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- J Stroke
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The J stroke is an elegant and efficient way to keep the canoe moving forward in a straight line. The stern paddler uses it frequently (nearly every stroke). For a solo paddler, a good effective J stroke is essential. A good J stroke opens up a whole new world of canoeing. But, it is the most difficult canoe stroke to learn.
The path of the paddle traces a J in the water. This J in the water should get narrower as your J stroke improves (less prying action).
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The J stroke is a continuation of the forward power stroke. As soon as the paddle shaft begins to go past vertical (about when it is beside the knees of the paddler), the paddle should be turned quickly so that the power side of the blade faces out away from the canoe.
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That is, turn the thumb of the top hand down and forward. The quicker and sooner the top hand is turned down, the better the J stroke. The blade should tend to move under the canoe. Resisting this tendency may be enough of a correction.
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The blade face should become parallel to the side of the canoe as quickly as possible. When the blade comes out of the water, its face should be parallel to the side of the canoe (perpendicular to the surface of the water).
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To turn the canoe more, do a pry just before the blade comes out of the water. When first learning the J stroke, a pry may be required frequently. However, for a truely efficient J stroke, keep working on it until you can continue the blade straight up out of the water with very little prying action. The canoe should glide straight forward with no noticeable loss of momentum while you recover the paddle. Try not to leave the paddle in the water and steer as if the paddle is a rudder. Instead, get the paddle out of the water quickly and recover the paddle for the next stroke. As you are paddling, watch the bow and notice how much of off a straight line it wanders. Keep working on the J stroke until the bow does not wander.
With a good strong J stroke, you should even be able to turn the canoe toward the side you are paddling on. Learn to finesse the stroke to achieve the proper amount of correction or turn. Keep working until it becomes instinctive.
There are a lot of variations on the J stroke, so keep working on it and experimenting. Some of these variations are known as Pitch, Canadian, and Indian strokes (See Bill Mason's book "Path of the Paddle").
Common Problems with J strokes:
- Turning the paddle the wrong way. Be sure the thumb of the top hand points downward at the end of the stroke.
- Not turning the paddle soon enough. It should be turned as soon as the paddle goes past vertical (about at the paddlers knees).
- Top hand not out over the water. Paddle shaft should be vertical or even with the top hand further out over the water than the lower hand.
- Not turning the paddle enough. The face of the blade should be perpendicular to the water as soon as possible.
- The pry becoming a back stroke. The Pry is very short. The paddle blade never comes forward.
