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A Paddle
A raft
A rapid to practice in
Proper high brace technique
Body Positioning
Shoulder safety
When to brace
In this lesson, Trevor is joined by Lexie and Lulu as they discuss proper techniques for executing a high brace. The high brace is an extremely useful paddling technique to have in your arsenal when you feel like the boat is likely to flip. This skill requires training to get the feel for it as well as proper footwork and form to prevent injury.
When you set up for a high brace make sure you start by cross bracing one of your feet to the opposite side of the raft. You can remove your inside foot, which will be the foot opposite the side you are sitting on, and place it on the inside of the perimeter tube close to the floor. The joint between the floor and the tube should give you a good amount of space to help wedge your heel into. If you have someone sitting across from you may find that their legs are in the way of where you are attempting to put your foot. You may need to articulate your foot between their legs, but if your crew trains on his technique you can possibly use your crew member opposite you to lock in even more.
The proper high brace form is nearly identical to the draw stroke in almost every way except the footwork. If you have proper footwork, you should be able to hold your position even in a vertical raft. you want your shoulder to be low and your core engaged with the paddle in front of your body. By doing this you can help to avoid injury (see below) and to get maximum power out of your brace. Typically, when the raft is standing up vertically the blade will end up being vertical as well nearly perpendicular to the floor when the raft is rolling on its side over 60 degrees. Once you plant your paddle in the downstream current begin sculling your blade back and forth in the water to create purchase and help stabilize your body.
Portaging up and over rocks can be an extremely time consuming and physically taxing way to avoid running a rapid. If you decide that you do not wish to run a rapid, however there are a lot of obstacles on the shore to get your raft over the option of lining the boat becomes a good possibility. When you are deciding to line or portage there are a few important features you want to look for:
Type B or C hydraulic jumps in which your raft is surfing.
Large standing waves
Large lateral waves where the channel turns 90 degrees
Any time your raft rolls to an angle over 45 degrees
When you are high bracing, it is important to place your blade properly to get the maximum amount of purchase and force. You want to be looking for one of 2 things, either down or out flowing water. In the case of a standing wave or a lateral wave, look for the other side of the breaking wave where the water is flowing back down with gravity. Grab the opposite side of this wave by throwing your body into the wave and pulling on any resistance on the other side of the breaking whitewater. If you are surfing then try to look for the outflow of the hydraulic jump or the downstream side of the boil zone from where the water is pouring back into the hydraulic jump. In either case planting your paddle in this area will give you maximum purchase to help you anchor your boat into more stable water.
Although high bracing can get you out of a lot of sticky situations, it is an extremely hazardous technique if you do not have proper form. Due to this increased hazard to your shoulder, here are a few safety tips to consider:
Make sure you have solid footwork and you are firmly planted in the raft.
Never extend your shoulder past a 90-degree angle in any direction. Over extending your shoulder outside this 90-degree box puts you at extreme risk for shoulder separation and dislocations.
Keep your elbow as low as possible and your arm close to your body.
There is a tendency to over extend your boy or arch your back while performing a high brace. Just like a draw stroke you want to keep your core engaged and arching your back does not allow you to engage your core and legs to perform the stroke properly.
If you are surfing and you feel too much resistance or you are seriously straining your muscles let the boat, drop back into the hydraulic ump and wait until the boat pops out again. This can give you a brief break to allow you to put all of your power into the most advantageous moment to pull the boat out.
