I tried rolling with a friends Euro (an Epic) paddle today and failed miserably on my first 2 tries. Switched to my Greenland paddle and rolled fine both extended and without extending. Retried the Euro and managed to come up on a couple of rolls, but the rolls felt kind of odd. Main sensation was the strong resistance to sweeping the paddle. It felt like it was in peanut-butter instead of water. Also felt some fluttering . Seemed to be less of an odd feel when I did not roll my wrists forward as I did in some of the early Euro rolls. For those of you who use both types of paddles what are some key points to focus on when switching the roll from a Greenland paddle to a Euro? Mark J. Arnold . *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mark, Usually, feeling resistance as you sweep during the roll means the climbing angle of the blade is too high. Be sure to rotate the wrists backwards progressively during the sweep so you finish with the blade level in the water. Duane Southern California www.rollordrown.com Mark Arnold <mjamja_at_earthlink.net> wrote: I tried rolling with a friends Euro (an Epic) paddle today and failed miserably on my first 2 tries. Switched to my Greenland paddle and rolled fine both extended and without extending. Retried the Euro and managed to come up on a couple of rolls, but the rolls felt kind of odd. Main sensation was the strong resistance to sweeping the paddle. It felt like it was in peanut-butter instead of water. Also felt some fluttering . Seemed to be less of an odd feel when I did not roll my wrists forward as I did in some of the early Euro rolls. For those of you who use both types of paddles what are some key points to focus on when switching the roll from a Greenland paddle to a Euro? *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Thanks Duane. That was probably most of the problem. I never think about blade angle with the GP. I was really afraid I would have a diving blade with the Euro so I most likely overcorrected. Not sure of the exact physics, but the initial jerk was hard enough that it seemed to completely change my body position in the kayak so that I had no way to drive with the legs and hips. I will have to keep borrowing a Euro for some rolling practice whenever I paddle with my friends. None of my paddling partners us GP's so I should have plenty of chances to borrow Euro's. Mark J. Arnold From: Duane Strosaker Mark, Usually, feeling resistance as you sweep during the roll means the climbing angle of the blade is too high. Be sure to rotate the wrists backwards progressively during the sweep so you finish with the blade level in the water. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Dear Mark, I've noticed similar tendencies when switching from narrower to wider bladed paddles. Not sure on this, but my sense is that the angle of the blade during the sweep is less forgiving with wider blades. Slowing things down and giving it all more attention seems to make it work just fine, but I suspect when one is used to rolling with wider blades its all quite natural. Hence neither is inherently better for rolling-- its just that what one is used to tends to feel better. Best, Harvey --- Mark Arnold <mjamja_at_earthlink.net> wrote: > I tried rolling with a friends Euro (an Epic) paddle > today and failed miserably on my first 2 tries. > Switched to my Greenland paddle and rolled fine both > extended and without extending. Retried the Euro > and managed to come up on a couple of rolls, but the > rolls felt kind of odd. Main sensation was the > strong resistance to sweeping the paddle. It felt > like it was in peanut-butter instead of water. > Also felt some fluttering . Seemed to be less of > an odd feel when I did not roll my wrists forward as > I did in some of the early Euro rolls. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mark Arnold <mjamja_at_earthlink.net> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>I tried rolling with a friends Euro (an Epic) paddle today and failed miserably on my first 2 tries. Switched to my Greenland paddle and rolled fine both extended and without extending. Retried the Euro and managed to come up on a couple of rolls, but the rolls felt kind of odd. Main sensation was the strong resistance to sweeping the paddle. It felt like it was in peanut-butter instead of water. Also felt some fluttering . Seemed to be less of an odd feel when I did not roll my wrists forward as I did in some of the early Euro rolls. For those of you who use both types of paddles what are some key points to focus on when switching the roll from a Greenland paddle to a Euro?<<<<<<<<<<<< Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com> answered: >>>>>>>>>>Mark, Usually, feeling resistance as you sweep during the roll means the climbing angle of the blade is too high. Be sure to rotate the wrists backwards progressively during the sweep so you finish with the blade level in the water.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I'm in complete agreement with both Duane and Harvey on this. I think the more oval thicker blade shape of the Greenland paddle can tolerate a broader attack angle without stalling. Either that, or if it does stall, being narrower, it can still be forced through the water and into the 90 degree out from the kayak position it needs to be in before you try to pull it downward to lift your body out of the water. Once you stall the wide thin blade it becomes very sluggish to move and you can't get it out into position for the downward pull quickly enough. This happens to new rollers all the time and usually results in them pulling downward well before the paddle is out far enough from the kayak to do much good. Lots of folks think (and some even teach) that you need to tilt the leading edge of the paddle up to get it to skim on the surface to have a solid grip on the water for the pulling down phase of the roll. The reality is that that angle is what is causing the blade to stall rather than fly. The best way to start is to have the paddle blade flat with the water's surface. I suggest if you want to make sure you have it flat to lift the wide blade out of the water and slap it down onto the water. That will tell you if the blade angle is flat. If you hold the shaft so that it is free to spin in your hands as you do the slap it will automatically rotate to flat as the leading edge contacts resistnce first and rotates the paddle (if you let it). Next you want to get the blade flying as you push it away from the boat and into the sweep phase. If it is flat to the surface, most blades will automatically take on a glide angle as they are pulled a little down into the water a little as they are moved to the side. Your job then is not to screw up the flight of your blade up by changing the blade angle any during the sweep. If you grip the shaft tightly and hold your wrist rigidly the angle is going to change towards the direction of diving as you move out towards the 90 degree position (where you will be pulling strongly downward). The best way I know to keep the blade flying, rather than stalling or diving, is to relax and hold the shaft loosely while leading it in its glide with your wrist limp. This limp wrist works well when sculling for support as well. The freely hinging wrist just flops back and forth as needed, automatically, as you move the paddle blade back and forth through the water. Matt Broze 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/ ***************************************************************************
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