Canoe river skills: Running hard moves on easy rivers

In this article I'm going to try to explain why making hard moves on easy water is a good whitewater drill.

Running difficult lines on easy water is not going to guarantee you that you'll run decent lines on harder water. Paddling those lines on harder water is a matter of training and being used to that given level of water. So how is paddling a hard line on easy water going to help your paddling on harder water?

What's the goal?

Paddling hard lines on easy water is basically the same for your river paddling as stepping back to flatwater for your paddling technique. You can isolate moves, river strategies on a river where you know, you have a plan B, and you definetly make plan B. You can work on hitting that tiny little eddy in midstream, knowing that if you miss, there is an open river behind, no problem. That way you can learn how the move is being done.

After having a tight grip on a given move, you can repeat it, try it on other easy rivers, until you know you can do it. Then there is the confidence, the knowledge and the muscle memory to make that move.

Still that's no guarantee you'll make that move on a harder section of the river. But as long as you take a reasonable step up (eg not from a class II to a class IV+, but from a II+ to a III or something, for a similar river) you'll notice you can do it. You might need some time to get used to the river, since is pushier, rockier or whatever. But once you're more or less used to that river, it's all the same, just a little faster, a little better timing, ... . But the basics of the move are already there. All you have to do is adapt and some finetuning.

If you have to try out a new move on a harder river, you might get into troubles. Since you're challenged by the river AND your challenged by the move.

Eddy racing is a great way to find your hard lines on easy water, so you might want to have a look at that suggestion.

I've personally experienced paddling hard lines on easy water as very rewarding. I've met paddlers who usually paddle harder water then I do, backing out on a river where I came down without to many troubles. There are quite some so called experienced paddlers that have difficulties making certain moves on a class II-III river.

I don't want to criticize paddlers who don't do this drill. Everyone has the choice how far they want to go in their sport. But you can find a great deal of fun in lower grade rivers and still learn a lot. It's all a matter of what you want to do, what you want to invest and how you approach paddling as a sport.