Hand paddles

There are different types of these. What are the pros and cons of the common ones?



Am thinking that some practice with bare hands and with these hand paddles might be good for honing body/boat control, especially in moving water (using my WW kayak). When I was trying to improve at x-c skiing, I found that making a flat practice square or oval and just focusing on stride without worrying about the poles opened up my stride. I also felt more relaxed without the poles, oddly.



There are some comments on the 'net about people getting too dependent on hand paddles not practicing enough with regular paddles and then having trouble rolling in tougher conditions. I don’t ever plan to get rid of my regular paddles but would like to supplement them. Maybe carry a pair of hand paddles as a spare, even.

after inquiring on a local board

– Last Updated: Jul-03-12 6:11 PM EST –

I got these (That's my son Aaron)
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2902804110094366337rJxPdB
Can't remember the name, I think they were "power paws". They were recommended over smaller paddles, and we were happy with them, both in C1 and Squirt. They were nice in C1 for playing
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2208469840094366337JnKCYG
as you can keep your weight lower, and in k-squirt they were a necessity, 'cuz I ain't a yakker, never been, never will be lol.
They make rolling real easy as you just "reach for the sky."
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3006690090094366337ZRjWgt
Personally, I don't think any skills are developed using them, coming from single blade, but they made some of the outer sanctums of the paddling universe a bit easier.

I use them as a spare in WW
I have an older version of these:



http://www.riveraholic.com/MAIN.htm



They are super easy to roll with but aren’t as easy to use just going down river. You really need to practice occasionally with them to be sure you can use them in an emergency. I don’t recommend using them as your usual paddle. But if you do then you need to keep up your regular paddle skills. So I would go down river with my regular paddle most of the time but occasionally use the hand paddles, or vice versa. It does improve your use of draws and pries.