I can't help noticing that Bill McKnight the 2003 world champion and Barry Kennon the 2001 world champion, and many other leading C1 ers are lefties -- far more than you'd expect in the normal population.
Are we superior simply because we engage the right side of our brain when paddling, leading to more creative, graceful, strokes?
Or is it just that lefties are a bit wierd anwyay and are the only people willing to dedicate enormous amounts of time and effort to spinning silly little boats in silly little hydraulics?
No, no, this leftie thing is just a recent fad. Righties still have the better overall record. Check this out:
In the Worlds
1993 champ -- Allen Braswell (rightie)
1995 -- Braswell (rightie)
1997 -- Cheesy Robertson (rightie)
1999 -- Robertson (rightie)
2001 -- Kennon (Leftie)
2003 -- McKnight (Leftie)
The score is 4-2, with righties in front!
Oh, and did I mention slalom racing in the Olympics?
1992 champ -- Lukas Pollert (rightie)
1996 -- Michal Martikan (Leftie)
2000 -- Tony Estanguet (Rightie)
Jon Lugbill (multiple world champion and national champion from the 1980's into the '90's)
Davey Hearn (world champion-1985? and has about 20 national championship titles)
So, the question is--is being a leftie world champion a fad? I think these two racers prove that it is not. We lefties just tend to be humble about it (except for me )
Well actually, in terms of people, there are 2 lefty world champs and 2 rightys in the freestyle. That's a distinct showing for the lefties who would expect to be 0.4 of a person ...
And Martikan is world champ again ... ??
Anyway, the point is they have a much higher than you'd expect from their incidence in the population ....
/edwin
PS thanks for doing the research --- my memory didn't go back that far!
One other factor to remember-for those that started out with <gasp> TWO blades, and are right-handed, their control hand was their right hand. When they switched to C Boating it was STILL their right hand-which means they paddle leftie, even though they're right handed. SO, a better survey would not be righty vs lefty paddlers, but right handed versus left handed (if you're comparing to the general population). That said, there are quite a few (like me, for instance:) ) who started out in OC's, that therefore are right handed (or left handed) and paddle righty or lefty.
something about those lefties and their playholes. you just don't see them on the creeks.
SOUTEASTERN CREEKERS:
alan braswell - rightie
andrew bell - rightie
brian miller - leftie
ronnie dilbeck - rightie
todd fuller - rightie
marshall fox - rightie
jesse steele - rightie
shelton ? - leftie
6 to 2
maybee something about paddling on the right side makes us realize pointing or boats downsteam is more exiting than ponting upstream
Seems to me that righty paddlers tend to take somewhat ridiculous chances such as running their boats down bouder-choked gradients with enough of a trickle of water that they call it a creek while us lefties tend to go fast, turn hard, and kick some serious A$$!
Now, Sir Adam, you have managed to confuse and befuddle me with your righty/lefty vs. right-handed/left-handed explanation. Please do not do that. It really hurts my head trying to figure it out and I'm not smart enough to stop trying to understand what you said . Don't bother giving me another explanation, let's just get together and boat! And some more of that Super Fantastic maple syrup of yours is always warmly received . The next time I can make an Armada, how about pancakes and french toast cooked over a campfire for breakfast?
By the way, if I understand Latin correctly, to be left-handed is to be sinister .
1. Background: OC2 (right or left handed paddler) and OC1
2. Right or Left handed person: Right handed person
3. Right or Left handed paddler: Left handed paddler
which hand is considered the "control hand" anyway? sir adam, i believe you suggest it is the t-grip hand, no? i've always thought of the bottom hand as the control hand, though. hmm . . . i only ask because sometimes i get asked by newbies which side they should paddle on if they're, say, left-handed.
i guess some kayakers have to buy "left-hand controlled" paddles. are they getting the idea? are their paddles becoming, dare i say, asymetrical?
well, my info is:
started in kayak. then, watching a certain c-1er run a certain cl V rapid in CT while all the kayakers with two blades walked it, i made the decision to switch.
i'm right-handed and i paddle on the right side. i started paddling rightie because it felt easier and because i started paddling c-2 with a leftie.
I think I paddle on my dominant side because that is my stronger arm - especially when I was new to this and had even less than ideal form than I do now, the great majority of my power was coming from my shaft arm. Now, I apply a lot more force driving down with the top hand, especially at the initiation of a forward stroke (and I know that my arms are mearly extensions of my torso ). By now, this just feels right and paddling on the left just feels wrong... If I ever get bored or feel there is no challenge left (ha!), I'll switch sides and spend the next couple of years learning to paddle again.
As for control, the t-grip hand is controlling feather (shaft twist) - I never use my shaft hand to orient the blade. My shaft hand is predominantly controlling placement and the path of the stroke. Which one provides more "control"? I dunno.
In a kayak the "control hand" is orienting the blade and is typically the dominant hand. [Unless you are a lefty like my father-in-law who conciously uses right hand control paddles because they are easier to find and he doesn't have to adjust in situations where he has to use somebody else's paddle...]
The upper hand (T grip) is in fact your control hand, as that's the hand you control the blades angle in the water. Some yakkers have "left hand control" paddles, as you note-what it means is that the shaft is oval on the left to allow then to know where their hand is in relation to the blade without looking. An old school-paddle trick was to tape a pencil in the appropriate location to make a paddle right or left-hand controls (your typical school paddle being round...).
If you're just starting out, it seems that often you paddle on the same side as you're "handed"-I suspect this has to do more with strength than control. If you've yakked a lot, your used to controlling your paddle with your right hand (as a righty), and therefore paddling as a lefty C1er may be an easier transition.
What thinkst thou, space_canoe? I suspect you have far more experience in this realm than I....
Anyone ever notice that there are right vs. left handed rivers? For instance, I'm a lefty and it has always seemed to me that the Nantahala is a right handed river. Seems like more of the ferry moves required you must go offside and really work out your skills or get trounced. It only becomes an issue as I push my skill level up. Maybe that's why so many SE C1 creekers are righties. SE creeks are righty?
This is quite intersting.... Im a pure breed single blader..lol
OC2 - OC1 - C1
Im Right Handed and Paddle On the Left Side.
Some Rivers Do favor sides. But if you got the technique it doesn't really matter. I paddle the Ottawa alot and most of the play spots are easy to get on being a lefty.
The first time i hopped in a boat, the stern person was a righty and told me to paddle left. Now i can no longer paddle on my right... Im soo comfortable on my left the right seems increabley unnatural.
)
. Don't bother giving me another explanation, let's just get together and boat! And some more of that Super Fantastic maple syrup of yours is always warmly received 
. The next time I can make an Armada, how about pancakes and french toast cooked over a campfire for breakfast?
.
