Michael Daly wrote:

I've met folks both with and without formal training and they can have
both good and bad technique. Add to this that paddling technique has
been in a state of flux, to some extent, recently and you get all sorts
of techniques being taught with no clear idea (for the student) of what
is right.

Another problem is that most racing is short distance (Olympic C and K)
and those techniques are inappropriate for long distance or recreation.

Exactly. Frank Healy mentioned 90 degree feather as being standard,
but for long distance and recreational paddling, it was long ago decided
that this extreme angle exacerbates RSI (repetitive stress injuries)
so feather angles moved to 75, then 60, and now 45 or less. A worthwhile
tradeoff of increased wind resistance for less likelihood of RSI.

For whitewater sometimes you need a big blade to get in a quick stroke
to stay on-line. Also in whitewater, some blade designs perform better
for backpaddling than others, a trait racers needn't worry about.

It's an interesting datapoint that racers are NOT using bent shaft...

On 13-Jul-2004, Bill Tuthill wrote:

It's an interesting datapoint that racers are NOT using bent shaft...

Anymore. Bill, the bent shaft moved from the racing community to the
recreational over the years. Then the racers stopped using them. While
the hypothesis that the bent shaft improves performance sounds good, in
practice it doesn't really add a benefit.

I use a bent shaft Euro paddle (Lendal Archipelago) and have often advised
folks, on this forum and others, that it's only useful if you have a real
problem with your wrist/arm. It doesn't help for RSI, or more specifically
for carpal tunnel, since that is more greatly affected by feather angle.
However, if your joints aren't quite right (like most of mine) then using
a bent shaft to reduce wrist misalignment problems helps. Otherwise, save
your money and get a straight shaft.

I also use a Greenland-style paddle and it is easier on my arms. Slightly
worse on my muscles though, as it is less efficient and therefore more
tiring. The ease on the joints is due to the fact that I control the
paddle more with my fingers than my wrists and that the technique uses a
closer hand position than does a Euro paddle (hence straighter wrists).

Mike

I was diagnosed with carpel tunnel some years ago which was affecting me day
and night. I switched to a bent shaft and over a period of 3 to 6 months my
carpel tunnel subsided completely. Several years after that I switched from
a 45 degree paddle to a 30 degree only because I felt it worked better for
me play boating. I've known of other paddlers that have benefited from bent
shafts for their carpel tunnel as well.

Another thing that can contribute to trouble with the wrists and elbows is
over gripping the paddle shaft. If a paddler has small hands and is having
some pain, a thought might be to switch to a small shafted paddle.

Courtney

"Michael Daly" wrote in message
...
On 13-Jul-2004, Bill Tuthill wrote:

It's an interesting datapoint that racers are NOT using bent shaft...

Anymore. Bill, the bent shaft moved from the racing community to the
recreational over the years. Then the racers stopped using them. While
the hypothesis that the bent shaft improves performance sounds good, in
practice it doesn't really add a benefit.

I use a bent shaft Euro paddle (Lendal Archipelago) and have often advised
folks, on this forum and others, that it's only useful if you have a real
problem with your wrist/arm. It doesn't help for RSI, or more
specifically
for carpal tunnel, since that is more greatly affected by feather angle.
However, if your joints aren't quite right (like most of mine) then using
a bent shaft to reduce wrist misalignment problems helps. Otherwise, save
your money and get a straight shaft.

I also use a Greenland-style paddle and it is easier on my arms. Slightly
worse on my muscles though, as it is less efficient and therefore more
tiring. The ease on the joints is due to the fact that I control the
paddle more with my fingers than my wrists and that the technique uses a
closer hand position than does a Euro paddle (hence straighter wrists).

Mike

On 13-Jul-2004, "Courtney" wrote:

I was diagnosed with carpel tunnel some years ago which was affecting me day
and night. I switched to a bent shaft and over a period of 3 to 6 months my
carpel tunnel subsided completely. Several years after that I switched from
a 45 degree paddle to a 30 degree only because I felt it worked better for
me play boating. I've known of other paddlers that have benefited from bent
shafts for their carpel tunnel as well.

I should have said "doesn't help _as_much_ for carpal tunnel" compared to
fixing the feather. If your wrists aren't flexing and you aren't gripping too
tightly, straightening the wrist has less effect. If you have too much or
too little feather, then straightening the wrist will help reduce the stress,
but fixing the feather gives the most gain.

My advice would be to fix the feather angle first and if there's still a problem,
try the bent shaft.

Mike