PeterO wrote: >Would it be practical to shorten the paddle sufficiently that you could have >a truly vertical stroke in which the hand passes below the eyes and the >upper arm is consequently below the shoulder? > > > Peter (and all), I believe that a shorter paddle is much better (in terms of shoulder health) for a vertical stroke. As most of us did, I started with a 240 that was sold to me by a salesman who was as ignorant of paddling as I was. After a couple of years, I found that I was much happier with a 220 Werner Kuai (borrowed). I eventually bought a Lendal Nordkapp that was adjustable from 210 to 216, and found that I always used it at the 210 length. This was a very comfortable length, but the blade turned out to be too big for me. I now paddle with a 210 Ikelos, and my backup is a 206 Quest. I recently paddled with a 215 Ikelos for about 10 minutes, just to see if it offered much in the way of increased speed. It didn't. Interestingly, the fellow whose paddle I borrowed used my 210 at the same time. When we returned our paddles to their respective owners, he said that the 215 felt too long! Like so many of us, I have been bothered by impingement syndrome. Mine was brought on by a dumb error while practicing braces with a paddlefloat. Physical therapy helped greatly, and taught me how to condition myself and to protect the shoulder. If only I were consistent with the conditioning! . Bob Volin *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Jan 18 2005 - 20:00:07 PST
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