Am i wrong or is this guy paddling with the wrong side of the blades??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpXT6p7b4C8&feature=related
seems right to me
The blades are spoon shaped an seem to be in the rioght position.
Blade
I would think the concave side should be to the rear to “catch” the water. Not sure. I use an asymmetrical kayak paddle not wing type
It seems like the concave of the blade
is to the rear in the video. I think it is the bend of the shaft that is making it seem off to you.
Concave in two directions
– Last Updated: Jul-26-12 10:46 PM EST –
The most obvious "concave" feature is the dihedral shape from edge to edge. It's oriented the proper way. The other concave shape is from top to bottom, and it IS on the power face. It's harder to see (best seen by freezing the action at certain spots). Also, that's not a wing paddle unless I'm really missing something.
but it is pretty
what kind of paddle is that?
usually described convex & concave
Looking at the paddle face, it’s concave the long way, but not a spoon (won’t hold liquid), as it appears convex (dihedral) the width of the blade.
But I knew what you meant by concave in two directions. I think H2O makes those paddles.
This is very common. Every time a paddle maker describes their blades as dihedral, the blade is convex the width of the blade looking at the paddle face. Paddle makers will sometimes desribe dihedral spoons, but I feel that’s just a stretch of the imagination, trying to capture 2 words, “dihedral” & “spoon”, that folks feel good about when they read a paddle description - marketing mumbo jumbo. Or maybe it’s just the easiest way to describe the lengthwise curve of the blade. But when I first started paddling, it took me a while to figure out why when something was described as a “spoon” blade that caught my interest, it would have that convex shape the width of the blade, rendering it very much not a spoon.
Really?
You think someone staying upright on a ski and paddling with pure torso rotation doesn’t know which way to hold the paddle? I’m no expert, but the form looked solid to me, so he can hold his paddle any way he wants…
paddle
I don’t know anything about that. But why is he wearing two different shirts ?
Stroke
– Last Updated: Jul-27-12 7:15 PM EST –
looks very good to me. Paddle is definitely held correctly and I like the left sleeve better than the right sleeve.
looks ok …
…but on that subject, I often flip the blade , once i get going, so the power or “cupped” side of the blade is facing forward …helps withdraw the blade for the water at the end of the stroke like it is greased. a lot less “sticktion” to the blade and makes things overall less tiring. Try it!
Re 2nd take …
…I re-watched the video and used the stop button to view it almost frame by frame …that’s when I noticed the " point " or high end of the paddle end is on top. Now I don’t really know if the high point on a paddle blade end is supposed to be up or down, I tend to put the point down. Maybe that’s way the video might seem odd. If anything the paddler might have the right paddle on the left, and vice versa, or the whole paddle flip flopped. Judging by the shaft connector …that’s a Lendal paddle. another thing i noticed …the fatter, more rounded part of the blade on the left is on the bottom, the right blade seems to have the fatter part on top( camera angle? ) I have a Lendal paddle one edge is straighter than the other on the blades.
The concave is the older style and most
marketable to the imho recreation crowd…with their arm-stroking = using very little of the blade’s area. A little bit of bent forward provides one with a lot of surface to “use” imho…as many paddlers, kayak and canoe have found. $.01
Point should be up, I believe
With the point down and hitting the water first, the water would tend to twist the blade in your hand. When the point is up, it stays out of the water until he paddle is submerging and there is less or no twisting motion of the shaft because of uneven pressure on the blade in the water. Ideally, at every point during the stroke where the blade is in the water, the center of force on the blade would be aligned with the paddle shaft. I would draw pictures but this site is so behind the times that they charge to post pictures inline in a post.
The blade in the video looks correct and is spoon shaped from the inward part to the outward part of the blade. The spoon shape is catching the water ans he paddles. The video makes it look like the shaft or the overall angle of the blade is towards the front of the boat but I think that it may be an illusion due to the fish eye lens of the camera. I don’t know much about paddles and subtle things like that.
I’ll have to go back and look again at his short(s). I missed that.
Dave
Bent forward is for power
Bent forward is for power on the back end of the stroke. Just like bent canoe and SUP paddles.
yes the point goes up
It is supposed to reduce twisting as you start your catch. But if you properly submerge the blade completely before you pull it does not seem to make any difference.
If you pull with only half the paddle submerged it would make more of a difference.
Related Issue
– Last Updated: Jul-30-12 5:16 PM EST –
Yes, with the blade fully submerged, it makes no difference which side is up or down. But if you look at the overall profile of the blade relative to the water's surface when it is rightside-up (that's when the "longer" half of the blade is oriented on the top), the shaft need not be positioned quite as low to totally submerge the whole blade. If you were to place the paddle shaft at the same angle, but with the "long end" of the blade being down, the shaft would need to be positioned slightly lower to submerge the whole blade. The main thing might be what Frank is talking about however, making the blade feel torque-free whether fully submerged or not.
Fish-eye Lens?
I think the paddler is using a fish-eye lens and it’s the distortion that makes the paddle look weird.