Re: Foot Straps - How do you actually benefit from it

Intersting read! The only contact my feet have with my boat is toes/ball on pedals. My feet are always extended as if I'm standing on tip-toes.

It took me several weeks to realise that the dull ache that persisted in my achilles was caused by this.

Which makes me wonder, is my boat (fixed length Millenium) too long for me? How can I remedy this?

Also, when I'm on the go, should my feet be actively managing my pedals, or only when I want to turn?

Louis

Hey louis, sounds as though your ski is way too long for you! With solid rubber blocks you can build up the footwells and the pedals until the ski is a better length; a better solution though is to get a ski the correct length for you.

Your feet should only put pressure on the pedals when you want to turn.

Does this actually work? To those experienced paddlers, please comment.

I'm told that all the top paddlers do this in K1, not sure about surfski. I'll make a few calls tonight & see what our top SS paddlers do.

Does this actually work? To those experienced paddlers, please comment.

I spoke to both Hank McGregor & Oscar Chalupsky and they both confirmed that they pull against the foot straps when paddling. IE you push against your heel and pull with the other foot - just like cycling.

Clearly in order to do this, the foot straps have to be pretty tight, which means they probably need to be adjustable.

Fascinating - after 7 years of paddling, this is totally new to me!

Thanks for the confirmation! Now we have to know how loose it is. Robin, can you ask Oscar for more details about this? I've actually tried it recently and it does stabilize you aside from helping in torso rotation.

In ICF K1, we use mostly the ball of our feet to put pressure on the foot board. I've seen some who have done modification so they can pull.

Thanks to Scott Kelly for sharing this information to the community. Check out his articles in www.wavechaser.com

I learnt this when Oscar (very helpful guy) leant my wife's son his Epic sprint K1. The boat was being borrowed by Hank and we picked it up from him. He told us he had fitted a foot strap for exactly this purpose and asked if our son knew this. Turned out of course he knows this as he is a top U18 sprinter here in SA (Selected to represent SA at Junior sprint WC in July). I have noticed that some of the top U18 sprinters even tape up their toes to stop blisters on the top (some sprint boats - Nelo - have an alui bar to pull on) as this is how hard they pull with the one foot while driving down on the other. With this in mind I seriously doubt the that the likes of Hank would paddle differently when in a ski.
After a year of ski paddling I would now say that a foot strap is an absolute must. When I first started a year ago I thought the strap was for holding on to the ski when you fell out! These days I have the strap (single strap on a V10) pretty tight and my feet are held firm against the foot plate. Initially I did this to hold onto the ski with my feet after falling out when trying to catch waves in and out of the surf zone (not always a smart move! but better than having to fetch the boat from the beach everytime!). But without a doubt it helps hughly with stability in rough sea conditions but also as described above - getting the paddle stroke right, hip rotation and driving with your legs.

Your feet should only put pressure on the pedals when you want to turn.

Well, that explains why my surfski "waggles"

Your feet should only put pressure on the pedals when you want to turn.

Well, that explains why my surfski "waggles"

Hehehe, that was my experience too when I first paddled ski. Coming from Flatwater K1, there's a difference in what you push with.

So it seems the strap needs to be tight. What happens if you fall in the water, wouldnt that pose as a risk?