How To Do U-turns In Canoeing Video

Learn how to do different u-turns for flatwater canoeing in this free outdoor extreme sports video from our kayak and canoe expert.

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Bruce Lessels is president and co-founder of Zoar Outdoor, a full-service outdoor center in western Massachusetts offering whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, biking, fly fishing, camping and lodging. Bruce has been pursuing his interests in the outdoors for over 30 years and was a member of the US Whitewater Team in the 1980s. Zoar Outdoor was established in 1989 as the first outdoor center on the Deerfield River in Massachusetts. Since 1989, Zoar Outdoor has offered rafting trips, kayaking clinics, canoeing instruction, rock climbing classes, fly fishing and bike rentals for adventurers of all abilities, from beginners to experts.

Another maneuver you can do using a combination of strokes is called a U-Turn and a U-turn is just what it sounds like, you're paddling forward, you've got some speed up, you turn in a U, in an arc and come back the way you came from. You can do a u-turn either in 180 degrees or you can do less of a turn, but either way, with a u-turn the idea is to maintain your speed through a turn and come out of the other end of the turn with some speed as well. What I'm going to do at first is a U-turn toward my off side, I'm going to take some forward strokes, get up a little momentum, do a cross duplex stroke and then turn that cross duplex stroke into a forward stroke and then continue paddling back toward you. So first I'm going to paddle away do my U-turn and then paddle back toward you. Then I'll show you an on side U-turn as well. So that's an off side U-turn.

How to Do U-Turns in Canoeing Video

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