RE: [Paddlewise] How do you hold your paddle?

David Seng wrote:

snip
>   So how about the rest of you - right side up, or upside down?

Ralph Diaz wrote:

If you insist on lifting all that water in holding an asymmetric paddle
blade
upside down, why not go allthe way in inefficiency...I have an old pair of
clunky Klepper paddles to give you. :-)

I assume that is what you are talking about.  Depending on the amount of
asymmetricity, you do wind up carrying a lot of water on the blade as it
comes
out of the water, sorta like shoveling snow.

DS responded -

  Maybe I do something weird when I paddle (I've never had any formal sea
kayak training), but I try to minimize any paddle force in any direction
other than opposite the direction that I want to move in - i.e. I try not to
"lift" water or "push" water.  As a competitive swimmer I was always very
conscious of "paddle" effiency with my strokes and I try to carry that same
attitude and "feel for the water" over into my paddling.  I have always
thought that my "blade angle" when exiting the water was nearly vertical and
thus fairly efficient, but perhaps I'm wrong - I certainly haven't ever
given much thought to the "upside down" part of the paddle on the exit, but
more about how it functions during the initial part of the stroke.  Sounds
as though it would be worthy of more attention and study on my part.  I'd be
interested in hearing more on this issue from other folks on the list who
really focus on paddling efficiency.  I'm usually a pretty easy-going,
laid-back paddler whose eyes tend to glaze over when folks start writing
about the more technical issues of paddle strokes, but this issue has my
interest.

Dave Seng
Juneau, Alaska
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