The support/brace strokes can help you avoid capsizing.
Another type of kayaking stroke that is often overlooked are the support/brace strokes. These strokes exist to help you gain some more control over your kayak if you are having trouble, or if you are in an area where the water has started to get rougher.
Essentially, you should learn these strokes if you are going to be going on any major kayak tours. You can learn the strokes by practicing them often (usually in a pool or lake with smooth, calm water), or by taking a class that will teach kayaking basics.
While the support/brace strokes are important to keep you from capsizing, you should also make sure that you know what to do after you capsize. From the wet exit to several different roll moves, it’s important to be prepared for the chances that your support strokes don’t work to keep you upright.
However, while you should be able to learn the different moves after you capsize, the brace strokes will work most times. It’s important to realize, however, that they are far more difficult than most other strokes to learn, so you will probably need to practice them far more than you would strokes like the forward or reverse strokes.
There are two basic support moves, the low brace and the high brace. You may not need to know how to do both strokes, however, you will always be better off if you know how to do both strokes. That way, if you’re ever in a situation where one of them is not possible, you’ll have a different technique that you can try instead.
