By Marc Ornstein
Marc Ornstein
Full speed astern Part 1
Most of us learned a basic reverse stroke early on. For most, it wasn’t very pretty and didn’t include much in the way of steering. It was merely a way of stopping and perhaps moving back a few feet. There are at least four ways to back up, all under control and with the ability to steer. I’ll cover the first here, in part one of this series.
The standard reverse stroke is similar to the basic forward stroke, except that it is the opposite in most respects. One begins by placing the blade in the water, alongside or just behind the hip. The paddle shaft is held as vertical as possible (not angled forward nor back, nor side to side) with the grip hand extended outward so that it is stacked over the shaft hand, outboard, past the gunwale.
The blade is nearly perpendicular to the water surface and is at right angles to the keel line of the canoe. It is then pushed directly forward approximately to the knee, sliced out (directly away from the canoe) and then repositioned (recovered) for the next stroke. If this is done cleanly, in all respects, the canoe should move nearly straight back, with minimal yaw. Of course, in the real world, some directional control may be necessary. The channel you are backing out of may not be straight, and wind or currents may be pushing the canoe, one way or another. Steering in reverse is a valuable skill; necessary in all but the most basic situations.
The two most common reverse steering manoeuvres are the reverse J and the reverse sweep. The reverse J will turn the canoe’s stern toward the paddle side, while the reverse sweep will turn the canoe’s stern away from the paddle side.
For the reverse J, we’ll begin with the basic reverse stroke as described above. At the end of the stroke, with the blade approximately at your knee, you’ll rotate your grip hand (and thus the blade) so that your thumb turns back a bit towards the stern. The paddle shaft should be allowed to rotate within your shaft hand.
The rotation will generally be mild (less than 45 deg.). While rotating the grip/blade, continue pushing the paddle forward and away from the hull a bit. The stern of the canoe will begin to turn toward the paddle side. Hold the blade in this position and allow the canoe time to turn until the necessary correction has been achieved. Pushing away too far or angling the paddle too sharply will excessively slow the canoe (wipe away your rearward momentum). Now, slice the blade out of the water and recover for another stroke. Once again, in-water recoveries are an option.
Here are links to a couple of videos showing the reverse J in real-time: Basic Reverse Stroke with Reverse ‘J’ – https://youtu.be/X5nZY62jCvM
and in ¼ time Basic Reverse Stroke with Reverse ‘J’ at 1/4 speed – https://youtu.be/MIdVdPgeVOY
The reverse sweep is somewhat simpler. You likely learned a reverse sweep early on in your paddling instruction. Back then, it was likely taught (along with the forward sweep) as a way to rotate a stationary or nearly stationary canoe sharply.
In this case, we are using it in a much milder manner to maintain directional control while the canoe is travelling in reverse. Remember, the reverse sweep will turn the stern of the canoe away from the paddle side. For this purpose, the reverse sweep is much like the basic reverse stroke. Instead of pushing the paddle straight forward, with a vertical shaft as described above, we will intentionally sweep the blade outward, away from the hull, in a mild arc, while pushing it forward.
This is accomplished by pulling the grip hand inward of the gunwale, or pushing the shaft hand out (away from the gunwale) or a combination of both. The further away from the hull that the blade is swept, the more turning effect it will have. For purposes of directional control, while travelling in reverse, only mild sweeps are generally required.
Unlike the reverse J, where the ‘J’ is a separate motion appended onto the end of the reverse stroke, the reverse sweep is simply a modification of the reverse stroke itself.
While the basic reverse stroke and the reverse J and sweep are necessary and valuable skill sets, they have their limitations. Pushing the paddle in this manner is biomechanically weak, and doing so for more than short distances become tiring. Additionally, it is difficult to watch where you are going as your body is facing forward while your neck constantly twists backwards. In parts two and three of this article, we’ll explore other and often better options for travelling in reverse.
