Skillset: High Brace

October-November 2006

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Alex Matthews

If you’re lucky enough to be traveling to a paddling destination with warm water this winter, then you have a golden opportunity to practice rescues, rolls, braces and all the other techniques that get a paddler good and wet.

The high brace is the most powerful of the recovery strokes. In fact, good paddlers can even use a high brace to recover when their boats are almost completely upside down. The only problem with the high brace is that it’s easy to rely on it too much, which can put your shoulders at risk. So the first thing to keep in mind is that despite its name, you need to keep your paddle and your hands low and in front of your body. For the high brace you’ll use your paddle in a ‘chin-up’ position and use the power-face of your blades to contact the water.

Starting with your elbows low, roll your paddle up until your forearms are almost vertical. Now reach out over the water at 90 degrees, with your inside arm low. It’s important that this hand stay low so that your paddle blade is as flat to the water surface as possible when it makes contact, offering you the most support. As you fall toward the water, slap the surface with your blade to provide the support needed for your body to upright the kayak.

As mentioned in the ‘low brace’ article in our last issue, the slap of your paddle just provides momentary support and it’s actually your body that will right the boat. As you flip, the only way to right the kayak is by pulling up with the knee that is on the downside. And the only way to pull up with this bottom knee is to drop your head towards the water in the direction that you’re flipping.

While doing this is very counter-intuitive, it’s essential for righting the kayak. Your head should be the last thing to come back up on a well-executed brace. If, instead, you lift your head up, you’ll inadvertently pull on your top knee, which will flip you upside down even more quickly.

One trick to ensure that your head drops towards the water is to watch your slapping blade as you brace. You’ll be less likely to lift your head if you’re actively looking down.

So that’s the key to this move: as you slap the water with your blade, drop your head towards its surface and pull up with your lower knee to right the kayak.

To finish the stroke, slide your paddle inward, roll your knuckles forward and slice the blade vertically out of the water.