FreeStyle canoeing is technical quiet water paddling. It emphasizes smooth, efficient paddling and precise boat control on flat water. FreeStyle technique achieves precise results by integrating body, boat, and paddle to execute maneuvers in harmony.
FreeStyle technique blends basic paddle strokes with weight shifts and static paddle placements to create its own vocabulary of maneuvers with specialized names like axle and Christie. FreeStyle includes maneuvers in all four quadrants of the canoe. So anything you can do on one side, you can do on the other side. Anything you can do forward, you can do backward.
FreeStyle paddling requires no special equipment other than a boat, a paddle, a PFD (life jacket) and, usually, a kneepad. FreeStyle technique can be applied to many different types of canoeing situations. In fact, FreeStyle can add efficiency, grace and fun -- especially fun -- to almost any paddling experience. Many FreeStylers even paddle to music, making FreeStyle canoeing an expressive, interpretive art form.
Links:
