Anatomy Of A Paddle Stroke - The Eyes

Many paddlers, especially when novice paddlers, tend to look down at the bow of the boat. I compare this with looking down at your front wheel while riding a bike.


This has several disadvantages:


The paddler has noo 'visual horizon' and thus his balance will be off.
He may also tend to not keep his chin up, favoring a more slumped position.


Further, he cannot scan the water ahead of the boat to find the best line during a downwind run, for example. 


Thus: head up, eyes straight ahead, visual horizon when possible, scan the water ahead of the boat.