Aiding hip rotation / leg drive

Question for the more seasoned paddlers, as I am fairly fresh on the surfski scene.

Lately I have really been focusing on driving through my heels and getting good hip/torso rotation on my strokes.

I wear neoprene paddling shorts and find that they "stick" to the bucket and make rotating my hips very very difficult. I have seen a few guys put plastic bags under their bums before they head out, and I tried it yesterday.

A whole world of difference! I had no friction between me and the boat and I could get my hips rotating 99% easier, however, after about 10 minutes the plastic bag got scrunched up and pushed up and out of the seat behind me. I went back to the beach, adjusted said bag, and got 10 more minutes of friction-free bliss. I got frustrated when it crinkled up again and took it out but suffered right away from what I now call the dreaded "bum stick".

So what's the secret?? If I paddle in the neoprene shorts with no bag, my leg drive suffers because I have a hard time rotating in the seat with my hips since I stick to it, but the plastic bag trick only lasts about 10 minutes.

I have heard of paddlers using a piece of foil insulation taped to the seat. Not sure where to get it ... probably building hardware store?

Try 2xu compression shorts. They last for years.....and they're slippery.

Thanks for bringing this up, hadnt given it a lot of thought but it makes a lot of sense if your bum is able to pivot.

Bernice Butlion (wife or Gary Butlion) of Carbonology Sport here in Western Australia was selling some paddling shorts in really loud colours and designs at our Mandurah Duel race earlier in the year. They were a lycra type material but had a loose inner layer as well, which I gathered were for this exact benefit, the lycra may stick to your skin and to the boat but where the two layers meet they can slide past one another.

Until I am able to afford one of these fancy pair of shorts I might give the plastic shopping bag trick a go just to see what I am missing in terms of rotation.

I doubt she has a website or anything where she sells those shorts?? They may be pricey but those lycra 2xu that were suggested above run around $80 US.

At this point I'm ready to try whatever I can, after using the plastic bag the whole hip pivot/rotation really comes together but I can't get the bag to stay put haha..

The neoprene shorts I have I bought for when I first started paddling six-man outrigger, but they absolutely suck on the ski, sticky sticky.

I'll go try out those 2xu compression shorts and let you know how they go, friggen expensive though. Maybe I should just tape a bag to my bum haha

I reckon I have had mine for 2 1/2 years. I paddle about 280 days a year. That's 700 paddles so far...with many more to come, I hope. At US$80, it is only 11 1/2 cents a paddle. BARGAIN !

I simply polish the bucket with car polish.
Works with my speedos or any cheap lycra shorts.

I still look in wonder at the people that wax the bucket for grippage.

If you are really cold and need the neoprene, why not just wear some cheapy lycra over top?

I have used these for years with success: www.jlpaddling.com/paddlingshort.shtml

My K1 has minicel glued to the seat and I always keep a plastic grocery bag wrapped over the seat to help as well.

Rightarmbad wrote:

I still look in wonder at the people that wax the bucket for grippage.

What!? If I did that I would lose all the precious skin covering my un-mentionable areas!

Thanks for the replies.. it's nice to get a bunch of different ideas/products that give me some choices and basic knowledge of what works. Those JL kayak polypro shorts say they have two layers in the bum to cut down on friction, and the factory is pretty close to where I live so I'll check em out.

Dicko, I actually found those shorts online this morning for only about $45 off amazon. Can't beat that.


Using car wax to polish the bucket sounds like a good idea.

I wish I could pull off just a speedo in the ski but here in the states, if I walked up to my paddling buddies wearing one I think they would run away haha. Maybe I should just go for it!

Try 2xu compression shorts. They last for years.....and they're slippery.

But will they make my various bits look good?
That's the important consideration....

I have used my 2XU's which work very well(yes, they last forever, even after skidding on my bum on asphalt after falling on inline speed skates doing over 20 mph, multiple times). My latest choice of shorts to paddle in have been some old Pearl Izumi cycling shorts left over from my road racing days(tough lycra with a lightly padded chamois). Nice thing about cycling shorts is that they are designed and cut for a seated posture. Very nice rotation and can paddle for hours on end in the E-V12-U with the Pearls. That, and I use an electrical conductor polymer coating that is as slippery as snot on a door knob and lasts a good long time. However, in the big bumps, sometimes I wish the polymer was not there. But I haven't been thrown due to it, either. Yet.