Basic Concepts

Draw strokes can be a very wide range of different strokes to fit a wide range of situations, indeed draws are really a whole family of strokes with endless variations and varying names. For the basics, it is really most important to get three or four main draw types: Bow draw, Stern draw, Side draw, and the Static draws. Probably the easiest place to start here would be with the side draw, and for now we will practice without current or boat momentum.

The basic side draw is really not that different from a forward stroke misdirected to the side of the boat; the desired goal is to simply reposition the kayak to one side or another. This stroke will be used for minor adjustments where we do not want to change the angle of our boat, but simply want to reposition a couple feet to one side or another. This is extremely handy to have when trying to gain an ideal position for a peel out of a tricky eddy.

Begin the draw by turning your torso to face the desired direction of travel, now reach out, with a near vertical paddle shaft, straight out from your hips. It is important to keep the blade parallel to your kayak and angled as vertically as possible; the goal is to apply direct pressure on the blade towards the boat (and not towards the bottom of the river). Keeping both hands over the water on the same side of the boat while pulling the kayak towards the paddle will keep the shaft as vertical as possible. If making a right draw stroke, you will want to make sure that the left hand is out as far as possible on the right side of the boat, the left hand will then become the fulcrum point by staying in one place while the right (or lower hand) does the moving during the draw. You will find that giving a slight amount of edge AWAY from the draw will not only counter-balance against both hands being out over the water, but will also allow the boat to slide across the water smoothly towards the paddle. If you don't give a slight edge away from the paddle, or if you tend to lean a bit towards the paddle, you will tend to have the leading edge of the boat grab water and slow the movement down (not to mention making the whole thing a bit tippy).

If you keep the paddle in a straight line towards your hips during the draw you will have succeeded in moving the boat slightly to one side without turning. If you find that your kayak is turning slightly away from the paddle, rather than pulling evenly towards the paddle; you are performing more of a stern draw, by pulling the paddle too far back towards the stern of the boat. If your boat is turning towards your paddle during the draw, then you are pulling the paddle to far forward, and performing more of a bow draw. You may have also discovered by this point that the ending of the draw has one slight problem: the tendency to trip up with the paddle as the boat runs into it. The end of a good draw should also finish with a slight rotation of the wrist, turning the paddle blade into a perpendicular angle to the kayak (just like in a forward stroke); this will enable the blade to slice through the water as the kayak travels sideways through the water. In this position you can slide the paddle through the water to reach for another draw stroke while the kayak is still moving. Keep this up until you can smoothly travel sideways both directions for small distances, such as across a swimming pool...

The Bow draw is much the same, with one minor change; although the paddle should start straight out from the hips, it is planted and the feet are pulled towards the paddle blade, rather than the hips. You still want to rotate your torso toward the side of the boat that you will be performing the draw on, you still want to make sure that the paddle blade is parallel to the kayak, and your paddle should still be in as vertical a position as possible. Just like the Side draw is is also helpful to rotate your wrists slightly forward at the ending of the stroke; this will put you in the perfect position to turn the draw into a forward stroke after it is finished. The key to getting the maximum amount of power from this stroke is to use your torso muscles to pull the boat around to the paddle and not your arm muscles.

The Stern draw is similar to the other draws as well, but starts slightly different. Initiated by reaching the paddle out to the side of the kayak as far as possible will increase your leverage here, so it is helpful to lower both hands and initiate the stern draw with a more horizontal shaft. Turning your torso with the paddle towards the stern of the kayak, you will want to gradually pick up your front hand to bring the paddle into a more vertical position at the finish. Remember that you will get most of your power and leverage at the very back of the boat at the very ending of this stroke, so it is important to not be sloppy at the crucial finish of the stern draw.

Any of these draws can be dynamic, or static; meaning that rather than moving the paddle through the water, you utilize the water moving across the paddle by holding it in a relatively steady location. Static Draws work only when there is an available source of energy to tap into; either from our own boat's momentum, or from a current flowing quickly past our boat. In any situation where there is a "current" flowing past our paddle blade, we plant the paddle firmly into this current, and hold on for the ride as our boat is pulled laterally. In the case of bow and stern draws, the boat will turn one way or the other, with the static side draw, you should be able to pull the whole boat to one side without turning. This is only the beginning, but you first need to develop these four main draw strokes before learning to fully explore the possibilities of the draw.

Look for more Smooth Draw Stroke technique tips in Super Smooth Draw Strokes - Basic Eddy Turns and Peel-outs