How does a paddler paddling on their dominant side manage to do cross-over strokes? I'm totally right handed and when I paddle on the left I control my paddle with the T-grip. When I do a cross-over strokes I slide my left hand up the shaft so that I can have a longer reach. When I paddle on the right I control the paddle by the shaft so I'm unable to do effective cross-over strokes. The reason is that I can't slide my right hand up the shaft because I'm holding the shaft tight in order to control the paddle. I can't write with my left hand and I can't control a T-grip with my left hand either.
I'm right eye dominant and do almost everything right handed except for driving one handed and riding a bike one handed. I paddle on the right and very much use the t-grip to control blade angle. When I paddle on the left I feel mentally impaired.
Jim M -
How are your cross strokes when you paddle on the left? Be glad you can paddle on both sides! I can paddle on the left but only on the flats and even then I'm all over the place...
Does this thread win the prize yet for longest running thread?
I'm right-handed, started paddling OC-2 (ambidextrous), switched to kayak (left control, back when you could still find lefty paddles, mainly because this was the only paddle available to me when I first learned), switched to C-2 (bow left), took up C-1 as well (left).
I can still paddle open boat on either side in flatwater through Class II, although left is somewhat stronger. However, with decked canoes I've trained and raced slalom too long on the left to have anywhere near the same level of comfort when I try to paddle on the right. In particular my edge control, leans, and cross strokes are not nearly as precise and confident, resulting in much less aggressiveness and thus less stability. Unfortunately, I let my oldest son paddle on the left (which seemed natural to him, a right hander) when he took up C-1 and now we can't paddle C-2 together as neither of us feels comfortable switching on Class II or higher water!
when i started paddling (tandom)i paddled on my left but i was right handed. Then when i started paddling solo i paddled on my right and now i cant paddle a small boat on my left. So right handed people must have to paddle on there right, but it depends, if you paddle the mojority of the time on your right then you have more muscels in your right arm, so you feel like you have more controle, but if you paddled on your left for the majority of the time and you were right handed then it wont matter what handed you were because you would feel like you had more controlle because the mucles are on the left. I think this is right anyway
paddling a flooded canoe is easy. stopping is easy as long as you have some kayaks to help you stop.
I'm left handed but paddle righty. I don't know why, but I've never really tried to analyze.
It is interesting that there are so many right handers who paddle leftie. I have wondered if slalom boaters started training to paddle leftie, because courses used to be set up so as to be difficult for (the more common) right handed paddlers. For a while, it seemed like every good slalom racer was a leftie. That does not seem to be the case any more though.
I can see the logic in paddling on the side that is easiest when learning on your home river. But the thing about CBoating that I really enjoy most, is offside moves. I know some rightie paddlers who seldom visit river left eddies because they want to avoid offside maneuvers. I think they are missing out on much of what makes paddling with a single blade so much fun. People who always switch to make a move just aren't as exciting to watch as someone who has solid offside technique either.
That said, being able to switch sides to make a difficult move in a dangerous situation ain't a bad idea. And anybody who has found themselves upside down in a hole, on the wrong side, can surely appreciate being able to roll on either side!
LEW
I paddle right but write left.
My rib injuries from paddling have all been on the left but my right shoulder hurts most often.
I bat right, throw right, and scratch my butt more with my right.
I kiss my wife righty....
Nose picking?
Craig
PS>Most folks T-grip hand is their prodominant writing hand... it's a control issue.
C-paddlers are freaks anyway.
Which leg is longer on you? That's most likely the same side that your knee hurts on the most.
I feel like I'm in the same boat as Jim- Right handed, Paddle left, and when I try to paddle right, I can't cross back over to the left at all. For the record, my background is in k-1, so I think I should be able to cross back over and control the paddle with my right hand, but it doesn't work. It also means that when I roll in C-1, I do it on the opposite side from my kayak roll (It's really helped my "offside" kayak roll). To confuse things even move, when I do cross strokes in the kayak (yes, we do them occasionally, as warmups or in goofy freestyle tricks) I can cross either way, but am more comfortable going right to left.
I seem to run into more righties than lefties. Even most of the kayakers I know who also paddle c-1 paddle right. I think it's a totally random combination of personal preferences- do you control the paddle with your t-grip or with the shaft, or both. I think it may also have something to do with which side you're more comfortable leaning the boat toward (duh, your on-side). I'm a lot more comfortable leaning to the left ie, I'm a lot better at doing left cartwheels than righties (in both kayak and c-1, though my c-boater friends tell me it should be easier to cartwheel to my non-paddle side)
So here are two other questions: Is there anyone out there who doesn't have a dominate side? Also, it seems to me that I see open boaters switching more often than c-boaters. Discuss?
So here are two other questions: Is there anyone out there who doesn't have a dominate side? Also, it seems to me that I see open boaters switching more often than c-boaters. Discuss?
There was a C-1 paddler that no longer paddles who would paddle on either side and never switch once he started down a rapid. I've seen him go down major Grand Canyon rapids paddling on either side and do real well.
In a OC-1 I switch a lot but in a C-1 I don't switch all that often. The reason is that a cross-over stroke is weaker than an on-side stroke. An OC-1 is heavier and requires a more powerful stroke so I switch sides for more power. It also takes longer to cross over in an OC-1 so I don't lose that much time by switching.
The deck of a C-1 is lower than an OC-1 and it's also narrower so a cross stroke is much faster. A C-1 also responds quicker so a weaker cross stroke is all you need.
When things get hairy I hardly ever switch in either boat.
I switched from the dark side when multiple back surgeries made it impossible to sit on my butt all day and do that funny thing with your neck that C to C kayak rolls require. I paddle righty, which is also my dominant hand, excusively and don't switch because I have nothing for a cross stroke coming across from the left. Most of the good patient paddlers who taught me single blade are lefties. Interestingly, Nolan Whitesell who does switch a lot told me that switching was OK only if you had a good cross stroke on both sides because it is much better if you don't have to cross during a crux move.
from the late 70's to mid 90's most of the top C-1 slalom team members were lefties...(Hearn,Lugbill,Clawson,Prentice,Jacobi...just to name a few)....alot of lefties came out of the D.C. area...
...now i'd say 95% of competing slalom C-1'ers are righties...there is a shortage of lefties (which also can make a shortage in C-2 teams)
i'm a rightie and also a right handed guitarist....a right handed guitar players left hand it the one that does the intricate fretting, fingering etc, like the control of the t-grip. while the right hand, like on the paddle shaft, provides the rhythm and power.... just a thought.
the great thing about being a c-boater, is that all you have to do is switch sides, and you soon remember how hard it is to paddle a c-1 (its like you've time traveled back to when you started)...a kayaker cant do this.
I am right handed in everything I do and am right eye dominate. When I first started to paddle OC it was mostly tandem and as I became more experienced and had new bow partners who tended to prefer being righty, I found myself becoming a lefty. I think I may have become a solo lefty anyway because of my following theory: As a kid, when you went flying up to your pack of friends straddling their bikes and stomped on your coaster brake (or hand brake for those of you well under 48) to scare the crap out of them and spray them with gravel, which way did you lay your bike over, to the left or right? I only layed it over to the left and skidded my rear wheel to the right. This seems to carry over to hockey stops on tele skiis. For me it seems to tie in with the motion of a low brace or roll. I do agree that as a right handed person, the t-grip/control hand thing makes sense. Any comments on the bike/hockey stop theory? Not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but how many of you right handed people unscrew a tight jar lid with your left hand?
I have found that is true with me. I am only 14, and since I started paddling OC1 I have become more and more comfortable doing sharp turns and things on my bike to my left side. Similar to a brace motion. I actually have been finding myself doing lots of things on the left. Still can't write or anything, as I am a righty but my left side is definately becoming stronger for some things.
the great thing about being a c-boater, is that all you have to do is switch sides, and you soon remember how hard it is to paddle a c-1 (its like you've time traveled back to when you started)...a kayaker cant do this.
Ain't it the truth. I sometimes force myself to switch sides, but I'm sooo bad it's embarrassing. The cross-strokes that are natural for me now must have taken a long time to learn...
It makes me a lot more understanding when I teach a slalom clinic or try to give a newbee a hint on a move.
Alan B wrote:Not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but how many of you right handed people unscrew a tight jar lid with your left hand?
Interesting observation Alan. I'm a righty, paddle left C-1 & C-2, and open jars with my left hand. I think I prefer the right for fine motor control tasks, but the left for brute strength.
When I paddle on the right I control the paddle by the shaft so I'm unable to do effective cross-over strokes. 
The reason is that I can't slide my right hand up the shaft because I'm holding the shaft tight in order to control the paddle. 
I can't write with my left hand and I can't control a T-grip with my left hand either.
