>> I don't know that anyone has done much with small blades and a more vertical stroke. Always it seems to be small blades on long shafts (Greenland) or large blades on short shafts (racing and white water) . This is not really a fair comparison. From a purely mechanical standpoint, the stroke closer to the boat wastes less energy (less wasted on turning moment). From a purely biomechanical standpoint the more vertical stroke promotes more body rotation and use of torso muscles while making best use of the arms for maximum push and pull. It would seem to me that one might get best results using a small blade that did not stress muscles an a short paddle with a more upright stroke for greatest efficiency. The Greenland style of stroke may be a product of its length and poor physics. It may work because of the blade size and nothing else. This fits with what Jerry is saying - adjust the stroke to suit the paddle. The big question is, does the stroke control paddle choice or does the paddle choice control stroke? Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ >> ************************************************************************** * I don't think of the Greenland paddle as a long paddle. Mine, which is made to my dimensions using traditional methods, is about 218 cm long. The blades are narrow but long (9.5 cm by 89 cm). And if you look at old films of Greenlanders, such as Knud Rasmussen's "Palos Brudefaerd," you do see torso rotation. You also see both a low forward stroke and a high forward stroke in that film. The higher, more vertical, stroke was used when more power was needed. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 03 1998 - 08:45:33 PST
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