Kayak Control Hand
When you get a paddle, most whitewater paddlers opt for a feathered design. A feathered design has a lot of advantages like being much more aerodynamic in the wind, thus making it much easier for you to use on a long paddle as your arms will tire out less from not having to slice through the wind all the time. It can be confusing at first when you get a paddle thought to figure out how to use a control hand and how to move your non control hand
The first step to feathered paddling success is to learn that your control hand should always always have a firm grip on the shaft of the paddle. Your other hand will be holding much more loosely and you do not want to accidentally let go of your paddle. In a rapid, being paddle less is like being a jedi without a lightsaber. Your control hand should rotate the paddle then, and the other hand should open and close allowing the paddle to change directions.
The key to rotating the paddle around is to not move either hand or fingers. It is all in the wrist movement. Depending on whether or not you have a left or right hand control model, you will need to move your wrist up or down to change the blade angle on the other side. Practice this a lot on land. Many times as a beginner you will actually unconsciously be turning the paddle a little bit with both hands, which is not an acceptable technique once you get to more advanced techniques. If you have an oval shaped shaft, just feel to make sure you are not rotating it. If you do not have an oval shaped shaft, tape something like a dolly onto the shaft so you can feel when it is rotating in your hands and when you have properly rotated your wrists instead.
