Re: [Paddlewise] Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 07:06:06 -0400

I think the marathon coach's analogy of forward strokes being like a series of
posts up to which one pulls (rotates) is helpful for teaching, but I believe
that it is mistaken to take what the coach only intended to be an analogy and
use it as the basis for claiming that paddle shape is irrelevant, as Laurie has
done.  To my students I describe braces as spreading peanut butter on toast,
but this does not mean that they should lick their paddles.  When I was first
learning sprint canoeing, the pull phase of the stroke was described to me as
******* the paddle, but much to the relief of my girlfirend, I did not take
this too literally either.  (That being said, I have yet to find a boat or
paddle whith which I could not have fun.)

Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper
My time in purgatory has ended -- I'm moving to Thunder Bay on Superior!!!!!!

John Winters wrote:

> Laurie wrote;
>
> >Hi fellow paddlers,
> >                        I can't believe the hipe about paddles that is
> going
> >on. Last year I attended a session on a beach where one of the countries
> top
> >Marathon coaches was talking about paddling efficiently. One thing he said
> >was that the paddle does not actually move through the water, it is very
> >much like having a long series of posts set in concrete under the water -
> >you reach forward with your left hand and pull yourself and kayak forward,
> >then reach forward with the right hand and pull forward again.
> >
> >If he is right, and next time you are out paddling along at a reasonable
> >speed put your paddle in next to a stationary floating object - you will
> see
> >that it does barely move more than a inch or so. So if he is right, then
> it
> >logically follows that the shape is irrelevant - all you need is some area
> >of blade that will not move through the water. Maybe a couple of table
> >tennis bats on the end of a piece of broom handle would be just as good as
> >half the fancy paddles out there.
> (SNIP)
>
> He is wrong.
>
> Cheers,
> John Winters
> Redwing Designs
> Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
> http://home.ican.net/~735769/
>
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