The key to the pull phase is to use a combination of shoulder, arm, ab’s & back: all in the right pattern.
Ab’s and back muscles provide the foundation for a strong stroke, as you have to appreciate that they connect the paddler to the boat.
Power through the stoke comes from firstly rotation of the shoulder (driven by your lat’s), held steady by a strong shoulder joint, and then finished off by your arms.
The stroke should be accelerating through the water, and the paddle is brought through the water parallel to the boat. It only drifts outwards towards the end of the drive in preparation for the exit.
Some mental imagery may help. Imagine that you’re sitting in a kayak that is just like a long & slippery bath tub. It’s long, with no deck, no foot plate (& no credibility amongst paddlers), and worst still, it is anchored to the bottom of the river. If you took an effective, powerful stroke you would slide forwards in the tub. The better the stroke, the further & faster you would slide within the tub.
If you now apply this imagery to paddling your boat, you can see why a good powerful stroke can be measured in foot plate pressure, as your foot plate effectively stops you from sliding forwards in the boat. All good paddlers are driving pushing the foot plate on the same side as their paddle (right hand stroke is driven with the right leg etc).
You should now realize the importance of the foot strap. This allows you to pull your leg forward in preparation for the power of the drive against the foot plate.
An exercise to try: Put a plastic bag over your seat (kayak) or in the base of your seat (ski). This should make your seat slippery. If you fall in, don’t lose the bag. Try sitting still in the boat, only rotating your hips in the seat by using push and pull from your foot plate & foot straps. You may have to wet the bag. The boat will rock from side to side. Don’t worry about this at the moment. Your knees should be moving up and down, and you bum swiveling in the seat.
Once you can do this, try long slow controlled strokes; just make sure that you’re accelerating the stroke through the water.
The reality of the matter is that there are a lot of things to think about during the pull phase of a stroke (note we’ve not talked about your top hand yet, only your bottom hand…). This is where time in the boat, and a whole lot of practice comes in handy.
Now get out there & paddle your tubs! WP.