Note the height of the upper blade. This is a sure beam-wind catcher. The lower blade is purely propulsive, giving hardly any support in rough conditions.

Sea kayaking method
The stroke may have to be continued over many hours, so it is as well to get comfortable. Sit in a relaxed manner with your feet on the footrest. In rough conditions you should wedge your knees up underneath the cockpit coaming, but for normal flat-water paddling the legs can be almost straight.

The back should be supported in any way that suits the individual. A wide, padded back-strap is preferred, so that the lower half of the body is braced between the footrest and the backrest. The body should be upright and curved slightly forwards. Never lean backwards.

The Forward Paddle Stroke really consists of two parts, both of which occur simultaneously. They are the pulling phase and the pushing phase.

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The Starting Position
Hold the paddle with your right hand at a height approximately level with your ear. Your lower (left) hand places the power blade in the water, as far forward as is comfortably possible.

The Stroke - Pushing Phase
Begin by moving your hip and the right side of your chest forward. At the same time, push your right hand forward at eye-level, following the line of the gunwale. Avoid crossing your hand over toward the center line of the boat. During this forward push the paddle shaft is not gripped tightly but is cradled in the curved hollow between the thumb and forefinger. The fingers are relaxed and curved slightly forward. With your wrist slightly dropped, push the shaft by the upper part of your palm.

The Stroke - Pulling Phase
During the pulling phase the shaft is held firmly by the left hand. As this lower hand starts to travel backwards, the grip changes to facilitate a 'pulling' action with hooked rather than clenched fingers and a relaxed thumb. This grip change, combined with a hip rotation, ensures that the wrist remains in an almost straight line in relation to the arm. Failure to relax the grip and swing the body will cause the wrist to bend to its limit. This is dangerous and could cause an inflammatory condition of the tendons know as tenosynovitis (otherwise known as the 'kiss of death' to paddling!). The action of tightening and relaxing the hands 'milks' fresh oxygenated blood to the muscles and helps to prevent any tendency towards cramp.

The Transition
Once the lower hand is pulled back to a position level with the hip, the upper arm is straight and the body is fully rotated forward from the waist. The upper, forward hand - with the paddle - is brought straight down to coincide with the rotation of the body and the lower blade being clipped from the water.

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In the instant before the right-hand blade touches the water, it is turned by a 90° flick of the left hand. In this manner the fully extended feathered blade will be presented almost vertically to the water. If the shaft is oval at the handgrip, this backward flick of the left hand will cause the paddle to fall into the correct position due to the cradling shape of the palm. However this will not happen if the paddle is gripped too tightly.

This pulling phase is the most important in the whole stroke cycle. It is vital that the body and arm are fully rotated forward. The paddle must be dipped into the water cleanly, at boat speed and without a splash, in a position immediately outside the wave that runs from the bow.

The most productive part of the pulling phase is the time during which the immersed blade covers the first third of its backward movement. It is important, therefore, that the paddle blade is placed well forward. It is then propelled backwards with a vigorous pulling movement involving the shoulder and the hip muscles - indeed the whole of the upper torso. This is also referred to as 'upper-body rotation'. The pulling action ends when the lower hand is level with the hips. The speed with which this pulling blade is lifted from the water is governed by the rotation of your body.

The paddle is placed further out from the side of the hull than it is during the racing stroke, giving the stroke a slight sweep rather than a downward plunge. The upper blade presents a more acute and therefore more favorable angle to any beam wind, with hardly any likelihood of the paddle being snatched or twisted from the upper hand by the wind. Moreover, because the paddle action is lower, it is less tiring on the arms and shoulders.

Opening and closing alternate hands during the stroke cycle allows fresh blood and oxygen to circulate into the muscles, thus preventing cramp. It also helps to keep the hands from becoming numb in cold weather. Pressing on the footrest during the stroke cycle does the same for the muscles in the feet, legs and thighs.