Most kayakers use double-bladed paddles for efficiency and speed. Agreeably, having a paddle blade on each side of the boat is what makes kayaks unique from other watercraft. However, paddling with a single blade like a canoe is fun and provides a skillful art that adds flair to the sport.
Paddle must be specialized
Using a standard-sized canoe paddle doesn’t work well in a kayak. The paddle shaft needs to be shortened because the paddler’s shoulder height above the water is about 10 inches shorter than in a canoe.
To get the correct paddle shaft length, paddle with a kayak paddle in a canoe paddling position and measure the distance from where the top of the palm grip will be to the shoulders of the blade.
Short canoe paddles can be purchased, or a standard aluminum or wood-shafted canoe paddle may be sawed off with the handle reattached to accommodate the difference.
The stroke must be specialized
For kayaks with rudders, no special stroke is needed. For rudderless paddlers, the next element is to learn a stroke that will make the kayak track straight without constantly turning away from the side in which the stroke is applied.
The same strokes used for single-sided canoeing is also used for kayaking. The canoeing J-stroke works well. The stroke begins as a standard stroke, then the paddle is swept away from the gunnel at the tail end of the stroke while the thumb-side of the top hand rotates forward. The stroke pattern follows a curve resembling the letter J on the port side of the boat.
A C-stroke works equally well. The stroke begins by placing the paddle out from the gunnel in the forward position, pulling the blade inward like a draw stroke and along the gunnel during midstroke, and finishing up with a J-stroke. The stroke pattern follows a curve resembling the letter C on the starboard side of the boat. An easy way to coordinate this stroke is to always keep the thumb-side of the top hand pointed toward the radial center of the C.
Another fun stroke to try is the pitch stroke. The blade sweep is straight along the side of the boat, parallel to the keel line. The blade itself is pitched or angled along the same lines as a flat-footed person stepping on each side of the boat. It’s like using the back portion of a J-stroke through the entire paddle sweep.
The J, C and pitch strokes are all corrective paddling techniques which allow a kayaker or canoeist to paddle on one side of the boat while maintaining steerage at all times. Energy is conserved by paddling on one side, then switching the paddle to the other side of the boat when tired.
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