Five Essentials to Paddling like a God
By Jason Bates

Say what? What is a paver, and what does that have to do with kayaking? Well, simple really: PAVER is an acronym for Posture, Angle, Vision, Edge, and Rotation. There, that makes a bit more sense; Posture, Angle, Vision, Edge, and Rotation are all things that do deal with kayaking. These are five essentials that all expert level paddlers have mastered, and the same five essentials that most novices are limited by. I would suggest that any time you find yourself failing at some move or another you will find that you can trace back and find a lacking in one or more of these essentials every time. These are not the only building blocks for successful kayaking, but these five seem to come up more frequently than all others; lack control in any one of these five and you’re paddling will suffer in all aspects.

So how do these five essentials affect my kayaking? This is the logical question that all of us ask, and each of these five essentials has far reaching effects for paddlers of all levels. Starting with Posture, we will find that without good posture we will essentially be lacking in all aspects of balance and power. The paddler who has good posture will be able to paddle with optimal balance and edge control, as well as maximum efficiency of strokes, and ultimately more confidence. Poor posture is not only detrimental to our balance and stroke efficiency, but also to all of our ranges of motion. Without good posture we reduce our abilities on all levels, including our ability to master the other four essentials (Angle, Vision, Edge, and Rotation). (For more details on posture and its affects on our kayaking read Body Language)

Angle control is our way of getting our kayaks to utilize the power of the currents that we wish to tap into. The angle of our kayak to the current is THE primary determining factor in how that current will affect us! With a lack of angle control we find ourselves constantly fighting the river, often with poor results: like being pulled into holes and rocks that we wanted to avoid, not making our eddies, missing ferries; in general missing our lines. The paddler who has mastered angle control dances gracefully and effortlessly down the rapid, for they have in reality mastered using the currents of the river. As long as we can read our water and judge how our kayaks will respond to those currents at a given angle, then we can begin to use those currents to our advantage. Lacking in the knowledge to judge the rivers currents, or the ability to control our angles in those currents, we often become victims of the rivers currents and get taken for a ride.

Vision is a both a simple tangible action as well as a bit more of an esoteric concept. On one hand, by vision I mean the simple acts of using our eyes to read our water and focus our attention to where we need to go. On the other hand, I use the term vision to refer not only to the external vision, but also more importantly to our internal vision; in other words, mental vision and focus. While both are important, I reiterate that the mental vision is far more powerful than the physical. We all know the saying about looking where you want to go, and not looking at the rock; since where we look the boat tends to go. Mental vision is similar, in the sense that what we think and visualize in our minds, we tend to accomplish physically. If we tend to think negative or self-doubting thoughts, we will tend to reinforce our chances of failing at that task. If we focus our minds on positive and successful thoughts, we are in a sense preparing our bodies to perform in a successful manner.

Edge control in the simplest of terms is really our ability to balance throughout a wide range of situations. Edge control is the key ingredient to performing successful bracing and rolling, as well as avoiding the need for them (or at least not needing them as much). We also use our edging to affect how our kayak interacts with currents. While not as dramatic in its affect as angle, edging also plays an important role in how currents affect us. Read my tips on surfing, as well as dealing with holes to see some examples of how edging affects the boats response to the current. The most simple and basic concept regarding edge control is that if you’re off balance you loose your ability to paddle and drive the boat; all of your energy suddenly is prioritized into survival (staying upright)! (For more edge control info read Body Language.)

Rotation of the torso is how we get the most power out of our strokes; torso rotation also allows us a greater range of strokes and more directional control of our kayaks. Without torso rotation we will not have efficient or powerful paddle strokes. Lacking in torso rotation will also mean lacking in the ability to perform certain essential strokes such as an effective stern or side draw, meaning that our ability to direct the kayak and control the momentum of our boat will be greatly diminished. When our ability to control the direction and momentum of our kayak is adversely affected, so too is our ability to set and utilize good angle control for maximizing our use of the river’s greater power.