RE: [Paddlewise] Surf advice - was ' How was 2004?'

Steve wrote:
>>>>>As you know, the low brace is much gentler to
your shoulders and makes you less prone to shoulder injuries.<<<<<

I find it much easier to let go of a high brace that is overpowered by a big
dumper than to let go of the paddle with the wave side hand from a low
brace. A friend of mine tore his rotator cuff low bracing in surf when the
upwelling water in the broken wave pushed his hand up and back (and into the
V between his thumb and forefinger so he couldn't let go). If you don't let
your elbow get far from your body during a high brace and keep your hands in
front of your body you should have no shoulder injuries with a high brace in
surf. The high brace is a much stronger brace as well. The trick is to be
willing let the paddle go with the in wave hand if the upwelling is so
strong you can't hold your elbow into your side at any time during the
brace.

About 4/5ths of the way through the "Paddling" manual in the "Manuals"
pick-list of our website there is long section on paddling in surf. (I see
that I need to work on it some more as that section has mostly turned into
boldface type again. MS FrontPage writes such garbage code that formatting
mutations happen occasionally and so I'll have to struggle with HTML again
to try to fix it when I next get the chance.)

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com
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