How To Flatwater Tricky Woo

Following on from my previous tutorials I’ll be explaining how to flatwater Tricky Woo. This is a trick I’ve been able to do for a while on my right, but learning how to do it on my left reminded me how confusing it can be and how a few little tips here and there can really help speed up the learning process. To be able to Tricky Woo you need to know how to double pump (which I made a tutorial on here – https://patrickyak.blog/2020/05/08/how-to-double-pump/) and ideally how to Split-wheel, however the latter isn’t strictly speaking necessary as the motion is slightly different. A Tricky Woo is worth 160 points and it’s ICF definition is “at least three consecutive ends beginning on the bow, each at a vertical angle of between 45° and 100°. The first three ends are linked together by at least a 160° horizontal rotation near the vertical point of the end on the long axis. The two rotations must flow in the same direction. The first three ends are performed with one paddle blade only.” This is quite wordy, so if you’re confused don’t worry – it’ll become clearer when I start to explain it and if you check out my Instagram (on the bottom left) there are some relevant videos there.

• Step 1 – paddle forwards and then do a double pump (in this case on your right). Instead of thinking about doing a forward-backwards pump, think of doing a forwards-backwards-out pump; this will help a lot when it comes to achieving the 160° horizontal rotation.
• Step 2 – as soon as the boat nears vertical, start to stand up. As you’re doing this pull your left knee in towards your paddle and push your right knee out behind you. When combined with the forwards-backwards-out paddle motion the boat should begin to rotate the required 160°.
• Step 3 – you’ve now standing up with the boat rotating around your right paddle blade. As the boat falls into the second end you need to do 3 things. Number 1, slice the paddle blade all the way back ready to pull the second end round. Number 2, make sure you land edging hard to the right so that the stern end goes vertical (as was required for the twist). Number 3, stay leaning back/standing up.

• Step 4 – you land hard with a right-side edge, you’re still leaning back and you’ve got your right paddle blade ahead of the rotation – this should set you up perfectly for a stern end raised above the required 45°. Now you need to do 4 things at the same time. Number 1, look over your right shoulder because the boat will always follow your lead. Number 2, pull your right knee in towards you while pushing away with your left knee (the opposite of before). Number 3, use the power face of your right paddle blade to pull the boat around – think about bringing your right knee and your right paddle blade together. Number 4, sit up – this crunching motion will help swing the boat around 160° but it will also keep the bow above 45° to score the trick.
• Step 5 – the boat should now have twisted around and the bow will start to fall towards the water. At this point you want to make sure that the bow is underneath you to complete the final end without going over-vertical. To do this keep pulling on your right knee and tuck in your right elbow so that you can push down on the right-side paddle blade at the required moment.

• Step 6 – the boat should now be under you and your right paddle blade is in a good position to slam the bow under the water. Push down hard with your right paddle blade and look over your right shoulder to complete the third end.
• Step 7 – To make sure you finish flat (and avoid an accidental fourth end) push down with your left paddle blade as the stern starts to drop and crunch forwards to flatten off the stern.

Congratulations, you’ve just done a flatwater Tricky Woo for the first time! I hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful, if you’d like to be emailed next time I post be sure to sign up below!