paddle advice

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[ECSUP]

SuperDave and TiltPilot- Thank You Both for Your Service!!

TiltPilot- I'm with MotoPilot, I really like the Kialoa paddles. I have tried a lot of paddles and I really love the Shaka Pu'u. If you are ever in the Boston area let me know and you can try some of my paddles. Have fun SUP is the best.

[DW]

I find myself in need of paddle advice now too.

Is the Werner Carve and Advantage "shaft" small in diameter like the Kialoa, or fat like a C4, or somewhere in between?

The wife and I find ourselves in love with dihedral blades again. Don't want a flat blade. But being kitesurfers and ex-windsurfers, we're both prone to tennis elbow and carpal tunnel injuries. The C4 paddles we're using now, I think, are starting to flair up those old injuries.

We need to go back to "skinny shaft" paddles, but don't want flat blades. Is the Werner Carve and Advantage going to be what we're looking for?

[DavidJohn]

I find myself in need of paddle advice now too.

Is the Werner Carve and Advantage "shaft" small in diameter like the Kialoa, or fat like a C4, or somewhere in between?

The wife and I find ourselves in love with dihedral blades again. Don't want a flat blade. But being kitesurfers and ex-windsurfers, we're both prone to tennis elbow and carpal tunnel injuries. The C4 paddles we're using now, I think, are starting to flair up those old injuries.

We need to go back to "skinny shaft" paddles, but don't want flat blades. Is the Werner Carve and Advantage going to be what we're looking for?

Just wondering... Why don't you want flat blades?

DJ

[DW]

Just wondering... Why don't you want flat blades?

DJ

Flat blades pull harder, even the new narrow ones. Dihedral pulls lighter, which feels best to me when surfing small (9'3-9'0) boards.

[DavidJohn]

Just wondering... Why don't you want flat blades?

DJ

Flat blades pull harder, even the new narrow ones. Dihedral pulls lighter, which feels best to me when surfing small (9'3-9'0) boards.

I'll agree with that.. 

DJ

[river]

Somewhere in between.


The Elbow issues are most likely flaring up because you may be overgripping the shaft with your lower hand trying to stop the flutter.  This is why a blade with a dihedral will allow you to maintain a loose grip and keep the elbow issues to a minimum.

The skinny shafts are basically allowing you to grip the paddle better because of the smaller shaft and control the flutter without having to grip as tightly (because you can get your hand and fingers farther around the shaft)and that is why a small shaft will also reduce your elbow issues.  A great analogy is trying to do a pull-up on a thick tree branch compared to a broom handle-the broom handle is easier because you don't have to overgrip it...  Either way a loose grip IMO is the most efficient technique that is also the healthiest.  Try making the "ok" symbol with your lower hand and paddle holding the shaft with only the thumb and pointer finger around the paddle.  Paddling with the loosest grip possible for a session and see how that can extend your reach and reduce elbow, forearm, and forearm fatigue and leave you feeling more stoked about your paddling sessions.

[Weasels wake]

River has it dead on with the lower hand grip.  And I use my top hand almost exclusively to raise and lower the paddle in and out of the water, by pulling the handle down, to raise the blade, and visa-versa on the versa-visa  Thus, the lower hand becomes a pivot point using my thumb and maybe just two fingers, with a very soft grasp.
BTW, I use a Werner carve, and I LOVE it.  Light weight, easy pull, slight oval shape on an average size shaft, and it won't break the bank in getting one. 

[DW]

I just measured the circumference of my paddle shafts where my lower hand grips.

C4 Fiberglass 4.06"
C4 XPR 3.81"
Shaka Pu'u 3.69"

Anybody care to measure a Quickblade or Werner for me?

[warped]

I just measured my QuickBlade and got 3.69".  For what it's worth, of all the paddles I've tried, the 8" QuickBlade Kanaha feels the smoothest and lightest when paddling, by far.  It's also way easier on my joints than any other paddle I've tried.  I use it with my 9'6" and I'm not zig zagging all over the place at all.  It just slices through the water like nothing.  The one trade-off is that it is not as powerful as my Kialoa Shaka Pu'u.  I'll take that trade-off though, because the QuickBlade is perfect in 95% of the conditions I'm in.  Having said that, I can see why the guys who are charging double overhead waves and other crazy conditions are mainly using stiffer paddles like those made by Kialoa or C4.

[DW]

Thanks, warped

[PonoBill]

One good thing came out of my losing (forgetting, or perhaps I should say contributing to the local Ice fund) my favorite QB paddle is I got two more that i really love. I bought one of the 8" QB's and I absolutely love the feeling. It's remarkable how good this paddle feels in either surfing or distance paddling. I cut it to 82", I kind of wish it was 84", but it's great so i shouldn't whine.

Jimmy Lewis also gave me a Kanaha version of his paddle. It's the nine inch QB blade, and it's amazing with the flexi fiberglass shaft. I asked Jimmy today why he decided to do that and he said "I just wanted to try something different. Everyone else was doing stiff carbon fibre, I wanted to try something else".

Given that it was just a try, i'd say he really hit on something. It takes a while to get it to work, but once you get the cadence right you get a little flick at the end of your stroke. It's not like the same shaft with the Peahi blade, where you get a longer push. With the Kanaha blade you get a pronounced "flick" feeling near the end of the stroke, like a little burst of acceleration. Of course you pay for that with a little hesitation at the beginning of the stroke as you load the shaft.

I found myself tuning my stroke to optimize the flick. You have to stroke pretty fast to feel it--short strokes that end just before your toe. As you stop pulling to push down the top of the paddle and lever the blade out it gives an extra push. I can't really describe it, but it felt really good.

[river]

Werner Carve is 7.25 inch wide and 100 Sq inches
We just announced the New Nitro Paddle which is basically a Carbon Carve with  Performance Foam Core. 

IMO people are really liking the "flexi" shafts becasue the blades they are using are in general too big.  If they tried a smaller blade maybe they could benefit from the stiffer carbon shafts that deliver instant power at the catch where the your generating the most power on each stroke. 

Keep an eye out for a press release on the Nitro which will be later next week.  We had an excellent showing at the Surf Expo for the last few days out here in Orlando. 
Stoked