# Stern Squirt Advice ?



## AlabamaKayaker (Jan 23, 2012)

Ok so i have been tring to learn ho to stern squirt. I can get out of the water about a foot when rotating but i cant seem to get elevated enough. I have a perception 3d kayak-medium and i am 5'5" and weigh 148(mostly muscle haha). Can someone maybe give me some advice on ster squirting????


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## erdvm1 (Oct 17, 2003)

open your drain plug


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## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

Your boat is a little on the corky side for this trick but good technique can overcome that. A slicey stern gives the sweetest controlled stern squirts.

Start in an eddy with a good strong defined eddyline. Paddle into the main current in a charging arc, crossing the eddyline square to the current. As your hips cross the eddyline cut your upstream stern edge into the oncoming current. Also, as you cross the e'line you rotate and use a stern pry stroke on the downstream side, it helps your form to look back at your stern while doing this. This all wants to be a fluid operation. You are not leaning back. You are slicing your stern in diagonally to engage the oncoming current. Modern spud boats have allowed people to just lean back in current and get on end but that is a different thing. I believe the trick was invented by the early squirt boaters and also slalom boaters use it for a quick turn. The term "charging arc" was coined by the great Jim Snyder (godfather of squirt boating) and condensed to "charc". There are some cool tricks that can follow the stern squirt, mostly old school stuff like a "Screw up". 

Hope that helps...


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## yak1 (Jan 28, 2006)

Throw a big rock in the back


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## AlabamaKayaker (Jan 23, 2012)

erdvm1 said:


> open your drain plug


Not funny lol. I wanna stern squirt not die...and or sink


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## leif (Jul 11, 2009)

Man, I remember when the 3D was the hot new boat. My friend sam had one, and nobody else did, and we were all jealous. It was like stern squirting was barely even worth it, because his crazy new boat made it so easy it was like cheating. Those were the days.

Anyway, flash forward to modern times. The stern squirt will be really hard in the 3D because it is sort of long, but you can do it. Don't cave in to the stupid suggestions about putting water or rocks in your boat. Learn to do it right. Your best bet is to find an instructional video from the 90s. They describe everything Phil said, and accompany it with pictures. One thing I would emphasize is to really rotate your torso (from your belly) so that you get a really powerful backsweep. You want to be able to look all the way back at your stern, and even have the option of planting your stroke over on the other side of your stern. The move will be easier on strong eddylines, but you haven't mastered it until you can do it on weak eddylines or even flatwater.


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

*Do the Phil*

Do what Phil said. 

Just add two things. 1) Use you eyes. You can't fake it turn your head and shoulders in the direction you are going.

2) West Virginia "cheat Stick", chock way down on your paddle so that your hand is next to the blade. Try to make your level as long as possible. 

3) Remold your boat. Heat the back deck, trim the rear pillar, and park your car on it (add ice). That's what we did to me the 3D more fun.


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## The_Jackal_Of_Gnar (Dec 14, 2010)

Eat more Big Macs


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## AlabamaKayaker (Jan 23, 2012)

The_Jackal_Of_Gnar said:


> Eat more Big Macs


Ew... rotton ronnies is grody... lol


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## ckspaddler (Sep 25, 2008)

Look for a used XXX if you are not in the market for a new boat. You can go through the motion of squirting vertically (immediate gratification), 360 squirts, bow stalls, flatwater cartwheels, etc...Then take that technique to a bigger boat.
Or look at a Project X 48...That is a really slicey boat. Pretty good down river too for being a play boat...


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## hotchkiss (Jun 17, 2006)

Set up correctly which means: look at the tail when you get ready to squirt and continue looking at it as you make your back stroke toward the bow of your boat. 

Looking at the tail rotates your shoulders to the correct position which will center you on the boat when you create stern resistance by dipping your upstream edge. Setting up correctly prevents you from flopping over if you dig in your stern too deep. 

It is the same technique as throwing a 360 on skis... and it feels just as cool!

These guys are right, if you have a chance, get a shorter boat or one with a scooped out tail.

CKSpaddler, Yak1, Don and Lief, remeber boating in those old 8 and 9 foot boats like a Pirouette SS and Hurricanes and the old Savage boats? mmmmuch harder to squirt, but what a great ride on those super long tails...


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## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

"CKSpaddler, Yak1, Don and Lief, remeber boating in those old 8 and 9 foot boats like a Pirouette SS and Hurricanes and the old Savage boats? mmmmuch harder to squirt, but what a great ride on those super long tails..."

The RPM, the Sleek and a Bigfoot... in reverse order of awesome squirtability.


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## afaust (Jun 14, 2010)

This is for flat water, but there is not a lot of difference in the way your body moves or the way the boat moves under you when doing this on an eddyline. It is easier to do it with current than without. The exact same forces are in play, only you get up speed on flatwater and use the current in a river. 

For a right side squirt on flat water:
1) Get a little speed
2) Lightly forward sweep on the right
3) Let your right boat edge drop beneath the water 
4) At the same time as #3 turn to the left side of your boat and do reverse power stroke. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTWl9IqMdpM


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## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

Yeah that vid gives you the idea. I'm not gonna quibble with the vid but I am gonna take the opportunity to voice an opinion about flatwater stuff. I see a lot of boaters learning tricks in flatwater that are just powering their way through moves with the aid of superior modern designs. That's not necessarily bad cuz it gives the learning boater access to what something feels like. But, frequently I see boaters bring the same sort of power to the rio when in reality rarely is boating about power. It is much more about technique and working with the rio. Here is a video showing the value of technique. Dustin started paddling a squirt boat when he was 13.


http://youtu.be/8ewpNrZAd8M


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## CBrown (Oct 28, 2004)

The Sleek was awesome


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## leif (Jul 11, 2009)

That video is too recent. The Orbitfish or whatever that is is way smaller than the 3D. I think that one of the original ken whiting videos would be more appropriate, since he would demonstrate all his stuff in boats that were not cutting edge even when it was filmed. No matter what technique you have or how strong you are, the 3D is going to be almost impossible to get all the way up on end by squirting on flatwater. 

Oh yeah, and Phil, I must say I look pretty good in your video. Yup, I sit pretty smoothly in an eddy. And man, my color scheme is just spot on.


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

Phil, I remember for sure. That's why you had fewer "play spots" then too. You really had to have a focused push of water to load a long boat properly. This lead to many Ender Rock locations around the country and "Good" squirt lines.

When the XXX came out and all the slicey Dagger boats of the day, it allowed boaters that were comfortable or Vertically Balanced boaters to explore the river bottoms and search for the next generation of play spot. The shorter the boats the more play was offered up. This is what has blurred the perception what defines "good". Now most people are figuring out that "good" can be followed up with "for what type". 

It's these differences that make the world go round. Phil, I'll have a squirt you can jump into at Rincon this year. You in?


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## idahofloater (Feb 23, 2011)

*You can squirt a 3d all day long!*

What ever you do, do NOT buy into the "different boat" therory. Everyone and do mean everyone was hitting squirts in boats like the "godzilla" and "whipit" in the 90's. Just do what is said in the video posted by afaust. You just really need to put your hips into it and drive that stern edge down with attitude. Ya can't pussy foot it down. An nice eddy line helps. good luck


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

*@150?*

At less than 150 lbs and 5.5... No, flatwater stern squirts are going to be damn tough and you're going to have and be perfect to pull in current.

If you want that trick in that boat at your weight, you may need to modify a bit. You can trim some foam out of the back deck, heat and squish it. That's what we did to make 3D's more playful, we thought they were cool because of the footbumps.


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## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

Ahhh, Don, I wish. Squirt boats are contra-indicated by my knee these days. I will try to get to Rincon for the fest. I have a friend who has an RPM so maybe I'll come and see if I can still hit some stern squirts into a screw up, love the feeling of that sequence. 

Right on about the evolution of boats and spots. When we first started boating "Meltdown Madness" came out and we watched it a ton. One of the segments had the boyze trying out the latest/greatest new Wavesport design (I think the Frankenstein) at a spot on the Ark. Ten+ years later my kid is leading me down the Numbers for the first time and we pull into an eddy and I recognized the ender rock from the vid. Now I paddle that section 50+ times a year and very rarely does anyone use that spot that in times past was a destination playspot. That section between 4 and 5 is one of the nicest ELFing sections I've ever paddled... Agree about a small person not getting the 3D vertical in flat water. The boat wasn't designed for that trick. The boy was paddling for Perception back then and Shane was designing, the Shock and Amp were beautiful versions of the XXX, Sleek, Glide etc. I still have an Amp in my quiver back in Maine... 

Yeah, back in the day I watched team Wavesport paddlers doing what you're describing (heat/truck/park/compress) to their boats at the Ottawa. It does come down to the right tool for the job...

I'm in a hurry and outta here but wanted to post a response...

Leif, yer color scheme is inspired... by what I'm not sure...


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