So,In preparation in putting forward My View on this subject I am a firm believer that nothing is perfect and it is only through constant tweaking of technique that allows Swimmers to swim faster and Sprint runners to continually break world records.
So I started to look at all the information that is already out there and really every one is saying pretty much the same thing whether it is entirely correct or not I'm not sure. So, I decided not to reinvent the wheel just yet until the accepted wheel gets the wobbles or someone has a better view of what is right.I will constantly review this BLOG as new Ideas are Globally accepted.
So here is a re edited version of the stroke that is currently accepted at the time of posting this blog and I believe technique across the world is getting better each year.
Grip of the Paddle
The paddle is an extension of your arms.
It is the connection between the Paddler and the water.
Bottom Hand should hold the paddle aproximately 10 cm (100mm) above the blade.
When we say "GRIP" the force of the grip should vary depending upon the phase of the stroke.
The only time you should be performing a death grip of the shaft is during the "Pull" phase and the remainder of the time you should hold just sufficient pressure to maintain contol.
Top Hand position you should have your 4 fingers and edge of the palm over the top so you can push down with force and the thumb under the "T"bar.The thumb under the "T' assists you when lifting the paddle out of the water to begin your exit.
Seating Position
This is an extremely important part a paddlers technique.Without a correct seating position a paddler will find themselves frustrated and not be able to carry out a powerful technique.
Firstly you MUST be sitting square in the boat fully on the seat with your outside hip firmly against the side of the boat.
(NSW Style)Outside leg extended (National Team Style Inside leg extended) so it it is locked onto the floor peg under the seat in front of you.
Opposite leg as close to a 90 deg bend as possible or if you prefer next to the extended leg but NOT bent under the seat as many paddlers have been taught by their club coaches.(If you place the opposite leg is under the seat you will restrict your hip rotation and you will not have a strong base to rotate upon.
Sit with good posture and not hunched over or leaning out of the boat excessively as this is the leading problem leading to back problems amongst many paddlers.
The Dragon Boat Stroke
The most important skill to master in dragon boating is, of course, the stroke . The paddling technique is simple enough that a beginner can begin an approximation of the technique in his or her first few practices, but to move the boat with the power required in competitive racing requires a constant effort to refine the various elements of the stroke. Most beginners will find dragon boat paddling awkward, because it places you in an unnatural position: paddling on only one side of the body, pulling yourself past the point of entry and keeping the stroke all up in front of you. But with time, the body will become used to this positioning and it is then that true progress towards becoming a competitive dragon boat paddler will be made.
There are 4 elements to the dragon boat stroke: Reach/Extension, Catch, Pull, and Exit. We'll examine each element separately.
1) Reach. Reach refers to the action of the paddler leading up to and beginning an individual stroke, though not the placing of the paddle into the water itself (see element number 2, "catch"). The paddler wants to place the paddle as far ahead of him or herself as possible, ideally stretching the paddle up past the bench/seat immediately in front of the paddler. By rotating the upper body forward, opening up the fingers of the bottom hand just slightly and placing the paddle as far ahead as possible, the paddler is maximizing the amount of time the paddle will be pulling through the water, and therefore maximizing the amount of force he or she is putting into making the boat move.
If the paddlers on a team do not reach far enough forward on their strokes, they will simply not have a long enough stroke to be competitive, and will not be contributing their share of the workload of the team.( Remember you are a part of a team)
2) Catch. The second component of the dragon boat stroke refers to how the paddle is placed down into the water, how the paddle "catches" the water. Ideally, the paddle should not simply be dropped into the water, but some force should be exerted downwards on the paddle, to make it "dig" into the water. The entire blade should be fully buried once catch is completed, in order to pull the maximum amount of water.
We emphasize catch by letting the paddle "hang" before thrusting the paddle down into the water. "Hang" refers to the paddler noticeably holding the paddle up in the air for a brief moment at the end of the reach phase, before driving the paddle down into the water.
3) Pull. The next phase of the stroke refers to the movement of the paddle through the water, once it has been planted by the "catch" phase. With the paddle as far forward as the paddler can place it, the paddler grips the paddle shaft tightly and pulls the paddle back through the water.
The stroke/pull should be as straight as possible, because any other movement of the paddle (for instance, slightly perpendicular) would contribute nothing to the forward movement of the boat, and would, in fact, weaken the general forward movement of the boat by pulling the boat slightly in another direction.
As you are pulling the blade through the water other things must be happening simultaneously.
Keeping the blade fully buried you should be driving off the forward leg which is firmly applied to the floor peg,Rotating your inside hip forward (see next graphic) as you push down with the inside leg for stability.
4) Exit. This refers, obviously, to the action of taking the paddle out of the water at the end of the stroke. Lift the paddle out of the water with an upwards twisting motion using the thumb under the "T" and by gripping the "T" with the palm of the top hand.This will allow you to have a much quicker and cleaner exit. The ideal dragon boat stroke should be as much as possible in front of, rather than behind the body.Therefore, The stroke should end between the knee and mid-thigh of the paddler, and no further back.
Begining dragon boaters (and a lot of dragon boaters who've been doing it for years) have a problem with too long of a stroke. They may think they're getting more power into the stroke by continuing it beyond their knee-mid thigh, but technically since the stroke is powered by rotation of the trunk of the body forward rather than backward, pulling the paddle through behind your body results in a wasted expenditure of energy and tends to slow the boat down.
Well, that's the basics of the dragon boat stroke! Of course, there are many other factors the dragon boat paddler has to master. Things like rotation, timing and feeling the rythum of the boat. Also, at various phases of a race different elements of the stroke technique will be emphasized for different effects. But for the beginning dragon boat paddler, knowing just the correct seating position, hand positions and the four elements of proper stroke technique is the most important thing to understand. In the future, I'll add more on the other factors.
(The original technique concept by Michael Diack revised and edited by Greg Bell
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