Many articles try to describe every facet of the stroke in detail which I feel can be more confusing than helpful.  Here I will try to explain in simple terms two very important pieces of the jigsaw.

Fact…..80% of the power generated in a correct stroke comes from the legs, if your not utilizing the strongest muscles in your body your giving away a big start to your opposition.

I see many paddlers whose knees are going up and down, who think they are leg driving, there not. To drive properly your knees do not only go up and down, they must also PASS each other. If this is not happening you are not transferring any of your leg power to your upper body and your paddle. This is called being DISCONNECTED.

This is how it should work…you first need to have your position in the boat correct. Knees at approx 130 deg, when the paddle is FULLY immersed in the water at the catch, the foot on the same side SQUEEZES on the foot bar, this starts a chain in motion which then transfers power through the calf muscles, through the thigh muscles, through the abdominal muscles to the paddle in the water.
Your arms have very small muscles and will tire very quickly if you’re an arm paddler; they basically connect your body to the paddle.

When you drive, your legs should NEVER lock straight they must remain slightly bent at the end of the drive to enable your knees to drive past each other your backside CANNOT be anchored to the seat, it MUST be able to slide this allows your ischial tuberosities (bum bones) to also move back and forth past each other when you drive, this will cause your torso to start to rotate, your now staying CONNECTED.

Correct ROTATION can only happen with correct leg drive. I’m going to give you a very simple tip to get the feel of correct rotation.

As you start to drive with your leg, feel like your pulling the boat past the paddle with the side of your torso, NOT with your arms and shoulders.

EVERY time you go on the water spend the first five minutes working on this feel, it won’t take you long to get it.
If you have rubber or wool or the like on your seat, which doesn’t allow you to slide, just place some plastic over the top.