C-Forum

I took my XXX out for the first time last week somewhere other than a pool. I brought it to the local play wave (scudders, NJ and the beach) and it rocked . I did however have some problems on the wave. I can surf like a champ going left to right, (Im righty) but I can't figure out how to carve back the other way. I just surf right off the wave. How is it done? Also when ferrying I can ferry river right to river left with no problem however it's very hard to go river left to river right without having to face downstream.
Twiggy

sounds like you need to get some confidence in your off-side. Carving to your off-side should not be that big a deal, just put down your offside edge.

ferry: so that is the ferry to your offside. Same here, give the downriver edge, which is the offside edge in this case. Just a little balance is needed.
You might also work on your cross-forward stroke. If you do off-side ferry and loose your angle, a cross forward can bring you back on line and avoid a slowing pry at the same time.

Avoiding steering by cross-forward stroke is good, not having to steer at all is even better

On the river, Jan

Yes Jan your right. I do need to build confidence. I think Im doing fairly well, having just started C1ing 3 months ago, it will all come in time. but I can definatley use pointers. Kayaking seems so easy now but nothing beats single blading, I'm here to stay. Are there any excrsices I can do in the pool to build confidence on my offside?
Twiggy

twiggy,
Go run a nice easy section of river eddy hopping on your offside catching and peeling out of as many eddies as possible. I found it really boosted my confidence in my offside, and if you run into problems you get to practice your roll in moving water.

aric

I like to do a couple of edge control exercises in the pool. I still suck at surfing, but I am working on it.

Paddle forward using good form (shoulder rotation, etc.) Tilt up a bit on one edge for awhile and then tilt to the other edge. Work on edging each side of the boat while paddling both onside and offside. Depending on the boat, you will also learn that tilting may steer the boat. This is useful to know. the idea is to learn to tilt onto either edge, no matter which side you are paddling on, and stay balanced and in control.

The other little exercise is to relax in the boat while holding your paddle in a stern rudder position. Alternately tilt the boat to one side and the other, while doing a mild pry or draw rudder stroke. The rythm is to move the bow away from the lowered edge. I don't go anywhere during this exercise, and it is a subtle movement, but it has helped me learn to zigzag more when surfing and stay on a wave longer.

Twiggy,

try the carving exercise on- and off-side.
on-side:
paddle straight a few strokes then give the on-side edge (find out yourself how much you need to get different results) and initiate a slight onside turn. Now the carving starts. You will not need steering anymore, just forward strokes and still turn to your onside. You will paddle a circle.

off-side:
accelerate, give off-side edge, initiate turn to offside (slightly) and switch over to cross-forward strokes. In this case you will continue to paddle an off-side arc without needing too steer (even though your cross-forwards counteract the spin; however, the carving is much stronger than the spin-momentum introduced by the cross--forward.

Once you can do that on flatwater, try to use carving to make moves on the river. Like this, you avoid steering and you can take more speed into moves. This is especially nice in slow boats.

Then, to build confidence on the off-side, paddle on the off-side as much as possible. In boily water, fast current and big waves.

But remember to not use cross-forward too much. Try to work on your onside stroke as well, so you do not need as many cross-forwards.

Then when surfing, you will note that the boat is very stable in a carving position and you can give A LOT of ofsside edge without flipping. Just try it. If you start flipping to your off-side, have the paddle ready for a rightning pry.

Just a few thoughts, by no means complete...
Hope it helps anyways.

On the river, Jan

Ps: yea, Kayaking is not really an option anymore