TexasKayakFisherman.com

I just got my first kayak and i went about a half mile and I was worn out and tired, I know that's not really normal. So I was wondering about rowing technique, how to sit and things like that, any help is apprecciated, thanks!

Do a search on the internet for "kayak paddling techniques" and you should find lots of data.

You should be twisting at the waist on each paddle............the mistake many newbies make is using arms strength only, which will wear you out quickly.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Yeah that does help. I was using mostly shoulders because my seat has virtually no support and every time I tried to scoot up the thing filled with water because its an inflatable... So I think another step is getting good gear too, that should help as well

Sneakiestfever wrote:Yeah that does help. I was using mostly shoulders because my seat has virtually no support and every time I tried to scoot up the thing filled with water because its an inflatable... So I think another step is getting good gear too, that should help as well

Therein might be the problem!!!

I'm fairly new as well, but I soon realized that a "Slow and Steady" pace worked best for me. I have no rudder, so when I was trying to "Power" paddle to go faster that I was essentially wasting strokes. The harder I paddled the more offline the kayak went left or right. Thus, the next stroke was to straighten the nose back online with my intended heading.
Focus on your heading and be suprised how much easier it is.

Yeah I just went out today in a better kayak and noticed the same thing, its very easy to accidentally get off your strait course if you paddle too hard. I was wondering why it kept doing that..