"roo" wrote in message
om...
Hi All

Hi roo it's been a while!

Large blades provide more power, but give a higher chance of injury?

More power, yes, but you need to be stronger to get the best from them.
Excellent on white water when you need to get as much response as possible
from two or three strokes. I've never seen any evidence that they cause
injuries, but I suppose any paddle which isn't right for the use it's being
put to could do that.

Small blades allow/require a higher stroke rate for equivalent large
blade propulsion?

Short paddles allow (and probably encourage) a higher stroke rate, maybe
that's what you were thinking of. The combination of short paddles and
too-small blades is inefficient.

Is the size irrelevant, because all that is required is enough
friction to plant the blade and pull yourself past the shaft?

Yes size does matter (somebody had to say it) but in practice if you're a
normal size normal strength bloke then buy a normal paddle for the type of
stuff you do. If you're smaller than most (that often means either young or
female of course) then you might benefit from smaller blades.

Should I buy some new paddles with normal sized blades?

Depends on how you fit into the above!

Cheers,
Steve B.