Which KeNalu: Wiki vs Ho'ola vs Konihi?

[PonoBill]

People who pull really hard consider the 100Flex to be too soft. I've been working on a strange notion Dave Kalama and Johnny Puakea have about the blade being slow in the water. It's hard to manage--most paddlers get used to pulling their blade hard and having a lot of slip. Paddling in an OC6, where the weight of the boat and paddlers makes acceleration from the beginning to the end of the stroke a non-issue makes it very clear that for a given boat speed and stroke length there is a stroke speed (that translates as cadence since all the paddler's stroke length has to be about the same) that is ideal.  Since we can't have zero slip, the ideal stroke speed is boat speed plus minimal slip to hold the same speed, and boat speed plus a little more slip to go faster.

If you are in an OC6 going five MPH and the crew is stroking 65, all that excess work is blowing up in slip and poor catch.

SUPs are a little different because the system weight is much less relative to the power an individual paddler can put into the water, but the principle remains, that there is an optimal stroke speed, and it's slower than most people paddle. If you get close to the optimal speed, your blade is in the water for a larger fraction of the stroke, so it's applying force longer. Power is force X time. You get a double bump in efficiency--less slip and more power.

I think it's the source of the elusive "magic moment" when your board is flying across the water and it feels almost effortless.

With a good catch you pull pretty hard right at the beginning of the stroke and gain a little acceleration, but if you keep pulling hard enough that your blade is moving substantially faster than your board, then its just slip. It's not doing much of anything. The water is incompressible, you're not adding energy to the system by compressing water behind the blade as you might in air--the water has to flow across the blade and off the edges--you gain nothing.

For myself, I find it a lot easier to try to get that just right stroke speed with a stiff shaft. That's why even though I prefer the xTuf(s) for my shoulders, I generally use the 100Flex.

[SUPJorge]

Mr. Big

I'm now on a Ho'oloa 95". I passed on the giant Molokai in the same spirit in which you passed it on to me.

Warmest Regards,

Jorge

[Luc Benac]

For myself, I find it a lot easier to try to get that just right stroke speed with a stiff shaft. That's why even though I prefer the xTuf(s) for my shoulders, I generally use the 100Flex.

I do agree that a 90Flex or 100Flex is great (and also lighter). I just wish my neck could take it. Last summer I was using the Mana 82/90 with the 90Flex and loved it. Put after the summer I could not help having migraine coming from the shoulder/neck muscles pulling. I tried changing length, adjusting stroke but  I had to come back to the Xtuff(s) so that it was greatly reduced and almost completely went away.

[PonoBill]

xTuf(S) for me is like good medicine. Use it until it gets better, then back to normal.

[PonoBill]

I found this article a few months ago. For the mathematically inclined, it's very interesting. If a few simple formulae give you hives, don't look.
http://biorow.com/Papers_files/2006%20ISBS%20Rate-DPS-Speed.pdf

[Luc Benac]

I found this article a few months ago. For the mathematically inclined, it's very interesting. If a few simple formulae give you hives, don't look.
http://biorow.com/Papers_files/2006%20ISBS%20Rate-DPS-Speed.pdf

Is the summary - no free lunch. Increase stroke rate with decreasing effort = decreasing performance?

[PonoBill]

Not really. Stroke rate and distance per stroke are inversely proportional.  Some athletes can increase their stroke rate and substantially increase speed, which means the distance per stroke is not as negatively affected. Some can't. What the study suggests it that any athlete with any craft can find the most efficient stroke rate for themselves--in other words, the point where they are going the fastest for the slowest stroke. The place where the curve of the decrease in distance per stroke/stroke rate is minimal. It's what I've been doing for the last couple of months with my speedcoach.  Right now for me that is 4.7 mph with a stroke rate between 38 and 42. I can reach and hold 5.2 for a while by pulling harder at the catch without increasing stroke rate, but only for a short while. I can hold 4.7-4.9 at 38-40 for an hour or more.

Unfortunately the training and testing kicked up my Carpal Tunnel problem, so I had to back off and just surf.

[Luc Benac]

Not really. Stroke rate and distance per stroke are inversely proportional.  Some athletes can increase their stroke rate and substantially increase speed, which means the distance per stroke is not as negatively affected. Some can't. What the study suggests it that any athlete with any craft can find the most efficient stroke rate for themselves--in other words, the point where they are going the fastest for the slowest stroke. The place where the curve of the decrease in distance per stroke/stroke rate is minimal. It's what I've been doing for the last couple of months with my speedcoach.  Right now for me that is 4.7 mph with a stroke rate between 38 and 42. I can reach and hold 5.2 for a while by pulling harder at the catch without increasing stroke rate, but only for a short while. I can hold 4.7-4.9 at 38-40 for an hour or more.

Unfortunately the training and testing kicked up my Carpal Tunnel problem, so I had to back off and just surf.

Got it. I am still missing a device to measure stroke rate. I already have a Makai so getting a Speedcoach is a little bit too much $$$.

[PonoBill]

I don't know why Makais don't measure stroke rate. It's easy to do. Doesn't work well when there are bumps and stuff, but all they have to do is sense and parse acceleration during a stroke cycle. Even Vivoactive watches do a decent job of it.