshid

Your success in down river racing depends upon three factors.

1 Your ability to execute a good forward stroke

You need to make the boat glide well. The boat should move forward dead level, with the stern directly following the bow. There should be no fore and aft or side to side bobbing of the boat as this slows the boat down. There should be no deceleration between strokes. You need to have a fairly high stroke rate. Get in the next stroke before the boat slows down. An exception to this is in big water where deceleration is not a problem. A longer, stronger stroke is better here.

There is no 'ideal' forward stroke. The world's top paddlers all have different forward strokes. Some have very strong arms, some use their torso, abdominal and latissimus muscles. Others concentrate on the "push" phase of the stroke as they can use the whole body in the push.

But some principles all top paddlers share:

• their strokes are smooth. Entry of the paddle into the water is smooth, followed by a build up of power during the pull through, with the maximum in the middle of the stroke. They then ease up on the power to exit the blade without splashing.
• the pulling is done largely with the shoulder, back and torso twist, not with the arms
• they have a stroke rate high enough to keep the boat constantly accelerating (about 120/mt. for K1 and 110/mt for WWK1.

Their strokes are very economical of effort - it is easier on the body to do a lot of less powerful strokes than to attempt fewer more powerful ones.

2 Identifying the fastest routes on the river

Be precise in the rapids so as not to lose time with mistakes and eddying out. Sprint on the easy flat sections (ie. survive in the rapids, win on the flats)

One should practise the course and watch others for their fastest routes. Test alternate routes. Of course, with experience one can tell the fastest routes at a glance.

3 Having the skill and ability to keep the boat on the path you have chosen - holding your lines

One has to learn the most advantageous ways of cutting corners, running drops, avoiding patches of slow water and generally learn to steer the boat by leaning and not by using sweep or draw strokes or , worse, any kind of backstroke.

One holds the right lines by varying three factors: the trajectory of the boat, the angle (ie., lean) of the boat and the speed at which one is moving.