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gordon
 
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Default Wrist Pain After Sea Kayak Paddling?

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?


Yes, you should be concerned. This is often where carpal/tunnel pain shows
itself. You do not wish to aggravate it any further.

(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?


I strongly recommend you get Brent Seitz's video of his forward stroke
clinic (or better still take a clinic in the flesh). He also
encountered wrist problems of the sort you describe but then got
expert advice from another olympic paddler which saved him a lot of
grief. His views are also to be found in the August 2003 Sea Kayaker
magazine---along with the views of two other experts on the forward
stroke. I would note that:
1) the stroke in sea kayak touring is very different from the WW
stroke
2) you can learn a lot from the technique of racers although this
requires some modification for expedition touring (see the SK magazine
article reference above)
3) sounds to me as if the problem is that you are bending your wrist,
a sure recipe for trouble, instead of using your elbow to lift the
paddle out and a straight wrist to apply the power.
Again, Seitz is very convincing on the subject. I have had no
difficulty in following his instructions on long runs despite my
advancing years (59).
Bottom line, you do this for the fun, not for pain which could have
permanent consequences. Get it right from the beginning.
Good luck.