Words:
Tim Burris

Tim Burris

Photos:
Tim Burris &
Jim Lewis

Using sideslips to initiate freestyle manoeuvres

I put together an interpretive routine called Sideslip Etude about five years ago. Tom McKenzie was the master of sideslips, but Tracy Hunt enlightened me that sideslips can be used as initiations to any freestyle manoeuvre. I will talk about this from the interpretive side, but I will eventually tie all the information into real-world applications.

A freestyle manoeuvre has three components. For simplicity’s sake, the initiation tells the back of the canoe which direction you want it to go (pries and sweeps are common initiations). The front of the canoe then rotates around a static paddle placement. Finally, the conclusion completes the manoeuvre with a stroke from the paddle placement to one end of the canoe.

If you need a refresher on sideslips, check out Paul Klonowski’s article at https://freestylecanoeing.com/solo-sideslips/. For my Sideslip Etude, I did manoeuvres in all four quadrants (forward, cross forward, reverse, and cross reverse). Every manoeuvre was initiated by either prying or drawing sideslips in three of the quadrants.
Let’s start with forward manoeuvres. Christies, Axels, and Posts all turn the canoe towards the paddle side (or onside). We generally use a J stroke or a gentle stern pry to initiate those manoeuvres. The static paddle is then placed onside with the correct angle, and the canoe rotates around it. We finish with a reverse sweep to the bow. The important part is that the stern pry initiation tells the canoe’s stern to go away from our onside.

We can substitute the stern pry with a prying sideslip because the prying sideslip moves the entire canoe away from our onside, and thus, the stern moves away from our paddle.

Once the prying sideslip is moving the canoe diagonally away from the paddle, you put your paddle parallel (neutral) to the keel and slice forward to a spot slightly ahead of the point of rotation, then open the paddle angle so that the front of the canoe turns and then rotates around your paddle. It can be either an axle or a post with the correct heel. With practice, you will feel how much momentum you need after the sideslip to perform the manoeuvre.

To turn our canoe away from our paddle, we use a sweep to initiate a wedge, because the sweep pulls the canoe’s rear towards our onside. A drawing sideslip pulls the entire canoe in the same direction. Once the canoe is moving diagonally towards the paddle, we slice the neutral paddle forward to a spot slightly ahead of the point of rotation and reverse the angle of the paddle blade so it pushes (wedges”) the bow of the canoe away from the paddle. This is a fun sequence because the drawing sideslip carries more momentum into the manoeuvre, and the wedge demonstrates finesse.

Because we use a sweep to initiate a cross axle or cross post, the drawing sideslip also works for these manoeuvres. Likewise, any manoeuvre initiated with an onside J-stroke can be effectively initiated with a prying sideslip. Once you figure out the mechanics, you can apply the same principles to all the other quadrants (cross forward, reverse, and cross reverse). Granted, it takes some practice to reach the point where your brain no longer needs to contemplate every paddle placement and angle. With practice, it becomes natural.

Now, let’s apply this in everyday life:
Imagine canoeing in a narrow, slow-moving, twisty stream. Up ahead, the stream turns sharply to your onside, but the creek is shallow on the inside of the curve, so you want to move over away from the shallow. You start with a prying sideslip to move into the middle of the stream. As you approach the bend, you slice your paddle forward in a neutral position and then open the angle as you would in an axle. You magically turn around the shallow bend. You probably won’t need the conclusion, so instead, take a forward stroke to straighten out and position your canoe for the next turn. The sideslip positions your canoe ideally in the stream, and the conversion of the sideslip into an axle turns you. This is an elegant way to negotiate the turn, but it is also very efficient because you use fewer paddle strokes to make the turn.

If the bend is to your offside, you might initiate with a drawing sideslip and apply a wedge or a cross axle (or cross post), depending on which suits the turn the best. If I use the cross manoeuvre, I often take a couple of cross-forward strokes after the turn because it straightens out the canoe more quickly than switching over. Another reason for the cross-forward stroke is that often, your onside is too close to the bank after the turn, and you may not have room to make an effective onside forward stroke.

*A note on heeling. Generally, we teach students to heel away from the paddle when drawing sideslips. The heel allows the canoe to ride up over the water instead of pushing it. Likewise, one normally heels toward the paddle on a prying sideslip. The problem comes when switching from an offside heel for the drawing sideslip to an onside heel for the wedge. The issue is that switching heels will rob momentum from your canoe -momentum that you need to manoeuvre. One can sideslip with a flat boat – and do functional manoeuvres with minimal heel. (So don’t overthink it.) I could do my Sideslip Etude with extreme heels because my canoe has a round bottom. I could roll the canoe from one side to the other with minimal loss of speed.

A cool move is to paddle straight in (perpendicular) to a dock or landing. Apply a drawing sideslip and continue toward the landing. Apply a wedge a few yards (meters) before you reach your target. The wedge will turn your canoe parallel to the landing, but your momentum will carry you slowly right up to shore, and you’ll step out with grace. This move takes a little practice to get the start point and timing perfected. But once you have it down, you’ll see jaws drop because it is a cool yet useful way of initiating a turn with a sideslip.

All of these manoeuvres take practice. More importantly, consider which sideslip to use with each manoeuvre. A sweep wouldn’t be the correct initiation for an axle or post. For that reason, it is not effective to perform an axle after a drawing sideslip because the canoe is moving in the wrong direction to initiate the turn. With practice, it becomes second nature and gives you efficient ways to turn on streams and creative approaches to an interpretive routine.

Tracy Hunt rocked my world about how much fun (and useful) sideslips can be. I hope you will have fun and try sideslips as initiations.