What does a kink on the upward side of the curve generally mean?
It means you are kicking the catch too hard. This is symptomatic of people who have trained on fixed head ergos. In order to change direction at the catch you have to push hard with your legs because the slide is uphill and you have to alter the momentum of your body mass by 180 degrees. It is the equivalent of pushing your legs before your blade is fully covered in the water. To cure this, try a couple of exercises in the boat and on the RP. The first is to make your knees and calves very loose as you come up the slide. They have to be fully relaxed. Then when you start the leg drive start it slowly and gently – then accelerate from quarter slide onwards to the finish. The second exercise is to “pause” at the catch waiting for the blade to fully cover before driving with the legs. Try this in the boat as well as on RP and you should improve your connection. BUT the legs must remain very loose and relaxed in order to engage with the water and not ‘kick’ the catch. See the list of “Exer
