Greenland forward paddling technique – transition from a Euro-blade paddler

 An “aha” moment for me when switching to Greenland paddling relates to the placement of the paddle and the “bend” in the arms.    In short, remembering to keep both arms relatively low and somewhat bent throughout the stroke was key for me to keep in mind - and might be for you, in additional to a few other points listed below.

EURO:

I used a series of large-bladed sea kayaking paddles in the past, for about a decade my favorite was the Werner Ikelos. Over time, with the help of videos, classes and use of a wing-paddle, my stroke evolved to the point where it was basically a K1 or Surf Ski stroke.  That is:

- Hands are relatively high (shoulder level in recovery phase)

- Paddle is placed well forward by the feet

- Torso rotation with arms out in front, both arms are kept fairly straight, slight bend in the elbow.  The onside hand is fully straight at the catch and only bends some when the paddle is pulled out of the water at the hip

- The blade is pulled out of the water early, at the hip – when your hand is about at mid-thigh

- Sweep the blade away from the hull with significant torso rotation and fairly straight arms

- The stroke is mostly “in front of you"

- (See LINK to one of my older posts on Euro-paddle forward stroke)

Figure 2 shows some of this, you can paddle a sprint this way and with practice you can paddle long distance too.  My biggest miles/day and fastest speeds sea kayaking were during my Euro-blade “era” after I’d committed these concepts to muscle memory.

GREENLAND:

But an arm injury forced me to switch to a Greenland paddle.  It was a multi-year transition for sure – “unlearning” the years of muscle-memory of my old reliable Euro-bladed paddle. A few keys to making the transition to a Greenland forward stroke that I found helpful: 

1. Forget straightening the arms, both arms are basically bent (hovering around 90 degrees, +/- 10-20 degrees) throughout the stroke (YES!), even the top (offside) hand has a bend to it. 

2. Forget keeping your hands high for general paddling, keep them no higher than mid-chest on the off-side phase.

3. No need to reach for the feet – place the paddle comfortably by the lower legs.

4. Unlike the Euro-blade, the effort/power of the Greenland forward stroke is loaded up closer to the torso when the blade reaches your hips (NOT applied out in front of you at the knee/thigh as in a K1/Euro stroke). This is a MAJOR difference.

5. Forget sweeping the blade out away from the hull – because your arms are bent and the weight/power is applied when your hands are closer to your hip, the paddle blade travels behind you more so than with a Euro-bladed paddle

6. Torso rotation is absolutely possible and helpful with a Greenland paddle, keeping elbows bent and rotating takes the blade closer to the hull and well behind you – the blade comes out further back than with a Euro-paddle.

7. Anything that’s not “smooth feeling” in the Greenland stroke is probably a sign that it’s a carry-over from your Euro-blade stroke…time to rethink!

8. See Photo 1 below illustrating this

Photo 1: Greenland Forward Stroke

Photo 2: Euro-Blade Forward Stroke