The Science of Canoeing By Richard Cox

An Introduction to Kinesiology
The Science of Movement
It is only through understanding how the human body moves, the anatomical features determining its
capabilities and the mechanical principles governing its progress, that we can begin to rationalise what are
appropriate and inappropriate movements in canoeing technique. Unfortunately, most incorrect ideas concerning
technique result from either misinterpretation and improper application or, from complete disregard or lack of
knowledge of these principles. The competitor and coach should know both what to do and why to do it in that
way. understanding movement concepts and the terminology used to describe them will also enable the reader to
better comprehend the research Findings reported in this and other scholarly publications. Motion of an object,
animate or inanimate, can only be initiated when a force is applied toil. Newton's first law of motion confirms
the point. It states that:
"Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, except in so far as it may be
compelled by impressed forces to change that state."
Applied to canoeing, what this law tells us is simply that a canoe will remain stationary or moving at constant
speed in a straight line unless forced to do otherwise.
Forward motion of a canoe in perfectly calm water is initiated by the paddler exerting a force on the shaft of the
paddle whose blade, on one side, is immersed in the surrounding water. So long as the force of the water,
resisting displacement (by the paddle blade) is greater than the sum of the forces resisting displacement by the
canoe and paddler and the force exerted on the shaft of the paddle (as a consequence of pulling and/or pushing
actions of the body) the canoe will move forward. This is why the hull of the boat is designed to minimise
resistance (within certain parameters, see p. 19) and the blade of the paddle is designed to offer maximum
resistance. The less the resistance of the hull and/or the greater the force the paddler can apply to the shaft
without displacing the water, the faster the canoe will move forward. Expressed another way, the greater the
mass of water the blade is able to 'grip', the greater the resistance against which the paddler can lever himself
and the canoe forward.
Both scoop and spoon help to increase resistance. Scoop is the width-wise dish and spoon is the lengthwise dish
of the blade. These are topics to which we shall return in chapter 9.
The configuration of the pattern made by the tip of the blade reflects the efficiency of the stroke in terms of the
power transformation from paddle to canoe. Any slippage of the blade in the water means that a proportional
amount of energy has been imparted to movement of the surrounding water rather than the forward momentum
of the canoe. This slippage is manifested in the size of the void or bubble created behind the paddle blade as the
force is applied to the shaft and the canoe passes by. The theory behind the wing paddle is that as the blade
moves outwards through the water, a lift force is created towards the front. This in turn reduces the slip
backward of the blade that is associated with the conventional asymmetrical paddle blade shape.
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