Re: [Paddlewise] Re paddles (fwd)

Jim

Ohho ... I suspect I may have opened a can of worms here with my discussion
with John Winters. 

Here is a reply if you think it is worth posting!

Dear Bob,

If the flatwater canoe and kayak clubs in your area are anything like the
ones in Australia, there should be a coach who has at least some experience
with correct paddling technique, especially with prop or wing blades, and
my experience is that he/she will help you free of charge.  That is
certainly the way we operate here in Canberra.  The first step is to rock
up at a flatwater club and ask.  Bear in mind that flatwater coaches often
do not have much idea of all the conditions sea kayakers experience and
will probably be totally fixated on making boats go fast, so some time is
needed to familiarise them with your specific needs.

Regarding video taping ... it is a great tool.  With regard to "models" to
copy ... Australian Canoeing has technique video tapes and posters for
sale.  If you are interested I can send you more details.  US Kayak also
has tapes, I believe they are produced by, or at least show, Greg Barton,
at work (Greg is the only USA Kayaker to win back to back gold at an
Olympic Sprint meet).  I suspect Canadian Kayak do too.  Again I have
contact email addresses for the above if you are from these areas and
interested.

About fitting paddles to paddlers or paddlers to paddles ... My experience
is that the guidelines are really quite broad and, in my arena, they have
been wrong more than once!  The ideal situation is to have a collection of
different paddles available for the beginer ... paddles with different
shaft lengths and different size blades and also an ability to alter blade
angle.  Let the beginner muck about until they find something they feel
comfortable with.  Then work on technique for a few months.  At this stage
of technique learning, the paddlers is learning the general basics ... the
kinds of things that are pretty much standard across paddles of a given
general shape (and I'd define there being two general shapes - flat and
prop - although I am a bit out of touch with the latest in flat blade
design, how ever I suspect they work the same at first cut).  Then go back
and relook at the paddle size, shape and angle.  

This is an iterative process ... technique does not lead the paddle and
paddle does not lead the learning of efficient technique.  They interact
with each other and with the natural optimisation process that the paddler
inacts to produce an efficient end result.  I have had several paddlers who
started off with one kind of prop blade design and loved it.  Then they
became stronger and in the next iteration tried a more "powerful" design
and never went back.  Their style changed slightly to accomodate the new
blade design but mainly in the fine-tuning mode.

As a coach gets more experienced, he/she is able to circumvent some of the
iteration based on the requirements of the student.  I am sure that some of
this experience is there in your club or group ... someone just has to
accumulate it!

I would be interested in seeing such an accumulation of paddle length and
size for flat and prop blades for the sea kayaking environment.  For
flatwater paddling I use the following general ideas ... for a flat blade,
the length should be quite long ... stand barefeet on the ground and reach
up, your fingers should just curl over the top of the blade; for a prop
blade, the top of the blade should be around the top of the thumb joint.  I
am abit out of touch with current flat blade sizes, but I would start small
and move upwards depending on strength, and strength is biceps, triceps,
forearm, wrist, and latimus muscles for flat blades.  For prop blades, the
paddler also needs strong long and short bicep tendons and greater latimus
muscle strength.  Prop blades pack quite a punch but most respectable
agents will tell you the sizes that are appropriate for kids, women and
small men, and then the large man variety.  I have those numbers somewhere
if anyone is interested.  You can tell if someone is too strong for the
paddle.  They will be able to pull it through the water easily, creating
slurps and pockets of air immediately behind the blade.  Be careful though
because the same can occur if the blade is not put into the water at the
correct angle to the direction of the boat.

In general, with any paddle, if you want to rate high, you use a short
paddle and if you want to rate low, you use a longer paddle shaft.  If you
have strength to spare, you use a larger effective blade area.  I have
found though that if the intention is to make the boat go as fast a
possible with minimum effort, there is a balance between rating and power
and several combinations will do the trick.  The most efficient one
inevitably depends on the paddler and what he/she likes or believes in.  

There are no truths, we are dealing with a complex human machine and
experimentation is the name of the game.

Margi Bohm
Flatwater Coach
Burley Griffin Canoe Club
Canberra, Australia




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