Joshua I can't provide any specific evaluation/analysis on your stroke, but my personal boat/speed comparisons might help resolve a part of your problem. I own two boats -- a Current Designs Solstice ST and a Romany Explorer. I primarily use an Aqua Bond Expedition AMT 230cm stick. I've been paddling for four years and consider myself to be fairly strong on technique. I'm 48 and in good shape. For speed checks I use a Garmin 12XL GPS. In the same water environment, using the Expedition paddle, with no change in technique and about the same level of exertion [90 percent], I can move the Solstice along at about 5.5-5.8 mph -- sustained. The Romany is a different story altogether. All elements the same, the Explorer moves through the water at about 4.5 - 4.7. Bottom line -- and I knew this when I bought the Romany -- is that it is not a fast boat by design. Incredibly agile in big water, yes, but by no means a barn burner in the speed category! Hope this helps! Jim Tynan Pike Road AL *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joshua, To improve your speed you need some device to measure your speed. Some people use a knotmeter. I use a GPS. I keep track of my time and distance with the GPS even though it gives a rough estimate of speed. I usually see how far I go in an hour. Makes things easier. When I first started paddling what I thought was the best stroke turned out to be slow and wasteful of energy/effort. Once I was able to measure my effort/stroke I found I could paddle faster, farther, and easier with the proper technique. To keep up the fastest stroke is hard, as much from the physical effort as the mental effort. Get a device to measure your speed and go paddling. I think you will find you can improve your stroke fairly easily <Going Back To Lurk Mode> Dan FindingWaysToBe EfficientWithAChainSawAndTractorInsteadOfAPaddle McCarty *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
There's two ways to get faster. 1. Technique. Learn how to get your whole torso working for you. Watch some videos and perhaps take a lesosn or two. 2. Work out. I like to think I have good technique, but I'm a bicyclist. All thigh and no upper body ;-) I try to do some lifting or other excercise before paddling season starts. -- mike ------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://www.foldingkayaks.org http://www.findascope.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Yeah! Jim thanks for confirming the Romany is a bit slower than the Solstice! In our kayak club these are the two most popular boats. The Solstice has more length on the water line and I think the rocker and Skeg box on the Romany slow it a bit more as well. Now I can rest assured that I am not just another turtle. That said technique is still the main part of the equation. When our club did a two mile sprint race the fastest boat a Solstice SS finished at an average pace of 6.2 miles per hour, and I finished as an out of shape later 30s weekend warrior at 6.0 miles per hour. All the advice about keeping your torso tilted bit forward, good torso rotation, focusing on the catch so you get power from the very beginning of the stroke is good. However the mistake that I see most beginners making that drastically hurts their efficiecy is that they try too hard! When they want to go fast they yank hard on the paddle which usually results in a lot of splash and energy wasted in turbulance, and very often a stroke that is long on bent arm pulling and short on the balanced push/pull torso power that we all strive for... Worst of all this short violent yank of the paddle makes the boat shoot forward in a sudden surge of speed and since the effort required to move the boat at progressively higher speeds is exponential, trying to surge your kayak from 5 miles per hour to 10 with a mighty yank of the paddle is like hitting a brick wall - it ain't gonna happen. I try to get students to focus on smooth steady pressure on the paddle blade. You want to pull hard and fast enough to "catch" the water so you can pull your boat past the blade without much slipping, but not pull so hard that you force the blade to slip or make the hull speed surge up and down. A great drill for this is to pick a safe place to paddle and close your eyes for ten or more strokes and focus on how the paddle feels. This paddle sensitivity also helps paddlers learn to go straight without having to constantly do turning strokes to correct. Night paddling is great for this also if you can safely run for a bit without any lights. Paddle feel is everything when it comes to deliverying smooth steady power. You need to keep the paddle working as much as possible with steady force that is just enough to get good propulsion, but not enough to make it slip and thrash the water. To pick up speed just boost the cadence and when you get up to 65-70 strokes a minute you will either die of exhaustion or decide you need some big Greg Barton style racing blades. Blade size and shaft length are to some degree personal since the size and length that is optimal will depend on how vertical a stroke you chose to use and how fast a cadence you feel comfortable using at a give power level. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Something I have heard and my personal but limited experience confirms is that the paddle (and technique) are way more important than the hull design. Though certainly the hull is a significant part of the total picture, efficiently putting the limited power available from your muscles into forward motion is actually the majority of this picture. It would be like building a race car and ignoring the engine, building an airplane and ignoring the propeller on it, etc. Knowing something about fluid mechanics, and early on experimenting with both "modern" and native style paddles, my personal experience is that certain native style paddles (not all of them) are way more efficient than the "Euro" style paddles. Though they are much more sensitive to technique. Since I did not have any deeply entrenched habits from extensive modern paddle use, I easily adapted to the "stick" paddle and found it a joy to use, and much more efficient and powerful than a modern one. Once you learn how to use the narrow blade I think it becomes automatic and technique is not an issue. If you simply try out a native paddle, switching from using a modern one without instruction nor sufficient time to get to know it, you will likely be disappointed and wonder how anyone could use such a useless stick as a paddle. For myself, after a number of trips with native paddles, if I try a Euro paddle, I wonder how anyone could use or even make such a poor design. It has been my casual observation that most recreational paddlers use poor technique, and that nearly all of the commonly available recreational paddles are not of very efficient design. There seems to be a preoccupation with weight and strength, rather than with proper blade design. And after more than a few conversations with modern paddle makers it is pretty obvious to me most do not have a clue about the fluid mechanics of what makes the paddle work. Unfortunately it is a very complex relationship between the shape, the fluid motion across the blade, and the properties of the fluid. What works best with both technique and blade shape do not easily yield to intuitive understanding. Needless to say that thousands of years of development at the hands of natives in some of the most challenging climates has yielded a remarkably good paddle and techniques, far superior to most modern designs. Give the native narrow paddle a serious look and you may be surprised at what you find. Peter *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:20 PDT