Thanks again, Brian and Mike. I will carry out the adjustment and see how
that works out. Just another step in the learning process. When I started,
I was using only my arms (common beginner mistake) and was amazed at the
increase in speed and endurance once I learned to use the foot pegs to push
the boat forward and to rotate the body. A bit later, another person
pointed out that my death-grip on the paddle was fatiguing my hands and
arms, and again I was pleasantly surprised at the increase in endurance once
I relaxed my grip. Now I'm working on my forward stroke, trying to
eliminate the splash at the plant, and to finish my stroke at the hip (to
eliminate that sucking sound when it comes out of the water behind me).
Heh, the more I do this, the more I learn how much there is to still learn
and master. Probably need to sign up with a good school and have a
experienced coach help me eliminate (ok, slightly decrease) my bad habits
and mechanics. But since I have very little time (family, work, travel)
I'll just have to muddle along until the opportunity presents itself. Your
advice is much appreciated.

Paul.

PS. Since almost all my paddling to date has been solo, I've practiced the
wet exits, and re-entries with the paddle float and while the result is not
pretty, it works. In rolling, however, I haven't yet mastered keeping the
sweep paddle on the surface - it keeps on diving, probably because my hip
snap is more of a roll than a snap, and I have to fight the urge to get the
head out of the water first. While I'm very comfortable under water (many
years of snorkling), the right sequence for rolling has so far eluded me.
Probably pool courses over the winter will help me get closer...


"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
news:Q2YHe.3627$b91.2544@trndny06...
Michael Daly wrote:
On 2-Aug-2005, "PG" wrote:


I haven't had any pain problems with shorter paddles, so maybe the
problem
is that I kept the feet locked into position for too long without
relieving
pressure on the heels. However, I am curious what adjustments the
experienced paddlers make when they are doing paddles of 5 to 8 hours at
a
time.


Don't lock yourself into the kayak. You should be able to move your
legs and feet around and it's a good idea to change leg positions
occasionally. If your feet are big and the kayak deck is low, you could
be jamming them in and putting excessive pressure on the heels - my WW
kayak is like that and I don't have the room to change it (footpegs are
all the way forward). Move the footpegs forward a bit and point your
toes
forward more if that's the case.

I don't make any adjustments that are related to time spent in the kayak.
Mine is set up for comfort all the time.

Mike's advice is right on the money. A common beginner mistake is to set
the footpegs for too tight of a fit. A simple test is that you should be
able to straighten your legs with your feet on the foot pegs. That will
feel a bit loose when paddling with your legs bent, but all you need to do
is flex your feet forward to lock yourself into the boat when necessary.