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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: If Ive got this straight
Posted By: Nick Schade In Response To: Re: If Ive got this straight (risto)
Date: Friday, 5 January 2001, at 1:08 p.m.
: seems that the greenland paddle's greatest advantage is its versatility as
: far control and technique goes. This is a good trade-off against the raw
: pulling power of the wider euro types.See, this is what I don't agree with. While there are a few of the awkward greenland type rolls which are even more awkward with a "euro" blade, I have yet to see any stroke techniques which can not be effectively reproduced with a euro blade. And I feel there are a few techniques (typically used in white water) which are not very effective with a greenland or other traditional type paddles.
With a euro paddle I tend to cruise with my hands down near my lap with my upper hand below chest level, fast paddling brings my upper hand up to near shoulder level and an all-out sprint gets my hand up around eye level. I will sometimes paddle with relatively stiff arms using a lot of torso rotation, other times with bent arms and less torso rotation or some combination there of. I will slide my paddle side-to-side to apply power where it is needed. I wil angle my blade forward and back as needed. I regularly adjust my technique to meet my power requirements and/or to just change the muscles I'm using.
Like Greg said about the Greenland paddle, don't fall into the trap of thinking there is only one true "euro" stroke. There are techniques which are typically taught for each style, but the possible, "good" techniques range far beyond the standard strokes taught. You will find as many different definitions of what is "best" as you will find paddlers.
Due to the different relative locations of the center of effort on different paddles and the relative differences in blade thickness some parameters for paddling will obviously be different, but the bght
principles remain the same. Techniques which are beneficial for one style will be beneficial on other styles. It will just be the degree to which they will be incorporated which will change. For example leaning the top edge of the blade forward will increase the grip of a euro paddle, however, because it is wider, you don't want as much of an angle. Because the blade of a euro paddle is shorter it is not put in the water as deeply so the upper hand tends to be higher. But the stroke becomes higher or lower for the same reasons regardless of blade shape. The principles remains the same.Neither traditional or modern paddles can perform magic. The laws of physics remain the same. The techniques for manipulating the laws of physics remain the same. All that change is the degree to which a given shape is effective at manipulating those laws and the specific parameters need to achieve similar effects. Like people, paddles are the same in more ways than they are different.
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