I wonder
if simply starting people off with unfeathered paddles makes more sense for basic courses then accomodate to students with feathered paddles in more advanced cources. It seems that the benefits of feathered paddles provide more of an impediment for all the things to be learned in a few hours and a couple days.
It could be argued
that feathering does not provide any benefit at all 
But that would have nothing to do with OP
P.S. A lot of other things could be argued as well.
can o’ worms
This opens the proverbial COW.
In my experience I start people off with AT bent shafts at 15-45 degrees offset. They do just fine. The bends help orient the hand to shaft and the shaft to blade and with proper torso rotation they learn just fine. It’s ALL about the proper rotation.
Ever try a bent shaft at no feather? This isn’t a pretty picture.
JMO
steve
Interesting…
>Ever try a bent shaft at no feather? This isn’t a pretty picture.
I do not feather my paddle and have been considering a bent shaft. I didn’t realize that you “needed” to feather for them.
Interesting.
(And, yes- this is a serious/non-sarcastic post. I honestly didn’t know.)
you might find
a touch of feather is actually much easier to use with a BS. It has to do with torso and shoulder rotation and elbow alignment. w/o some offset the wrists and elbows have to adjust more to get the paddle blade alignment correct.
steve
Control hand - standard method
– Last Updated: Jul-29-08 8:12 PM EST –
The -standard- method for using a feathered paddle is to have one control hand. Usually, the right hand is the control hand. The blade orientation to the control hand is fixed. That is, the top blade edge pointing in the direction of the first (proximal) set of knuckles of the control hand.
The paddle shaft is allowed to rotate in the non-control hand. The control hand does not need to hold the shaft in a "death grip". Note that the non-control hand is really only "loose" when not applying power. When applying power (on either side), both hands grip the paddle firmly (not necessarily in a "death grip").
Note that there isn't anything to keep a left-handed person from using right hand control.
A paddle that is feathered 90 degrees can be used as right or left hand control. For other offsets, the blade orientation is different depending on the control hand.
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Note that I have no problem with people departing from the standard technique. People can choose whatever works for them.
Try it!
– Last Updated: Jul-29-08 8:47 PM EST –
A few things to think about.
* The difference between feathered and non-feathered is more noticeable with a high angle stroke.
* The degree of feathering is (ergonomically) is matched to the stroke angle: a higher offset angle is used for a higher stroke angle.
* People typically vary their stroke angle a lot. This typically means the feather angle isn't always "perfect" (unless you never change the angle of your stroke). The fact that people vary their stroke angles is a major reason why what technique people choose isn't important. (That is, it typically doesn't matter a whole lot what technique people use.)
* The standard techique for paddling with a feathered bladed is to keep the control hand (usually, it's the right hand) aligned with the blade. The first (proximal) set of knuckles of the control hand always points in the same direction as the top edge of the blade on that hand's side. (It's the alignment that is key, not how tightly the paddle is held). Note that the paddle shaft is allowed to rotate in the non-control hand (also crucial to the "correct" technique).
* The bend in the bent-shaft are aligned (at 90') with the blade. (This is the "missing" bit of information in Flatpick's helpful comment.)
* The point of feathering is clear if you play (on dry land) with a paddle that can be adjusted to any angle. Set the paddle to a high offset and use a high angle stroke. Observe what happens to the blade of the non-control hand as you set it up to plant the blade.
* The ergonomic point of feathering is to eliminate (reduce) the need to flex or extend the wrists. (The point isn't to reduce wind resistance.)
* It appears that long-distance racers typically use a feathered paddle. (It's for this group of paddlers that this stuff really "matters").
* It takes a little bit of practice to get the timing of using a feathered paddle "correctly".
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Note that I am not advocating any particular approach!
interesting
Played with the feather angle on dry land, water, and set it to zero. Just as my bent shaft WW blade.
Oh yeah, since you sound like a real expert, here is good question - what direction should one feather? Mind, it is a loaded question, since there seems to be movement towards no dominant hand approach.
Either
– Last Updated: Jul-29-08 9:00 PM EST –
The control hand doesn't need to match one's handedness. It's not hard for left-handed people to use right hand control (or vice versa). (If you "get" the control hand thing, it's not that hard to use either a right hand or left hand control paddle.)
Keep in mind that paddling doesn't require the same level of fine motor control that writing does, for example. (That's why the handedness thing isn't crucial.)
As far as I can tell, the only reason for a left-handed person to use right hand control is because right hand control paddles are more common.
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Again, I am not advocating one approach as better than the other! Greenland paddlers do just fine with no feathering.
Thanks
Thanks for the replies everybody. As I expected, the problem isn’t the boat, it’s me. On Sunday I spent some time with an experienced paddler and worked on my paddling stroke. I also made some adjustments to my seating position. Now I am paddling straight and able to turn both ways.
Thanks!
whew…
glad you sorted THAT out!
BTW- right or left offset with NO dominant hand is OK too. The ol’ control hand vs offside vs non-control vs onside philosophy confuses many. R hand controls R blade, L controls L…upper hand controls shaft angle and pivot point. I teach simple.
steve
Go all the way -> no feathering
Seems if you are not going to use one control hand, you might as well drop the confusing feathering stuff entirely.
why is it confusing? NM
Boat Drifts Left - Turns Left Easily…
…could there be a pattern here? My guess is that while you believe you are sitting level …alas, you’re not - you’re leaning right. This predisposes you to making easy left turns, BTW - yet you struggle with right turns. Here’s a question - is your brace (the one you use to keep from tipping over) stronger on the right side than on the left side? If it is, you may be subconsciously protecting on the left. This results in inadvertent leaning to the right that causes the boat to drift left. My advice would be to work on your symmetry - and improve your brace on your left side until you have equal confidence in both sides.
Why isn’t it confusing?
– Last Updated: Jul-30-08 3:23 PM EST –
Note that the orientation of the two blade of feathered paddle point in different directions.
One common complaint about using a feathered paddle with a single control hand is that you do one thing on one side and something else on the other.
Even when you are using two control hands, you still have to do different things on each side. If you do the same thing on each side, the blade orientation on one side (or both sides) isn't going to be optimal.
Note it won't make much of a difference with a small offset (like 15') because it's close to being unfeathered.
The only case where one can do the same thing on both sides is to use a non-feathered paddle.
http://www.epickayaks.com/tips/details.aspx?nid=1986&id=3913&tImg=8245
footpegs
As usual a ton of good information spills out when someone sincerely asks for advice. I’d just like to add a small caveat lightly touched on above: footpegs can make you asymmetric despite your best efforts, or rather they can make your best efforts take more effort. They may not line up even if you’ve counted notches. Your legs may not be the same length. The thing is, you can’t easily watch what your legs are doing, but they have a big influence on what your hips and torso do. Leg position matters, not only for power but also for how you orient to the boat.
I am not sure what you mean
by “Even when you are using two control hands, you still have to do different things on each side. If you do the same thing on each side, the blade orientation on one side (or both sides) isn’t going to be optimal.”
and
“The only case where one can do the same thing on both sides is to use a non-feathered paddle.”
I can’t really comment back because I am not sure what you mean by ‘different things’ and ‘same things’. Maybe if you gave an example of the ‘things’ it would help me out.
I use a feathered paddle because it feels better. But I think of the paddle is two halves connected. My right hand controls the right blade, left hand left blade. In my mind if my right hand does something with the right blade, my left hand will have to do the same thing on the left side.
What I mean is… if I want to get a clean catch on the right side I use my right hand to make sure that happens. If I want a clean catch on the left side I use the left hand to make that happen. There isn’t a whole lot of difference in the shape of the blade to make the catch clean so I imagine my hands are doing the same thing - maybe mirror opposites in some cases. That way, no matter what the feather is (or non-feather) I always get a clean catch, or a good brace (if I am bracing). It works for me, but if you had another example please let me know.
???
I’m not quarreling; I just don’t understand. njkayaker obviously has thought about this a great deal and expresses his/her thoughts well, but
“Even when you are using two control hands, you still have to do different things on each side. If you do the same thing on each side, the blade orientation on one side (or both sides) isn’t going to be optimal.”
doesn’t square with experience or logic. I just took down a paddle and went through the motions slowly in front of a mirror: the hands don’t do the same thing but they do look like they’re doing precisely equal and opposite things. I mean, otherwise the blade orientation wouldn’t be optimal!
And, realistically, though I can’t explain this any better, what they do is almost unavoidable if the hands alternately relax. The value of feathering a paddle, I suggest, has much less to do with air resistance than it does with cramping. If only one set of fingers is gripping the shaft at a time, and that set changes with each stroke, all the pulling muscles on each side of my body get a chance to go slack for a moment. Systole/diastole… It’s a good way to use muscles hard for a long time, but somehow it tends to rotate the paddle between release and catch. Rather than compensate, paddlers just feather their blades to approximately match. An unfeathered paddle certainly works, but especially when paddling hard it’s difficult to reflexively unclench on the high side so both hands tend to grip longer and tighter than they need to. Anyway, that’s my observation. I’d love to hear others.
Not hands.
– Last Updated: Aug-03-08 11:48 AM EST –
What I said: "you still have to do different things on each side"
I didn't say "hands" (that was deliberate).
You don't mention the feather angle you used or whether you used a high or low angle stroke.
Keep in mind that no one has really described the "two control hands" thing.
============
Because the blades in a feathered paddle are pointing in different directions, you have to do different things on the right and left side to get the paddle blade square in the water.
For a right hand control, the top edge of the left paddle has to move back (rotate) to be ready to plant. If you use a right hand control and let the shaft slip in the left hand, this rotation "just happens" as you bring the right hand across.
If you use the left hand to control the angle of the blade as you plant it, you have to -extend- your left (or both wrists) on the left side. Depending on how you orient the right blade, your right wrist is either neutral or it has to be -flexed- to orient the blade.
That is, what you do on one side is different than what you do on the other.
Keep in mind that we are talking about one feather angle and one shaft angle. And, the differences are larger for greater offsets and higher paddling angles.
One advantage of the standard "one hand control" technique is that the wrists of both hands can be kept neutral. That is, you don't have to extend or flex your wrists with the standard technique.
It's possible that people just live with the blades entering differently on each side (and this could be part of the reason the original poster moves to one side).
============
Being able to relax the hands is a good technique. Too many people use a "death grip" on the paddle. This is another technique that people have to work a bit on (to make it a habit). There is no reason you can't use this technique with a unfeathered paddle.
Not hands
– Last Updated: Aug-03-08 3:22 PM EST –
"In my mind if my right hand does something with the right blade, my left hand will have to do the same thing on the left side."
Look at what you do with both hands on the left side of the boat compared to what you do on the right. It isn't going to be the same.
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"There isn't a whole lot of difference in the shape of the blade to make the catch clean so I imagine my hands are doing the same thing - maybe mirror opposites in some cases."
The left and right side of a -unfeathered- paddle are mirror images of each other. With an unfeathered paddle, the movements can be "mirror images" of each other. But with a feathered paddle, the movements can't be mirror images of each other (because the blade offset breaks the mirror symmetry of the paddle).
The offset (rotated) blades of a -feathered- paddle means that you can't use movements that are "mirror images" because the left and right sides of the paddle are no longer mirror images of each other.
In -any- technique with a feathered paddle, you are doing one thing on the left side that you are undoing on the right (or vice versa).
It's actually very much like screwing and unscrewing a lid on a jar. One side is taking the lid off and the other side is putting the lid on.
It might seem that the same thing is being done in both cases but they are different (though, maybe, hard to notice). You use different movements and different muscles to take the lid off compared to putting it back on.
The jar lid has a "handedness" just like the feathered paddle.
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"That way, no matter what the feather is (or non-feather) I always get a clean catch, or a good brace (if I am bracing). It works for me, but if you had another example please let me know."
All I am saying that that what one does on the left side of the boat is different (by some degree) from what one does on the right.
The core value of the standard technique is to allow for greater paddle shaft rotation with less wrist movement (less flexing/extension) IF you let the non-control hand slip) in the forward stroke. (I'm only talking about the forward stroke since bracing complicates things.)
You could eliminate wrist movement with an unfeathered paddle but you'd have to let the paddle shaft slip in both hands (left hand loose on the right side and right hand loose on the left side). The problem with that is you have to "reindex" the blades with every stroke. (With the standard feathered technique, the blade is always aligned with the knuckles of the right hand (right hand control).
Note that the "standard technique" requires that the feather angle is matched with the particular paddler's stroke angle (and his/her torso length and the width of the boat, and the length of the paddle). Clearly, people don't use a single stroke angle. And, it doesn't matter too much what people do with a low stroke angle.
If it works for you, paddle on!