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Bobo
 
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Default Wrist Pain After Sea Kayak Paddling?

I've been a whitewater kayaker for ~15 years and I'm usually out
every weekend. I've always used a feathered paddle without any
problem. My current feather paddle is 60 degrees. I could never get
use to a non-feathered paddle.

Since I'm getting older and there's little river water, I decided to
get a sea kayak with a Werner Camano 60 degree feathered paddle. Over
the past three weekends, I've gone out paddling for 90 to 180 minutes.
I usually go non-stop because I like to get into a cadence. After
the second weekend, I began to feel some soreness in my right
(control) wrist. After the third weekend, the pain became a bit more
noticeable. The pain is in the inside of the right wrist where the
pulse is felt. Before I do some damage, I need to know the
following:

(1) Is the location of the pain something that I should be concerned
about or will it work itself out?

(2) Am I paddling wrong? I use a high angle paddle stroke that is
common in whitewater kayaking, but I notice that a lot of sea
kayakers use a low angle paddle. The low angle paddle doesn't seem
very efficient, but is it the answer to my wrist pain?

(3) For those who recommend that I go to a non-feathered paddle, it
might be hard since it'll really screw up my whitewater paddling. I
thought about perhaps trying a 45 degree paddle, but I've only been
able to find sea kayak paddles that are either 0 degrees or 60
degrees. Anyone have experience with a crankshaft sea kayak paddle
who had similar wrist pain?

Responses to one or all of my questions would be appreciated.