Sea Kayak turning for beginners key to easy turns with your sea kayak
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How to edge your kayak in a way that feels easy and stable. Even when paddling broadside to steep waves.
Do you ever want to make a quick turn but you limit how much you edge because you feel like you might capsize if you go too far?
Or are you ever uncomfortable turning your kayak in choppy waves?
I’m Paulo from Dancing With The Sea. I help kayakers develop more ease and agility with their kayaks.
Here’s a few more reasons to learn to edge this way.
Perhaps the way you’re edging is not allowing you to rotate enough. And when you do a sweep stroke near the stern of the kayak, it puts your shoulders in a weak position. You may even feel some pain after doing a lot of turning, especially when paddling on a windy day.
Maybe you would like to use the power of your lower body to make the turn. So it feels effortless. And more natural. You know using your legs gives your forward stroke a lot more power, and you can probably imagine it would make turning a lot easier. If only you could unlock that power while you keep your kayak on edge.
Maybe you want edging to put your body in the strongest possible position for bracing. So there’s no way you’re going over.
It all starts with full body edging.
In this video you will learn the simple shift to make so that you can edge your kayak in a way that feels easy and stable.
It’s not about lifting one leg up against the thigh brace to edge the kayak.
As you probably already know, when you edge your kayak it naturally wants to turn. The shape of the hull is designed for this.
Edging also lifts the ends of the kayak out of the water to make it turn more easily.
Before you can make quick and easy turns, you want to be able to edge your kayak with ease. In a way that feels secure. Even when paddling in waves.
If you want to do an efficient sweep stroke to turn your kayak, you want to have some rotation as you edge. That way you can focus on moving the stern, where it gives the most turning power.
And do it in a way that keeps your arms and shoulders in a strong position. So there is no strain or pain.
This position will also give you the most stability if you happen to edge a little too far.
It’s almost impossible to capsize when you learn this.
The solution is very simple.
You just rotate your pelvis to face the side you’re edging. Focus on edging with your whole body. There’s no forcing the kayak to edge.
As you practice this, you’ll notice that there is much less pressure on the thigh brace. You still want contact for stability.
But it doesn’t need to feel like hard work.
It’s more like you’re shifting your weight, and moving your body to adjust your balance.
It feels more stable.
It doesn’t require any special skills. You’re just moving your body the way you would naturally move if you were not sitting in a kayak.
If you like to move with finesse instead of using force,
and you want to move with your kayak to give you a lot of control, sign up for the free video course I created for you. It shows you how to move, and the specific way to wear your kayak to give you a lot more agility.
Just sign up by clicking the link in the description below this video.
Thanks for watching.