Have you ever seen someone on a sit on top or inflatable kayak wondering all over the river, seemingly out of control? The main reason for this (aside from lack of skill) is that they have no footrest or don’t use it. So proper connection with your craft is essential to a) maintain control and b) transmit paddling power into the boat.

In a K1/k2, the only fixed point of contact is your footrest, so setting up the footrest – seat distance correctly is very important. It’s also important that your feet stay fixed in position on the footrest during paddling to maintain good connectivity and ensure efficient power transfer. As you paddle, push with your foot on the same side you’re applying force to the paddle. It’s really important to ensure that your heel doesn’t move and slip forwards as you apply pressure on the footrest. This is a very common fault and results in a lot of power wastage and impedes torso rotation. I’ve seen some kayaks with worn patches on the hull below the footrest. This is a sure sign of heel movement and hence inefficient paddling.

Heel plates and full plate plate footrests can overcome this problem but we don’t have them on our club boats, so balls of the feet on the footrest and fix heels in place.

One or two of our kayaks have pull bars. This is a bar across and in front of the footrest that you slip your feet behind. These help with stability and allow you to pull backwards with the foot opposite to the side you’re applying power, helping with hip rotation. If the boat has a pull bar, I recommend using it.