Re: [Paddlewise] Feathered or not?

> Mike Euritt wrote:
>> a variation on the paddle theme we have.
>> When it comes to paddle feathering, from the time I had my first intro
>> class, I have been handed feathered paddles. Supposedly easier into a head
>> wind, but someone noted a feathered paddle can catch the wind when the wind
>> is on the beam where an unfeathered will not. I had a gust catch
>> me unexpectedly once that felt like the paddle was about to be ripped away
>> from my loose grip.


> In response, Darryl Johnson wrote:
> I have always paddled unfeathered. It just seems so much easier on  
> the wrists -- possibly the result of my doing the 'feathered' thing  
> all wrong when I tried it.
>
> I have also moved to a bent shaft paddle -- something I find also to  
> be easier on the wrists -- and the hand positions on the paddle  
> encourage (I think) an unfeathered approach.
>
> I tried a Greenland paddle once. There's a certain amount of truth  
> in the "Old dog, new tricks" saying. I found that it drove me nuts  
> trying to manage the "slide the hands" trick as I went from a stroke  
> on one side to the other. Maybe a longer paddle where I didn't need  
> to constantly move my hands would have been better.
>
> For me, the unfeathered paddle has at least two advantages. The  
> first being that it's very difficult to put the paddle together in  
> the wrong feathered angle (leading to a "whoopsie" moment when the  
> blade slices through the water instead of catching and pushing  
> water). The second that it is easier my *my* wrists.

   In response, Brad Crain writes:
    I have always paddled unfeathered. My paddle is a German racing paddle
    that I use to go slow. The German's make good stuff, like the Shamwow.
    Never had any pain in wrists or shoulders over a 20 year period. My
    biggest problem has been that I can't read a chart worth %$_at_#.
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