RE: [Paddlewise] AT Paddle

 
I can't speak for the AT paddle, but I have noticed a similar phenomina with
my epic excalibur wing paddle.  A wing paddle, for those of you who haven't
used one, is a paddle specialized for racing.  The blades are bent at a
slight, but weird twisted angle and the blade itself is shaped like a
scooped out airfoil.  They are great for making well executed forward
strokes.  They are terrible at sweep strokes, correction strokes or just
about any other kind of stroke.

I took my wing to the pool to see what it would be like to roll with a wing
paddle.  I was expecting it to be very difficult.  I was really surprised,
however, at what I found. You have to make sure the blade is oriented
correctly, but once that's taken care of, its incredibly easy to roll with
the wing paddle.  I found it almost like doing a paddle float roll -- it was
that easy.  

After I thougt about it for  a while, It kind of made sense that it would be
so much easier.  The wing paddle gives you an incredible bite into the
water.  Also, when sweeping across the water's surface, the lift component
points straight up and provides even more resistance to pulling the blade
down as you roll up.

So I'm not surprised you would find different paddles impacting how easy a
roll is.  Especially if you're like me and depend a bit too much on the
paddle during the roll (something I'm learning as I pathetically try to get
my hand roll).

--Tim


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