pleeaazzee bear with me... these are from a slalom race, had a good first run and was play'n around on second run, that's way these are so rushed, and paddle intensive... you really don't need to paddle so hard, in fact hardly at all (in a good hole)
1) simple side surf, boat relatively flat
2) (this time) starting in forward surf, was to help gain some momentun... note head - your body will follow your head, your lower body is attached to upper, and boat is attached to the lower body... using a little forward sweep/reverse combination
3) head still leading, looking around to back -simply continue same initial move... getting paddle ready for reverse sweep
4) still look around (could of been more), and finishing up with onside portion
5) crossing over, not always necessary if easy surf (was in a hurry racing)
6) head still leading, notice how torso is loaded up... this actually pulls the boat around with your body - the boat has to come around
7) boat is following my head around... notice how paddle is almost in the same place, goal is not to sweep blade across the water, goal is to rotate boat around, while paddle stays in place
stroke was not really necessary, lean was 9) starting over again...this was a race, so three and out (without letting any water in)
couple things:
look for a current differential in the hole, or a place where the water is flowing back upstream - this is where to 360... else go to one end, and let the downstream water help pull boat around
ideally the boat stays atop the differential, around and around with the flow... onto the faster water with one end (this is letting the water work for you) and the other end on slower
most important the head... sitting in flat water twist - looking as far behind and around as possible, notice how the boat wants to start and to turn on it's own, without any blade help... this is part because of torso loading... the rest is from lean - as you lead head first, your body mechanics also cause the hull to list or lean in the proper orientation
gaining too much spinning speed can cause you to spin off the hole or wave, sometimes you have to slow down to stay... you actually get going too fast and fling off
to sort of get the feel, reach way out to your onside, holding the paddle with one hand, down the shaft to just above water, shaft pointing straight up... with other hand grab opposite gunwale.... now pull the gunwale arm to the other, using lower body... feel how boat feels pulled around, this is how the boat should feel
((in fact this is how all your turns should feel, using your lower body... not some weak armed pulling the blade through the water))
good luck, have fun, and pass the knowledge on - if this works for you
