Concept of Boofing

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[Derek]
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Concept of Boofing

Post by [Derek] » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:31 pm

So this year I was working in Slovenia again, I was Kayaking with some friends.
Some of them had an amazing boof.. so we were talking about everyones technique on boofing and what worked for them....

So I am curious how some of you guys boof...
What works for you??

Also what is your feet doing, your hips, upper body, your head.

paddy
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by paddy » Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:04 am

still, haven't figured it out yet then Dido?

[Derek]
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by [Derek] » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:37 pm

paddy wrote:still, haven't figured it out yet then Dido?
Nah man, its too hard!! :D

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Seanie
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by Seanie » Tue Oct 19, 2010 11:46 am

Wow its quiet here... :)
I've seen lots of people boofing. It seems like lots of people have different techniques.

At its simplest its lifting the nose of the kayak. But the approach, timing, posture and the stroke will vary from paddler to padder, drop to drop, and boat to boat. Which makes sense. Boofing requires a different approach for each different drop. There might be more volume on one drop than another, it might not have a defined lip. The kayaker might be short or tall, the boat maybe short or long, etc. etc.

So basically I think its a very individual move.

Below are some of the best references for boofing on the internet. If it were me, I'd watch the two videos. Find a nice fall to practice (I used the Top Drop on the Glens, the weir beside the rock garden on the Boluisce and Ennistymon Falls) and set up for a few hours of Boofing. Start small and work your way up.

Boofing isn't just for waterfalls. An American kayaker, whos name escapes me at the moment, said that he would try and boof every little rock with water running over it as he made his way down the river. I've tried to do this on some of my local rivers, its great fun and its great for working on timing and and speed. (nots so god for your hull..)
Chris J wrote:Boof [buf] v. 1. to lift the bow of a kayak or other craft, without diving the stern, in order to either avoid pitching forward off of a drop, or to climb the boat up on top of an oncoming feature. The term is credited to Phil Coleman and popularized(?) by William Nealy, and refers to the noise a boat makes upon landing. Originally called 'ski jumping' and 'pancaking'. n. 1. a place or feature from which to launch. 2. The product of such a launch.
How To Boof with Billy Harris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK2-1mmMGOI[/video]

This video gives a good run through, hitting on a lot of points that are skipped over in most boofing tutorials.

I would have also added one extra point before step 4. After you have made the initial boof move as outlined in step 3, leaning forward and bringing up your knees can further flatten out your boat or maintain the flatness.

Some people get really confused at this point, one guy says lean back, one guy says lean forward!! Well it boils down the timing when you do either of these things during the boof maneuver.

More on boofing at 8m 15sec in Simon Westgarths - Genes Whitewater instructional video.
http://vimeo.com/15658939[/video]

But if you want an even more detailed guide check out Chris J's article on Boofing:
http://www.chrisj.winisp.net/articles/boofing.htm

Hope this helps.

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jimkennedy
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by jimkennedy » Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:25 pm

The thing I see people getting wrong most often when boofing is the timing of the last pull stroke on the lip. Watch the above videos but bear in mind that often you'll need to 'interrupt' the cycles of your arm rotations to ensure that the pulling blade is engaged on the lip.

When you're churning your arms in the rotation from a few meters away to the lip, it's unlikely that you'll get the timing exactly right on arrival every time. If the pulling blade is going to be too late for the lip, don't be afraid to speed up the rotation; if the pulling blade is going to be too early for the lip, don't be afraid to 'freeze frame' and wait for the correct moment.

The single most important aspect of boofing is to engage the pulling blade exactly on the lip; otherwise the boof won't work, regardless of whether or not you get all the other components right.

As Seanie says, practice. I don't think you need to find a waterfall or drop for the practice though. Boofing works on any little rock drop of even a foot in height - there are dozens of spots on the Annamoe, say. Set yourself a target of keeping the nose of your boat dry by boofing everything on the Annamoe next time out.

Jim.

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Seanie
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by Seanie » Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:16 am

Oh and I forgot I posted this link a while back, its a great article.
http://whitewaterinstruction.wordpress. ... /the-boof/

canned
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Re: Concept of Boofing

Post by canned » Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:46 pm

I've found that spotting your landing really helps (same as looking where you want to get to in any technique).

Also, thinking compressing forward as a lifting of the knees rather than throwing yourself forward.

Talked with Ali Donald about this in the past and he pointed out something interesting - that it's not just about looking styled and getting beyond the base of the drop, it's also about safety. You just don't know what might be lurking in an eddy so boofing/flaring helps by keeping you on the surface.

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