Power stroke

A power stoke is an extra aggressive forward stroke. I won't repeat the foward stroke comments here. Go back and read them and then come back to this page. Think of a regular forward stroke, but pay attention to the following additional points:

First, in the power stroke, you try and squeeze every ounce of energy into the forward motion of the kayak. To do this you reach way over on the plant to get the paddle as vertical as possible. You continue to reach over the side of the kayak throughout the stroke to keep the paddle vertical.

Second, you must maintain a high pivot point on the stroke. Think of your paddle as a lever. You want to moment-arm on the lever to be as long as possible so you transmit as much force as possible into the stroke. This means that your top arm should be straight and releatively fixed during the stroke. If you "push and pull", all you'll do is drop your pivot point and decrease the force in the stroke.

Third, on the power stroke, you want to get as much reach and as much angular motion into the stroke as you can. Hence, on the setup, pre-rotate forward and straighten the lower arm.

Finally, with a conventional Euro paddle, the stroke is close to the boat following as close to the midline of the boat as you can get. With a wing paddle, you relax and let the paddle sweep out away from the boat. Note that this requires and even more aggressive reach over the side of the boat during the stroke.