On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 6:21 AM, Darryl Johnson <Darryl.Johnson_at_sympatico.ca > wrote: > > 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. Darryl... the "sliding hands" maneuver on a GP is for a storm paddle which is a very short paddle. It's very short to reduce windage in a storm. The short length requires the paddler to move his (or her) hands to be able to extend it out from the side of the kayak to reach the water on each side. A "normal" GP doesn't require you to move your hands at all. In fact, you can index your hands on the shoulder between the loom and the paddle face and just paddle that way all day long. You should try a GP again only this time use one that is full size. And I totally reject the "old dog,new tricks" saying. I'm less than 4 years away from 70 and still addicted to learning. There is always something new to learn. > 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. If it's easier on you then it's easier and 'nuff said. I solved the feathered/unfeathered issue by simply having a two-piece paddle so I can select. The only "whoopsie" moment I've had is when a gust of wind caught my upwind feathered paddle and tried to capsize me... I just changed it to unfeathered. (Of course, I've just purchased a one-piece feathered Lightning paddle... but I can always shift to a spare.) > I suspect that it might also be easier for people learning to roll, since > the two ends of the paddle are aligned and there is no mental gymnastics > involved in orienting the far end of the paddle to skim along the surface. > However, since I cannot roll, and since my learning attempts have been few > and far between, this last point is only a supposition. > Most of the time you would have to align the paddle face since an accidental capsize generally means that you lose the grip on the paddle for an instant... or you "could" lose it and so the alignment step is mostly automatic. However, w/w paddlers who capsize a lot (most of them capsize a lot) just roll up with little pause between the capsize and the roll up. Most of the roll is in the hips (or knees) not the paddle, anyway. Learning to roll is a lot more fun in 85F water than it is in places like Puget Sound (55F water). And if you wear a face mask you can get a much clearer idea of what you're doing. Age does play a part in rolling I've found... with flexibility issues. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Jul 20 2009 - 11:34:37 PDT
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