The magic feel of finding the water

Water can be soft and gentle like air. When you float or paddle on it can sometimes feel like flying. But water can also be hard and painful. When you dive off a ten-meter platform it can actually hurt you like hitting a concrete wall.  

This is what makes this element so fascinating because when pressure is applied on it, forces always counteract that pressure. For many water related activities such as swimming, kayaking or rowing (just to name a few), it takes an incredible tactile or sensory ability to feel and understand how the water behaves when applying various pressures with palms, paddles, oars or other equipment at various angles and at various water currents, air winds, temperatures or other environmental factors.

Finding the feel of the water

Feeling the water, holding it, squeezing it or however you want to call it, describes an almost magical ability to understand how to apply pressure on the water, use the counteracting force in the most productive way, gain traction and translate it into forward movement. It is one of the magical abilities that efficient athletes have.

Efficient movement through the water -whether using our bodies while swimming or our paddles and crafts while kayaking - seems to be a constant interplay between pressure, counteracting resistance and propulsion. Pressing water down, feeling the resistance and counteracting that force in a productive way is what creates speed: that boat lift and forward motion, similar to pressing water down with the palms to swim and similar to pushing off the ground with the feet to run. 

Finding water, holding and resisting it, is not an easy task. Water has a different density and behavior than say, the ground. Pushing off the ground one step at a time to propel upwards and forwards while running is very different than coordinating body motions while holding a paddle and balancing a boat on the water to move forward. You know when you find and hold the water because when it happens, water doesn't feel soft anymore but hard as a solid ground. And this is one of the magic opportunities kayaking is giving you: you can create your own solid ground!

Practicing the feel of the water

It is never too late to practice the feel of the water. While it may be optimal to do it when you are young even later in life, adults can learn how to find the right catch and create their own solid-ground feel!

One of the things that may be harder with adults compared to the youngsters is that adults tend to over analyze and obsess with various outcomes (such as speed, heart rate, power or other metrics). Kids on the other hand, usually don't pay attention to all that, they go with the flow and learn by feel. A few drills and exercises that enforce right body coordination, muscle engagement and sequencing whether on the boat or on the land can certainly help. Other ways that may help are practicing various speeds or increasing the resistance load during workouts (for example, swimmers use paddles while kayakers use resistance cords and bungees). But whatever you do is not as important to dictate progress as it is the mind and body sensations. 

A good catch and a good rhythm on the kayak cannot accurately be described. You just know it happens. You feel it. You apply forces smoothly, the boat moves nearly effortlessly and you are so perfectly connected that you are not even feeling you are sitting on the boat, you are just floating off the seat.

Finding that magic feel for the water and creating that magic spell is a process that takes a long time but it is one that is truly self fulfilling and self rewarding.

Happy winter workouts everyone!