Paddle length experimentation.

[nalu-sup]

Paddle length is something that has a lot of personal preference, and especially in terms of what kind of paddling; surfing, downwind, cruising, etc. This post only relates to surfing.
I had read and heard a lot of varying opinions, so I decided that I needed to spend some serious time figuring out what really worked for me. To give credit, one person that really got me thinking was Ivan who owns Coreban brand of SUP boards. His surfing is impressive, and he has a very strong opinion for using very short paddles, well under head high. I remember watching him wave SUP on sub 8' windsurf boards when SUP boards did not come in lengths under 9'.
My wife and I both got carbon adjustable paddles to experiment with until we knew for sure what size we wanted to cut a nice one piece carbon paddle to. I spent over a month experimenting almost every day, and ranged from 175 up to 210 just to make sure that I did not miss any of the options, and really got a feel for how each length affected me and my surfing. In the end, I spent a week fine tuning in one or two cm increments between 180 and 187; often changing lengths every wave ride. Long story short (pun intended), I settled on 183 cm, which is 1 inch over my head. My wife settled on 170, which is about 1 ½ inches over her head. I should add that my board floats my feet just above water level, and my wife floats a little higher than me, hence the extra half inch in length relative to her height.
Here are some of the reasons why we liked the shorter length compared to much of the advice out there: better for takeoffs because we can get lower in the legs for balance and power and can involve the abs more, quicker stroke rate for quick takeoffs, much faster and more efficient for switching sides both on the takeoff and on the wave, does not get jammed up as much when riding in a tight curl, the paddle just feels lighter and quicker to maneuver when surfing. The main disadvantage for us if we went any shorter was that bracing became harder since we had to stay flexed so low to keep the whole blade in the water. People sometimes talk about shorter paddles causing back issues, but one thing I really like about our new length is that it encourages keeping a lot of ankle and knee flexion which I think is good. If a person uses a short paddle without enough ankle an knee flexion, then the back could become an issue.
Far be it from me to tell anyone else what length they should use, but thought I should share the results of some fairly in depth experimentation.

[Philn]

I've just cut my paddle down from 82 inches to 79 inches so technically not "short" (5 inches over my head), but I agree that for me shorter seems better.

[PonoBill]

Short is fine for surfing if you have the flexibility to still get the blade fully in the water and have decent reach. But most people I see using shorter paddles aren't doing that. They get about half their blade in and don't reach at all. No shoulder stack, no core rotation, no hip engagement. They paddle with their arms.

On the other hand I also see people using longer shafts to compensate for poor technique. they use a longer shaft to get a greater reach, but also aren't stacking their shoulders or rotating. Their upper hand is above their shoulder when they're blade is fully inserted--that's just tough on the shoulders.

There are lots of good surfers that have crappy paddle technique. I guess they think it doesn't matter. I find good technique gets me a lot more waves. When I start missing wave I think I should get I back off and clean up my act.

[supdiscobay]

Paddle length was critical for me, depending on what I was doing.  Last year I spent a month on Maui and had the chance to do some southside runs with PB, Cove, HM and many others.  I only brought my surf paddle with me, and used it on the southside runs.  I have decent paddle technique and have worked on it for racing, but as typical, I get lazy in my stroke at times.  When the wind was really good, having the shorter paddle was not a big issue, as it was more like surfing.  But, when the wind wasn't good and I had to paddle more, my back and shoulders suffered, even though I was more focused on proper technique to be more efficient.  I have since then shortened my surf paddle to 1" over my head (down from 3"), and now have my race paddle at 6" over (down from 8").  Both are working great for what they are designed to do, but it took awhile for me to develop better technique and figure out the proper size paddle for each discipline.  PB hit it right in his post.  You need to have full penetration (go ahead start the jokes) and proper technique.  It does take trial and error to figure out what is best.  I just bought the extended ergo T handle for our Maui trip next Month.  So I will have 4 weeks to play around with length some more.

[The Kernel]

Nice to hear the results from people who have spent a lot of time gathering surf performance data.   

My surf paddle has been head high for about a year and a half now and it seems about right.  Maybe an inch longer or shorter is still within the range of what feels right to me.   I borrowed a paddle from StandinDan recently to test it; it was about two inches shorter than mine and just didn't feel right.

My stroke technique seems reasonable to me, considering I pretty much only surf.  I get around fine, perhaps more meatball surgery than laser surgery though.  It would probably horrify most of the stroke technicians out there, so I'm not a good piece of test data when stroke quality comes into play.  If I ever downwinded or raced I'd have to get a professional to evaluate my technique and in the process get a paddle sized appropriately based on their recommendation.

[magentawave]

After about 3 or 4 chops over many months my paddle is about 1" taller than I am. I was thinking about going a little shorter but not sure yet. I heard Zane Schweitzer interviewed on the PaddleWoo podcast and apparently his paddle is longer than all the other pro sup surfers so that when he does air's his paddle will reach the water.

[stoneaxe]

I did a lot of playing around back when I 1st got my Kenalus. Thought I had it figured out, Did it again a year later and settled on shorter but now I'm between 2" and 4" overhead for surf. It actually depends on the board I'm using now. For some reason the Foote 10-4 seems to work better with a longer shaft while I like it at its shortest on my Vec 8-4. I have paddles setup for each. I think paddles need to be married to the style almost as much as the board.

[The Kernel]

"...It actually depends on the board I'm using now. For some reason the Foote 10-4 seems to work better with a longer shaft while I like it at its shortest on my Vec 8-4. I have paddles setup for each. I think paddles need to be married to the style almost as much as the board.

That makes complete sense to me....I've mulled over the issue in the past and came to the same conclusion. 

If I'm taking out my 10'2" vice my 8'0", I should use a longer paddle.  With the longer board that sits higher in the water, one needs more reach to get the paddle into the water and also to paddle in a way (more forward reach) that allows better glide.  Surface area of the blade should arguably increase as well with larger boards.

If I wasn't such a cheapskate, I'd get a second fixed length paddle for these reasons.