paddle size
I use a narrow gp and a slow cadence. Works for me. I can keep up with most people. I don’t care about any of the technical mumbo jumbo. I just go with what works for me.
Slippage
I think slippage happens more when any blade is over-powered. For me, I felt like the blade wasn’t staying planted when I really put power on the Shuna/Cyprus blade size. So for me the ikelos feels better.
But there are certainly costs to paddling with a bigger blade - a little weight I guess, definitely windage, more time spent on catch and recovery phases of the stroke.
I suspect that any paddler is most efficient with a blade that is just big enough to avoid turbulence and “slippage” during a strong stroke. Anything larger than that is just more blade to lug around.
When I go out on the water
I typically take my Zaveral Powersurge and my Zaveral Outrigger paddles with me (always travel with a spare!). But conditions will usually dictate which one I will use. The Outrigger has about one more square foot of surface area than the Powersurge. So if it’s really windy, I’ll go with the smaller Powersurge. If I’m on a tight twisty river like the Edisto or the Lumber, I’ll use the Outrigger where I can get more bight in the turns. When I’m training for a race, I’ll use the Outrigger then switch to the Powersurge on race day. (Kinda like when a baseball batter warms up in the on-deck circle with two or three bats before coming to the plate). When I’m just out cruisin’ on Lake Norman, I can really feel the difference between the two in my shoulders
In my “youth” I tended to use big blades
for better bracing and rolling, and when just covering ground I was pulling them through a long arc. In later years I have found that a standard slalom blade is quite large enough. It has a lot of bite, but by shortening my stroke I can get a good cadence without having to horse the blade through the water.
In whitewater play, it is sometimes necessary to force the paddle through the water in preparation for the next move, and a somewhat smaller blade helps the paddler do that. I’ve never been a play/rodeo kind of guy, and I can do whatever I need to do using a decent sized blade, by using static, sculling, or shorter moving strokes.
I see quite a few paddlers on the river, both kayakers and canoeists, who are still using rather long strokes, to the detriment of their efficiency. If the stroke is shortened to its range of best effectiveness, the side benefits are better tracking, less correction, ease in raising the cadence, and ability to manage a slightly larger blade if one wishes.
Blades can be too big, and paddles can be too long. There is no arguing that. But sometimes paddling style makes a larger blade intolerable.
funny story
I heard of a study from a guy at the u of Hawaii that disproved the batters donut. He says it slows down bat speed. I say blasphemy.
Ryan L.
complex interaction sounds about right
"Power application is the product of applied force times the velocity of the paddle." The tricky thing that strikes me here is that the velocity of the paddle is offset by two things. The kayak moving through the water, and the paddle moving through the water. A slower movement of the paddle through the water, given the same paddle velocity, leaves the kayak moving through the water faster.
I’m likely missing some between-the-lines information that may be inferred by folks more well studied on the subject, such as yourself. I find it interesting, but never seem to take the time. But this seems to just bring me back to wondering at what point I reach that ideal balance. I can’t move faster than my paddle vs I can’t efficiently move my paddle any faster. It still leaves me feeling like avoidable blade slippage through the water could be largely undesirable, but that the perfect balance is as fluid as the environment I’m paddling in. I’m likely missing something here though.
Regardless of the reason,
what matters is how you feel. Think of it like gears on a bike. The small blade is your low gear and the larger blade is your high gear. Choose whichever one fits your fitness and the conditions. I think it’s a simple intuitive decision that you feel pretty quickly on the water, and also at the end of the day.
A shoulder injury almost made me quit kayaking until I switched to a smaller blade and very light paddle (22 oz.). That paddle aided my recovery, and after two years I was ready to go back to a mid-size blade. I knew I was ready because I felt like I was expending too much energy on rapid, less-efficient strokes, especially against the wind.
At this point the larger blade makes me feel less tired by the end of the day. But when I was weaker and in pain from an injury the smaller blade left me less tired at the end of the day—many more strokes in the course of the day, but far less pain and fatigue with each stroke.
Another conceptual approach . . .
– Last Updated: Aug-05-11 9:49 AM EST –
Begin by determining the speed at which you want your kayak to move through the water.
The most efficient stroke involves paddle action from the heels to the hips that is only incrementally faster than the intended boat speed. Anything faster results in slippage and loss of energy. The most efficient paddle is the one that slips least relative to the forward movement of the boat.
To maintain a boat speed of 6 knots, a larger blade would be optimal, as a very small blade (think soup spoon) would require a humanly unattainable high stroke rate in order to achieve the desired speed. This size blade would also result in a lot of "slippage."
To maintain a boat speed of 2 knots, the paddler should use a paddle blade that is small relative to that used by the 6 knot paddler. The smaller blade used at a comfortable stroke rate will be sufficient to maintain this speed. If using the larger "6-knot blade," it would be necessary to pause between strokes in order not to exceed this speed -- and the pause and resulting deceleration of the boat would lead to a loss of efficiency.
Small Blade Makes Stroke Efficient
Using a smaller blade (kayak or canoe), a couple of times a week, will help make your stroke more efficient when returning back to using the normal larger size blade. Of course, the smaller blade will slip and whip through the water like a narrow stick. But have patience, and give your brain some time to make the necessary adjustment to get that “stuck in the muck” feel. This may take 20 minutes, 2 hours or a week, but the payoff is a more efficient stroke.