Among other things "Scheckman/Hackbarth" scheckmn_at_together.net asked: 2. He is left handed but has used right hand control and right handed feathering. Feather opposite handedness is probably the best way anyway but he should probably stick with it if he has already developed reflexive bracing this way. 3. He has a hard time pivoting the paddle because of his stiff wrists. For example it is hard to do a high brace on the left side with right hand control. When going back to paddling on the right the blade angle is in the wrong position, at times causing him to roll over. I'd go even further than Michael (who advocated LOW HAND CONTROL for everything but the forward stroke) and suggest controlling the paddle with the hand nearest the active blade at nearly all times including the forward stroke. To save me time the following is culled from the "Paddling" manual on our website (there is also lots more related info there for those who care to visit): "All of the strokes and braces are the most powerful when you are pulling one arm back as though your forearm is a rope tied to the paddle by your fingers and your pushing hand pushes directly in line with your forearm and wrist. The paddle shaft, your wrist and your elbow should all be in a straight line with your elbow leading (when pulling) or pushing directly behind your hand much like making a straight punch. Any bend or angle (more commonly seen with the pushing arm) will weaken a strokes power and effectiveness. Think of it as giving your strokes and braces an added punch. Worse, bending your wrist either back or side to side can lead to repetitive stress injuries. To minimize the stress on your wrists do not bend the wrist back to "control" a feathered paddle (as is almost universally taught) and also hold the paddle with as loose a grip as you can. With any feather your wrists should also not bend side to side to follow the changing shaft angle throughout the stroke. In other words, the shaft should pivot in your hand and not bend your wrist. This is important whether you paddle feathered or unfeathered. With any feather angle control the blade with the hand nearest the water and relax the upper hand so the paddle can rotate in the hand that is pushing. This way you don't bend your wrist when paddling feathered and you do not have to lift your elbow out like a boxer's hook if you paddle unfeathered (to take out the 45 degree rotation you put on the blade by lifting the upper hand from your elbow). With any feather it is more efficient to push with your elbow starting at your side and the key to doing this is LOW HAND control. Tip: if you hold the paddle loosely between strokes the rotating moment you put on it while lifting can be used to spin it a little further into position with needing to bend your wrist at all. A good paddle will also make this adjustment to the angle if necessary as the blade enters the water. If you have to physically immobilize your wrists with braces or tape until you learn to paddle without bending them, do it.. They will thank you for it later." 6. While he would like a blade that is suitable for a strong paddler, he also wants one that will provide easy paddling when he is sore and tired. I'd worry more about the length of the paddle than the blade area for this reason. The longer lever arm on a long paddle puts more strain on ones body during the stroke. Think of climbing a hill in too high a gear on a bicycle. If you try to make the blade too small the slippage in the water will cause the blade to be more squirrelly (and if narrower increase the flutter rate when strongly pulled). Considering all this, the questions that have come up are: 1.. Should the issues with his body be an over whelming reason to by an AT paddle? Not at all. My experience is that unfeathered paddlers are the ones who like the AT the best. As a feathered paddler I was annoyed by having my hand that is pushing (on the non-control side) pried open by the bent shaft and strong oval combination of that shaft. An unfeathered paddler (or one using a feather angle that is stroke neutral for them--like 45 degrees) will not have this problem and can enjoy the great hand fit of this very ovalled shaft. . 2.. Which of these paddles has a grip more suitable for bigger hands and provides positive location? I have huge hands but all these (and most other shafts with reasonable amount of oval) work well for me using the techniques in our "Paddling Skills" manual. With my technique I am usually holding the paddle very loosely anyhow so this is not an issue. Holding the paddle too tightly and bending your pushing wrist are the usual causes of wrist problems. I started kayaking with wrist problems from too many hard pole plants in icy moguls (before I conceived of the shock absorber ski pole). I had to develop a low hand control technique or give up paddling with feathered paddles as a result very early in my sea kayaking life. Haven't had any serious paddling related wrist problems since (even on the day we paddled 70 miles). 3.. All offer different size blades. Should he get the larger blade? No, nothing much to gain unless maybe your into extremes of acceleration to catch waves to surf. In which case I'd switch to a much shorter paddle (under 205cm) like my WW paddle to lower the gear for fast starts. Lots to loose like having it blown about more in strong winds. This will get worse the longer the paddle is because the blade will be further away and less in control of your hand. 4.. Should he get a paddle feathered at 45 degrees, go unfeathered, or try left hand control to deal with his wrist pivoting problem? Before anyone switches to 45 to 60 degrees I'd suggest they try it out in a 25+ knot wind to see how they will like it then. Same advice for anyone thinking of paddling unfeathered for that matter. Headwind problems pretty much go away with feathers greater than 70 degrees. Same advice for anyone thinking of buying the biggest blades or even a longer paddle. Try it in a high wind! 5.. Do you sacrifice anything with a bent like is it harder to do low braces? Other than what I said above about prying my hand open when feathering (and a little more trouble shifting your hands around on the paddle-such as, to widen your hand position in order to lower your gear for acceleration or paddling into strong winds) none that I can think of. 6.. Any thoughts or recommendations? Test them out before buying, or better yet get a return guarantee for a reasonable testing time on the paddle you choose to buy. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jul 13 2002 - 19:46:09 PDT
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