It is certainly correct that technique can mitigate the effects of feather on the joints. There is one variable, however, that hasn't been mentioned--the amount of power applied during the stroke. The more power, the harder it is on the joints, especially the wrist of the control hand. . Here, good paddling technique works against mitigating injury. Agressive torso rotation, because it is so powerful, puts greater stress on the joints than agressive arm paddling. That is especially true if the power comes from an agressive catch (which takes advantage of the wound-up torso) rather than an agressive finish (where it is mostly arm power). I can only speak for myself, but I had to go to an unfeathered paddle, both for WW and sea kayaking to cure my 'tennis elbow'. Admittedly, I've always been an agressive torso rotator, even when cruising in my sea kayak, and my 30 year-old brain still refuses to cut any slack for my 60 year-old joints, so I am probably the exception, but..... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Clark Bowlen <cbowlen_at_snet.net> wrote: >>>It is certainly correct that technique can mitigate the effects of feather on the joints. There is one variable, however, that hasn't been mentioned--the amount of power applied during the stroke. The more power, the harder it is on the joints, especially the wrist of the control hand. Here, good paddling technique works against mitigating injury. Aggressive torso rotation, because it is so powerful, puts greater stress on the joints than aggressive arm paddling. That is especially true if the power comes from an aggressive catch (which takes advantage of the wound-up torso) rather than an aggressive finish (where it is mostly arm power).<<<< This is not much of a problem if one keeps the pushing wrist and arm straight so the bones stack up to take the load rather than try to transmit the power through bent joints. For more details see the "Paddling" Manual on our website. >>>I can only speak for myself, but I had to go to an unfeathered paddle, both for WW and sea kayaking to cure my 'tennis elbow'. Admittedly, I've always been an aggressive torso rotator, even when cruising in my sea kayak, and my 30 year-old brain still refuses to cut any slack for my 60 year-old joints, so I am probably the exception, but.....<<<< I had to modify my technique from what I was taught (and is still commonly taught) to prevent wrist problems when I started Sea Kayaking after a background in river kayaking. The technique I had been taught was that one feathered by bending the wrist back. Never had wrist problems again once I discovered (by necessity) not bend my wrist to feather the paddle. Low hand control rather than right or left hand control is what I now suggest. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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