In fact, I think you should put it the other way: what are the reasons to paddle with unfeathered paddles? ;)
Is there a point to use unfeathered paddles, except for very low angle paddlers (beamy kayak, excessivly long paddle), down wind paddling (propulsive sail effect), or total beginners who can not adapt quickly to it?
With GP you have to slightly move your grip for each stroke anyway, and people with wrists problems using euro paddles are better with a small angle than no feather.
‘Good form’ will be different with each person and as I always say, “due to no two bodies having the same overall proportions”. We are individuals.
When I began kayaking (17 summers ago) it was with the blades straight, I tried feathering (30-60º), liked it better and have no problems with any wrist pain. The degree of use depends on wind condition.
My ‘contol hand’ goes back and forth, again depending on specific water/wind conditions.
I generally paddle ‘low angle’ and never use a death grip on the shaft which is better on the hands and wrists. BTW, I prefer ‘crank shafts’. Works for me.
zero I said feathered are common for surfing and whitewater, but didn’t say I used a feathered paddle myself… Just answering the OP on why some might want to use feathered.
There are lots of very accomplished paddlers who use unfeathered paddles. They work just fine for high angle strokes, narrow boats, and short paddles. Plus they have one very distinct advantage. All strokes (forward, reverse, braces, and rolls) are exactly the same on both sides. I grant you that there is a small amount of wrist movement on the forward stroke but it is not enough to cause problems for most folks. If you feather your paddle you need to use a fixed control hand and a feather of about 10 to 15 degrees to avoid wrist movement.
Feather Foe Here (I’ll Start the Shtuff) Tried it. Didn’t like it. Went to zero and was happy. Went to GP and fell in love.
OK, for whatever reason, you find yourself upside down. I truly believe the best tool for getting back upright is the Greenland paddle. The second best tool is an unfeathered euro. The worst tool would be a feathered wing.
0 Degrees in the surf Started using feathered, tendonitis problems went away when tried 0 degrees. Found 0 degrees actually works a lot better in rough water and waves. I use a 30 degree for touring, but often will use one of my 0 degree paddles for touring.
Since I was a kid I have been paddling on and off since sometime in the mid '70s. I was led to believe then, and believe it myself now, that the feathering is because you cannot have a high-ish stroke and bend your wrists enough to make it comfortable and strong. One hand must let the paddle rotate. The feathering keeps the blades in the proper orientation during the stroke. I have never heard of a wind-related advantage and think it is bunk.
Jim Snyder, whitewater legend and co-inventor of squirt boating, says it's very difficult to get "direct bone alignment" on the push with zero feather and that you end up having to push with the webbed crotch of your thumb.
He also makes the face smashing argument against zero feather in the specific situations of (i) slicing through "the Realm" during an underwater Mystery Move and (ii) when crashing into the foam pile at the bottom of a waterfall. He says you should wear a full face helmet if you do this stuff with a zero feather blade.
I look forward to Greg Stamer's rebuttal to these face smashing arguments, which I doubt Matt Broze ever articulated.
Snyder ends up advocating 40 degrees, at least for his style of whitewater paddling.
Tried rolling with a wing? Have you ever tried rolling with a wing? I only have a couple times but it was super (I have a surf ski now)! Oh, it was feathered too.
The push Snyder is assuming a single control hand. Switching control hands with an unfeathered paddle means your top hand is in exactly the same position as a single control hand with a feathered paddle.
If so, does it rebut the arguments that 70 degrees or so of feather sets up your wrists perfectly for the next stroke when you use proper racing form torso/buttocks rotation?
It is And that is a good explanation. There is also another way in which the top hand (which has just finished a stroke as the bottom hand) aligns the paddle before transferring control to the new bottom hand.
Feathered I tried an unfeathered paddle, it hurt my wrists… seriously it did.
My first paddle was a 90 feather old Lendal Nardkapp, so that’s what I learned with, but I don’t think this is a case of “what you know” or “what you’re use to”.
I find that a feathered paddle feels more natural and puts less strain on my wrists. An unfeathered paddle puts my wrist in a more uncomfortable position.
Depending on what paddle I’m using is 60 - 90 degrees of feather.
Doesn’t happen to me I am doing the push with a fairly useful part of my hand, probably the middle of the palm, paddling unfeathered. I can guarantee that I couldn’t do this kayaking thing if I was abusing the area spoken about above - it’d mess up my hands for playing.
Snyder’s bone alignment argument I’m just trying to understand and restate his argument, particularly by looking at his pictures. He’s obviously thought this out.
I believe he thinks the push should be directly against the bones that are at the bottom of the fingers and above the palm (the obverse side of the knuckles). I think he further wants these obverse knuckle bones to line up in a straight line with his wrist bones and forearm bones during the push.
He probably feels that a push force applied lower down against the palm causes the direction of the force to pass through the palm into the unsupportive air behind the palm. That is, the push force must be borne entirely by the muscles-tendons-ligaments of the wrist, which are angled with respect to the force (even though the wrist may not be cocked much), instead of the force being transmitted through a straight line of increasingly heavy bones up to the elbow.
To the extent I can visualize this anatomical geometry without paddles at hand, I can grasp his rationale but am not sure how much persuasive force it has.
Drag in the Water I’m sure the wing does an outstanding job in a calm set-up-and-roll situation. The situation I’m talking about is being taken down from behind… upside down and nowhere near a set up position. The spoonier the blade, the more difficult to move it where you need it. The GP zips where you want it in a nice, straight line.
un-feather is just zero degree feather The answer to the question was given early on in the debate: feathered and un-feathered paddle requires SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT body-arm movement.
Since we as individuals may have various bio-mechanical differences to make one type of movement stronger than other, we ended up with individual preferences to different feather angle, including zero degree feather!
If you go from zero degree to 1 degree (or 5 degree), the different is small, so you end up modifying your stroke to account for the difference. As many others alluded to, if you keep a fixed control hand, feathered paddle sets you up for a perfect catch. Though how many degrees of feather really depends on each individual. I use a 60 degree paddle, but I bet my body mechanics might dictate it should be 55. I simply rotate my wrist a minute amount to achieve the ideal catch. And plenty of folks just rotate their wrist to accomplish the same with un-feathered paddle.
The business of looking at un-feather as a distinct difference to any angle of feathering is nothing but a myth. We all paddle feathered, just different degree of feathering.
Or maybe I am nearer the top of my palm Don’t take the geography of what I said too literally right now - I’d have to get into the boat and pay attention. All I know is that Snyder’s proposition would kill my hands for playing violin. It would be VERY noticeable.
bone alignment argument "To the extent I can visualize this anatomical geometry without paddles at hand, I can grasp his rationale but am not sure how much persuasive force it has".
Snyder’s bone alignment argument is interesting, especially because he is focusing so much attention on the pushing (non-stroke side) hand. His mental image of a “karate chop” indicates the need for short, fast bursts of power, I assume because of the chaotic WW environment that he paddles.
WW is not flatwater, nor the ocean. I use a lateral wing stroke with a wing/GP and by far the most force (approximately 60%) is on the lower (stroke-side “pulling”) hand.
Interestingly, when I’m using a GP, holding the roots of the canted blades, the bones of my upper hand do push directly against the blades, but they don’t when I use a wing, the round paddle shaft rests squarely in the web of my gently opened hand. I haven’t felt fatigue as a result of this.
As a technique note, My “pushing hand” does not push strongly forward and down (with a wing), as that would ruin the pivot angle and the blade orientation. I simply keep pressure against an open hand with a neutral wrist to help control the stroke.
I assume that this is simply personal preference on Snyder’s part, and a result of his paddling environment and gear choices. Paddling a tight squirt boat in whitewater has different demands than paddling a kayak/surf ski in open water.
