Well, folks, seems I generated some discussion... I want to thank all those who contributed backchannel and here as well (Dave Kruger, Jim Tynan, Dan McCarty, Dave Flory, Barbara Kossy, Brian Blankinship, Kathleen Dillon, Kirk Olsen, Steve Scherrer, Michael Daly, Michael Edelman, Doug Lloyd, Bill Hansen, wanewman, Joan, Vince Dalrymple...) Dave Kruger commented that I might not be exerting myself enough; after consideration, I think he is right. On Friday's paddle I did so, and kept up better, for short periods. I definitely think some conditioning is in order. Of course, others cautioned against overexertion, for health reasons, and others suggested that it is necessary to "look at the herons" as well. They are right too. It just depends what kind of paddling you are doing. Our standard paddles are either south from Hertzliyyah toward Jaffa or north towards Netanya. The scenery is quite familiar, and what makes it interesting is the varied sea conditions. Some of our guys, however, are out there for the conditioning, and they really pour it on. Jed hit the spirit of my post on the button: "I'm Josh and I'm a slowpoke!" "Hi Josh!" you all replied, right out of an AA meeting! I noticed that my post also brought some fellow slowpokes into the confessional... For us gearheads, Jed's suggestion of a knotmeter is very useful. (BTW, my beloved Israeli BCU instructors LOVE to make fun of the American passion for gear...). Jed and Dave Flory both suggested a more vertical stroke, with Dave adding "I've found that the most powerful part of the stroke is the beginning of it: "As Brent Reitz puts it, "the plant", spear the paddle into the water so that the whole blade is submerged _before_ you do any pulling on the paddle. Then pull 'til the hand is next to your hip and slide the blade, sideways, out of the water. This results in a moderately short stroke, and the paddle comes out of the water sideways/edgeways not lifting water on the flat of the blade." I tried leaning forward and doing this as well; with added effort, it did improve my stroke on Friday. As several suggested, I will be trying a narrower blade. I'm sure it will take me a while to settle in on what blade really fits my stroke style... Kathleen, I enjoyed your hilarious post on the AbDoer; yes, it is even on the Israeli shopping tour! I hate situps too, and, wow, more gear! I hadn't considered Kirk's suggestions of drafting, riding wakes, etc.. Hmmm.. Thanks again to you all; its great to have this "space." Josh ============================================================================== Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Research Fellow Tel: [972] 3-640-6448 Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and Fax: [972] 3-641-5802 African Studies Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978 Israel E-mail:teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il www.dayan.org ============================================================================== *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Feb 04 2001 - 02:12:28 PST
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