[Paddlewise] Re Greenland paddles - throw/swing weight

John Winters wrote "the magic in the Greenland paddle may be in the mind"

John males a good point.  Let's define "in the mind."  When I switched from
a Werner paddle to a Greenland paddle, I made real progress in unlearning
bad habits I had picked up, the worst of which was applying too much muscle
to strokes.  For whatever reason, making "decent " speed was always in the
back of my mind.  Now I've learned the lesson of speeding up my stroke rate
rather than muscling each stroke.  I've also, of necessity, brought my
hands closer together.  That has reduced the strain on my arm muscles and
has reduced the amount of force I apply to each stroke. Two weeks ago, when
I took my ww boat out on a local river, I noticed that, even though I was
using my big bladed Wenatchee, I kept my hands inboard instead of sliding
them out for greater leverage.  Just possibly I've learned something.

I have the feeling that, when most of us visit a shop to look at paddles,
the ones in stock have blades that are too large and shafts that are too
long for effective touring.  For example, a Werner Camano is often the
smallest blade I can find.  The shortest length I have found in recent
forays to shops is 230 cm.  No, I can't visit my local Lightning dealer.
The closest one is a most of a day's drive away.

The proper shaft length for me is about 112 cm.  The Werner Little Dipper
is close to the proper blade size for me, so the correct total length would
be 220 cm.  My feathered paddles are all 45 degrees.  So, let's imagine
that I've broken a paddle (the easy way--ran my truck over it).  I travel
50-plus miles up the road to the nearest dealers, and I ask for a
one-piece, unfeathered Little Dipper,  220 cm.  Note that I could
substitute a take-apart, but they won't have it in 220 cm.  All I'll get
from salespersons is stares.  I'll have to special order.  At least I have
some idea of what I need.  I expect the average buyer of a kayak paddle has
less solid information on which to base a decision.

Now let's go back to my Greenland paddle for a minute.  It's 88" (223.5cm)
long, unfeathered, and has small blades.  No one ever comments about the
paddle having unfeathered blades because that's the way Greenland paddles
are.  Add all of this up and John has a strong case:  "the magic in the
Greenland paddle may be in the mind."

Bob

--------------------------------------------------
Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research and Planning
Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311
910-630-7037     rperkins_at_methodist.edu


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