Ben and Mike using the correct grip.

Now it's time to learn where to hold your paddle. If you are going to paddle on the left side of the canoe, your left hand will grasp the shaft and your right, will grip the handle at the top. This may seem like common sense but I have seen people do it the other way. To paddle on the right, reverse your hands.

If you grasp the shaft too far down, your hand will bang into the side of the canoe, and pain is not fun. So the best location is about two to three hand's widths from the throat. Experiment so as to avoid painful paddling. (In a future column we'll learn about how to choose a paddle, don't worry.)

Perhaps the word "grip" should be avoided, as we usually think of "the death grip" and you don't want to do that when paddling. For one thing, the white-knuckled grip uses up energy, while cramping your hands. You are not propelling a missile like a player of tennis, golf, or baseball. Let your hand just loosely embrace the handle of your paddle. What you want to do is engage the biggest muscles in your body, such as your abdominals, less so the small muscles of your arms. With correct hand placement, you will get awesome leverage and tap into your personal powerhouse of core muscles. Remind yourself: Relax! This is fun!

Your hand on the grip of the paddle is called the control hand for a reason. Subtle adjustments made by this hand control the angle of your strokes, and also the outcome of your day on the water. A righteous set of angles means powerful, efficient, even elegant strokes that propel you swiftly and quietly where you want to go. This outcome is not available to those who grab the paddle just below the handle (left). Those who never "get a grip" and stubbornly continue to grasp the paddle incorrectly will continue to shortchange themselves. They won't want to go canoeing again, and will have reduced their options forever.

I do believe that canoeing is a metaphor for Life. Every time I get into a canoe, I am tested in a multitude of ways. If I don't pay attention, I will suffer the consequences. Sometimes it's not fun and even painful. Certainly there is an element of risk. So I learn to prepare myself as much as possible. I know for sure, after fifteen years of canoeing, that rewards come only to those who take a risk. And the rewards have been many, because I was out there on the water when the huge manta ray surfaced and then dove deep just in front of my canoe, when the dolphin took a breath just behind me, when the young bald eagle flew just a few feet from my bow because I had paddled up so quietly he didn't hear me. At times I have been scared so much that I shook! But I learned to be strong, to listen to Tom without arguing, to figure things out, to read the signs of nature. Mostly, I learned to trust myself based on my successes, that I always made it home safely. Are these not lessons we need in Life?

And like many things in Life, the outcome of our experience may be influenced by one small factor which is under our control; in this case, holding a canoe paddle correctly.

So if we ever do paddle together, and I nag you about getting a grip, it's only because I care about you! I've seen people hurt themselves and I've seen people have a total blast, so guess in what category I want you to be at the end of our day together?

Dr. Tom Kazo demonstrating the correct way to paddle to WRT members at his Guide School.