RE: [Paddlewise] Greenland Style Paddles

On Fri, 3 Sep 2004 14:37:59 -0400, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com said:
>
>
> > I think so.  When I switch from my greenland style paddle to my euro
> > paddle the euro paddle feels like a shovel on the end of a stick.
>
> Okay... long narrow Greenland versus short fat Euro... I can see the
> "Shovel" analogy.

The shovel analogy was stolen from a recent discussion with someone
else. "Barn Door" is more the feel difference to me ;-)  I feel like I
need
to use more finesse to get strokes to work properly with the greenland
paddle.  So when I switch to the euro paddle I lose the feel of the
paddle slipping through the water and it feels like there's a big ole
barn door floating on the surface that I can push off to get
something accomplished.

> And those who paddle Greenland all say that it's an easier stroke once
> you get accustomed to it.  But beyond that, would you consider the
> Euro style to be strength oriented?

To me it's easier to relate the stroke difference to bicycling.  The
greenland uses a higher cadence and less muscle power for each stroke,
but you trade off using nearly twice as many strokes.  Once you adjust
to the higher cadence it _feels_ easier because each individual stroke
takes less effort.  Think back to riding a single speed bicycle.  Sure
you _could_ ride up a hill, but it's a heck of a lot easier to ride up
a hill with a lower gear.

> All my learning has taught me that if you're using strength, you've
> got a problem with your  technique.  Perhaps I'm taking the work
> "strength" too literally.

With technique it doesn't take as much muscle and the muscles that you
need for a "good" stroke are different from the muscles used by someone
who is driving the paddle with strength.  The typical bicep stroke
used by most beginners versus the torso rotation of someone who no
longer uses the bicep stroke.

I look at it more as, "if paddling feels like work you are doing it
wrong".  To me a good stroke is the stroke that allows you to go the
pace you want while enjoying it.  Sure that leaves some people doing an
incredibly ugly stroke, but hopefully with time they'll see the
light....

But then what do I know 90% of my paddling is with a wing paddle. When I
spend time in my surfski I use the wing paddle.  When I spend time in my
sea kayak I use the greenland paddle.  I use the greenland when I want
to mess around in the sea kayak and enjoy paddling just for the fun of
it. The surf ski is for exercise and the adrenaline rush from the
challenge of keeping the boat upright.

kirk
rambling like an idiot
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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