Nick wrote; (SNIP) >There is no magic about the narrow blade which makes it so the >skill learned while using a "Greenland" paddle can not be adapted to good >effect with a wide "Euro" blade and vice-versa. The same laws of physic >apply. All paddles function in the same universe and anything you can do >with one paddle you can find a similar function with a different paddle. >The different paddles will do things differently, but in the end they are >still paddles with more similarities than differences. I concur with Nick on this as my tinkering with paddles suggests that techniques are relatively interchangeable with paddles so long as basic characteristics remain constant. The one possible exception would be the true racing wing due to its unique shape. The relative effectiveness of the different paddles may vary but they still seem to work adequately well. (all subjective of course). I have a project underway right now testing the various strokes with a variety of blade styles that I hope to finish soon. So far the most interesting paddle has a blade half way between the common high and low aspect ratio paddles narrow with a short overall length that one sues like a racing wing. It consistently produces more speed for the same effort ( as determined using the Borg Scale for perceived effort) and has the added benefit of being lighter than most paddles. An equally interesting paddle if only because I have had a lot of difficulty getting it shaped properly is a wing blade with convex surfaces front and back. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jul 16 1999 - 05:07:41 PDT
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