Early in January I developed a sore arm because I did what, for me, was a lot of paddling in a short period of time after missing the entire month of December. At the time the soreness developed, I was using a Werner Quest 203 (45 degrees of feather) when I paddled my Dagger Meridian and a Werner Wenatchee 206 (45 degrees of feather) when I paddled my Prijon Taifun. As the soreness persisted into the spring months, in late April I purchased a Greenland paddle from Superior Kayaks. Since then I have used the Greenland paddle with the Meridian and the Wenatchee on the few trips I've made with the Taifun. My arm is much better now. I've finally learned the low angle stroke that supposedly goes with the Greenland paddle and I find that I can go along at a steady pace as long as I need to. That short, low angle stroke doesn't bother my right arm, even if it is already sore. When I take my Taifun out on a river, I can do a couple of hours of paddling with the Wenatchee and, while my right arm is sore the next day, I'm fine the day after that. What caused the problem initially was trying to push too hard. I developed an unbalanced stroke, too much sweep on the left and digging too deep on the right. Using the Greenland paddle has helped me rebalance my stroke. I find that I'm able to use the Wenatchee without falling back into the bad form that got me in trouble. I like the oil-finished Greenland paddle. I use a variety of strokes, switching from the short, low angle stroke to a longer, higher angle stroke is restful if I don't overdo it. I've learned a very high angle sprint stroke that gets me to top speed in a hurry and enables me to go full tilt for a quarter mile or so if I need speed. If I hadn't developed a sore arm, I would still be using my Quest nearly every trip. I had paddled with it for most of a year and enjoyed using it. This winter I'm going to work with the Quest to see if I can use it without falling back into bad habits. That means not trying to go places in a hurry, taking time to examine my stroke periodically, and generally enjoying being on the water. Bob -------------------------------------------------- Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Research and Planning Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311 910-630-7037 rperkins_at_methodist.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>. As the soreness persisted into the spring months, in late April I purchased a >Greenland paddle from Superior Kayaks. Since then I have used the >Greenland paddle with the Meridian and the Wenatchee on the few trips I've >made with the Taifun. > >My arm is much better now. I've finally learned the low angle stroke that >supposedly goes with the Greenland paddle and I find that I can go along at >a steady pace as long as I need to. >I like the oil-finished Greenland paddle. I use a variety of strokes, >switching from the short, low angle stroke to a longer, higher angle stroke >is restful if I don't overdo it. I've learned a very high angle sprint >stroke that gets me to top speed in a hurry and enables me to go full tilt >for a quarter mile or so if I need speed. > I recently bought the same Greenland paddle from Superior. I like the oil finish also. However, I keep getting a blister on my left hand. Rotating the paddle from left to right, or turning it over, doesn't help. I can't decide if I prefer the heavier wood Greenland to either of my 2, much lighter, graphite narrow blade paddles. (Eddyline Windswift, old style Werner Little Dipper.) I use the same low stroke with all of them. The wood paddle seems nicer for surfing and sculling. But for travelling I think I prefer the graphite lightness. Jerry *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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