When I volunteered to be an instructor for the BASK Skills Clinic my fondest wish was to be an instructor on the surf weekend. I have missed out on that for several years now and I was still unable to make it this time!! So John Somers, the lead instructor, scheduled me to teach reverse strokes at China Camp instead. I begged John to re-assign me to do draw strokes instead, and he let me switch with Cristien Echeverria.
Draw strokes allow you to move the boat sideways for short distances. I wanted to teach draw strokes because I felt very confident to teach them. I had had a very good teacher: my Greenland paddle! When I carved my first Greenland paddle I found that the shape of the paddle was particularly good at sculling, the most difficult to learn but most powerful draw stroke. I have been saying for years that the paddle taught me the best way to do this! Then I applied what I had learned to a more modern paddle. To empathize with the students I used a modern paddle while teaching the draw strokes. I think I was a very enthusiastic teacher this year, despite missing out on a chance to teach in the surf.