4 Things To Know Before You Go Whitewater Rafting

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4 Things To Know Before You Go Whitewater Rafting

22 January 2021
 Categories: , Blog


Are you about to go on your first whitewater rafting trip? If so, it's important that you understand the following basic tips to make your first trip a success.

Position Yourself Correctly

There are a few basic things that you need to understand about positioning yourself correctly on the raft. The first is that you want to sit on the side of the raft rather than on the tubing in the center. This is going to give you greater stability than anywhere you can sit on the raft. You will also want to use your feet to help steady yourself by placing them underneath the tubing. This will help keep you on the raft but also makes it easy to get out if you tip over.

Grip The Paddle Correctly

There is a technique to gripping onto the paddle that is going to give you the most power. Hold the paddle by placing one hand on the back of the paddle on the t-grip, and the other hand approximately halfway up on the shaft of the paddle. Having your hand on the t-grip is crucial so that you do not lose the paddle, since it gives you something firm to hold onto.

Learn To Paddle Together

It's important to get in sync with your companions on the raft so that you paddle together. It takes a lot of coordination to get going, and if people only paddle when they want, it becomes an inefficient way to take on the rapids. In addition, you'll need to put your body into each stroke so that you can move that raft together. If you are trying to do it with just your arms, you are going to tire yourself out and you'll be lacking power on your side of the raft as a result. 

Learn The Commands

The best way to communicate with everyone on the raft is to make sure that everyone understands the common commands that can easily be shouted out. When your leader shouts the word "positions," it means that you should get ready to start paddling when given the proper command. When the leader shouts "over left," it means that the people on the left side of the boat will stop paddling so that the right side can turn the raft towards the left. The opposite is true of the "over right" command. For more information, contact a whitewater rafting service.