The Paddler Magazine Issue 78 Summer 2024 | Page 36

PADDLER 36

Using sideslips to initiate

FREESTYLE manoeuvres

Words : Tim Burris Photos : Tim Burris & Jim Lewis

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 / solosideslips /. 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 .