After Level 2 the skills are fresh. By next spring most of them will have faded, unless you use them. You don't need a training day for that. You need twenty minutes at the start of the paddles you're already doing. Here's the circuit we give our students, with the drills from the course.
The short version
Not a special trip. Run the circuit at the start of the paddles you're already doing, then go paddle.
A sheltered bay, the lee of an island, a beach with no surf, close to shore. Somewhere a swim is no big deal.
It cools you off, and you practise it a little tired, which is when you'll need it for real.
Four blocks, in this order
The circuit runs from the stroke you use most to the one you hope you never need. Each block takes one drill. Change the drill every time you go out and you'll cycle through the whole course over a few weeks.
Forward stroke first, because it's the warm-up and it's where most of your day goes. Steering and draws next, while you're fresh enough to feel what the blade is doing. Rescue last, because that's the order real life uses.
Build today's circuit
Pick how long you've got and whether you have a partner. Hit shuffle for a different set of drills. Tick them off as you go.
Try both edges
Learn every stroke flat first. Once it works flat, add a little edge and see what changes. Here's where we start each one. Then try the other edge and spot the good and the bad of each.
| Stroke | Start here |
|---|---|
| Forward stroke | Flat |
| Stern rudder | Flat: you're going straight |
| Stern draw | Outside of the turn, down toward the blade |
| Stern pry | Outside of the turn, away from the blade |
| Bow rudder | Outside edge, then try the inside |
| Draws | No single right answer. Coaches disagree and boats differ. We prefer toward the blade. |
Finish with a rescue
The last few minutes are a swim on purpose. Dress for the water, not the air, because you're going in. On your own, that's a paddle-float re-entry. With a partner, take turns as swimmer and rescuer.
Make it real, a little at a time. Pack the boat like a day on the coast. Then move out of the sheltered spot one step at a time, into a bit more wind and wave, and only as far as it stays fun. If something feels off, come back in. The goal is a rescue you've done so many times it's boring.
Settle, then go
Before every big move (the lift, the climb, letting go), stop and let the boats settle. Say it out loud. Rushing is how a good rescue turns into two swimmers.
Nobody's grading this
Wobble, swim, laugh, go again. The paddlers who get better are the ones who keep showing up to the circuit, not the ones who looked good on day one.
Every drill, in one place
All the drills the builder draws from, straight from the Level 2 course.
Forward stroke: 7 drills
- Zombie arms: Paddle with your arms held out straight, elbows locked. The only way to move the blade is to rotate your core. A few minutes on, then relax your arms and keep the rotation.
- Tap tap: Take a stroke and rotate the paddle right across the deck, tap, then take the next stroke and tap the other side. It forces the rotation and stops the stroke at your hip.
- Leg drive: Push the footpeg on the stroke side as the blade goes in, every stroke. Exaggerate it until you feel your hips turn, then dial it back.
- Close and short: Catch at your feet, keep the blade close to the hull with a more upright shaft, and exit at the hip.
- Plant, then pull: Spear the blade in at your feet and let it bury completely before you load it. Quiet water means a clean catch.
- Old-fashioned visualization: Picture the blade locked in concrete at your feet and pull the boat up to it with your legs and core. Sit tall and relax your grip on the recovery.
- Two gears: Alternate a stretch in cruising gear (lower angle, long smooth strokes, relaxed grip) with a short burst in power gear (higher angle, shorter, quicker strokes, more leg drive). Shift before you need to.
Steering: 5 drills
- Rotate and drop (Stern rudder): Paddle forward, then rotate your core, bring the paddle out over the water and drop the back blade in beside the stern. Check your rotation and where the blade sits, then go back to forward strokes. Both sides.
- Hit the target (Stern rudder): Pick a target ahead: a buoy, a rock, a point on shore. Build glide, drop in the stern rudder and steer onto the target with the rudder alone.
- Swing off the target (Stern draw): Glide straight at a target with the stern rudder in. Open the blade into a stern draw and watch the bow swing away from your paddle side. Close it and steer back on. Try more angle, then less, and notice how much speed each costs.
- Swing onto the target (Stern pry): Pick a target off to your paddle side. Glide past it, then use a stern pry to swing the bow toward it. Once you're lined up, go back to the stern rudder to hold your line.
- The hot stab (Bow rudder): Paddle forward, and every so often stab the blade in at the bow rudder position. In fast, out fast, like it's hot, then straight back to forward strokes. Alternate sides.
Moving sideways: 4 drills
- Find your sweet spot (T draw): On still water, do single draws and move the catch a hand-width forward or back each time, until the kayak slides straight sideways. That spot is different in every boat. Recover under water: slice the blade back, don't lift it.
- Dock to dock (T draw): Start a boat-length from a dock or a partner's kayak. Draw over and stop alongside without bumping. Count your strokes, then try it in fewer.
- Hold the line, on each edge (Sculling draw): Line up beside a dock or a partner and scull along it, keeping your kayak parallel the whole way. Do it flat, then on one edge, then the other.
- Slalom (Hanging draw): Pick two or three markers in a line: buoys, moored boats, rocks. Paddle at them with speed and slip past each one with a hanging draw, alternating sides, without turning.
Finish with a rescue: 6 drills
- Paddle-float re-entry (On your own): Wet exit and do a paddle-float re-entry. Leg hooked in, float on, outrigger set. Let the boat settle before you mount, stay low and lean toward the float the whole way in. Keep the outrigger set until your skirt is on. A stirrup is fine.
- Pack it, then flip it (On your own): Pack your kayak the way you would for a day on the coast, with your emergency kit, and do a paddle-float re-entry. Notice how much steadier the boat is, and how much longer the pump takes.
- T rescue, coastal habits (With a partner): Run the Level 1 T rescue, plus three habits: match their drift and settle alongside before you grab anything; settle before every big move; lift with your edge, hands in your box, never your back.
- Move it out (With a partner): Run your best re-entry in a sheltered spot. Then move a little further out each round, into a bit more wind and wave, and run it again. Stop when it stops being fun.
- The hidden card (With a partner): The swimmer secretly picks a problem: sore shoulder, very cold, loaded boat, seasick, or nothing. The rescuer has to find out by asking, then choose the re-entry and run it. Swap roles.
- Bang and sweep (With a partner): Capsize and stay in. Tuck, bang on the hull, sweep your hands along both sides. Your partner puts their bow into your hands at right angles; grab it, hip flick, head up last. You can wet exit any time.
Quick fixes
When a drill isn't working, it's usually one of these.
Check yourself
No open water this winter? Bring it to the pool.
Coached Pool Time in Hamilton runs on weeknights all winter: a warm pool, 85 minutes, at most four paddlers with two coaches in the water. You set the agenda, so bring your circuit, your rescues or your roll. And practice is easier with a date on the calendar: pick next season's trip.
Related: Aiming off for wind: why you miss the island · Chart datum
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