>>1069017L4 Kayaking instructor here.
1)
-We call Tandem kayaks divorce boats. If you really want to progress your skills, paddle your own kayak. Its a lot easier to learn when you dont have someone else whose also learning yelling at you.
-When you do Tandem:
-The person in the back has the most control. They should be focused on correction and turning strokes and the person in front should be focused on paddling forward. The person in the back should always be the one with the most experience/ dominant personality/ weight.
-When I see Tandem kayakers unable to maintain a roughly straight line its usually becuase the person in the back cant anticipate drift. If you see your kayak drifting slightly to the right, throw in a couple extra strokes on the right to get yourself going straight again.
Get your stroke basics down
-When paddling forward make sure your paddle is going in a straight line with all of your blade in the water from your toes to your hips. You dont have to paddle super vertical (as in your paddle shaft is super vertical) unless your trying to paddle somewhere really fast. Save the olympic paddler strokes for when you're racing, otherwise keep your paddleblade low and out to the side. (This will also help water not drip into your boat)
-Separate your strokes. I.e. Forward strokes should be starting at your toes and be going in a straight line\ to your hips with a diagonal paddle shaft. Sweep strokes(Turning strokes) should be starting out your toes but it sweeps out into a big arc and makes you turn. Really focus on the beginning of that stroke where you force the water away from your boat. The more horizontal you keep your paddleshaft ( The more parallel your paddle is to the water) and the bigger of an arc you make, the more you turn. Keep these strokes separate and only use them when needed. (So dont turn by only making a bunch on forward strokes on one side and dont try to go straight by making a bunch of sweeping, arcing strokes)
