Technique   Tips and safety  Practice drills 

• Maintain normal hand hold on the paddle.
• Keep your elbows low and flexed.
• Start each stroke with the back of the blade in the water just behind your hip.
• Use a sequence of short reverse strokes on alternate sides. 
• The first 2 strokes need to be shallow to slow the momentum of the kayak.
• Then use deeper reverse strokes with the full blade to stop the kayak.
• Exit the water when your hands are mid-way between your hip and your knee. 
• The kayak should come to a stop within its own boat-length and within around 4 strokes in normal conditions.
• Being propelled on a wave is a different matter.