strong catch

what is a "strong catch"?
often used in you tube(jimsquad), how can it be defined?

This can describe:

A Paddle that "bites" the water hard at the start of the stroke - normally Bracsa or Jantex Gamma type blades - the opposite would be a Lettman type parallel edge blade with a softer catch.

Or, setting up the stroke so that you can apply maximum power early on in the stroke - generally as the blade is fully in the water.

Any other ideas anyone?

Excellent question, and hopefully one or two of the many coaches on the forum will chime in with thier thoughts.

As a student of the paddle stroke I understand it to be a combination of a few things

1. Having the torso twisted or tensioned away from the side that the paddle is being placed in the water...like an elastic band ready to be released as the paddle is placed in the water and not allowing the torso to "unwind" until the paddle is buried deep in the water

2. Fully bury the paddle blade in the water

3. Have the paddle blade as close as possible to the boat

4. Have the paddle as verticle as practical

5. Once all the above are in place, release the tension through the abdomen to bring the paddle back.

This is what I am doing at present and I have not had any formal coaching, just reading blogs, watching video's and observing those paddlers that beat me in races.

Look forward to hearing from the coaches or others with more experience.

Watching those behind you, is just as enlightening, as what they do, is definately wrong........

Going fast is just as much, not doing anything wrong, as doing it right.