Paddle length for Wild water racing

[Col]

Currently using 142cm.

Whilst at the Worlds in Ivrea Italy, i met a lot fo the French paddlers using 139 - 140cm the problem is i keep falling onto the blade when the paddle is this short ? Anyone have any feedback on paddle lengths for this disipline?

Any help greatly appreciated..

Colin

[edg]

Col- I wish I knew the answer to this. Based on what I'd seen of the French, I went from 142 to 140. BUT, I'm 173 cm, and use an 11mm saddle, so I'm short and low in the boat. I like the way it feels, but don't know if its any faster. I won't time trial until things thaw in the spring. I also tried changing my grip so that my bottom hand was right at the throat of the blade, pinky dipping the water, not up the shaft, again based on what I'd seen of the French/Germans. The Czechs seem to go with a longer shaft and higher grip. I doubt that there's anyone in the USA with a good answer to this. I'd love to pick the brain of an actual coach to see what the thinking is. Oh, any word on how the G-Power blade compares to the Gala?...edg

[Mike W.]

and use an 11mm saddle, so I'm short and low in the boat...edg

11mm!?! that's 0.43307" Why bother with a saddle at all? Just put in a back-rest. Heck, even if you meant to type 11cm, that's still only 4.3307" & I'd never touch that one either

I've been wondering about what paddles the wildwater guys use anyway. I'm doing downriver nats this year & I don't think my Zaveral Outrigger paddle is going to last that long. It's 10oz. which I really like. How much do wildwater paddles weigh & what's a great one? Or should I get a 3M blade to put on my galasport shaft?

[edg]

Touche! In my metrically challenged state, 140/142/11 CM is what I meant. Yes, its just over 4 inches, and yes, it does suck, but I think of it as a reason to go faster. 11cm is fairy moderate, by wildwater standards. Check out the galasports usa site for the ww -C-1 blade shape. Mitchell also offers the same basic shape, but in a more durable, wood core lay up. More "triangular" then a slalom shape, and less area, but still quite powerful....edg

[Mike W.]

From center, my pedestal was 10" high in the old wildwater boat I had. It didn't really feel that high, since my knees were so far up the sides of the hull. Man, those boats are fast

Thanks for the paddle info.

[bearboater]

Ed,
the g-power blades are way better than everything else. they can come as a 1 piece, as in the blade is made from the same piece of carbon that the shaft is, it's super stiff, you can also buy different amts of carbon versus kev in the make up. when the last of my galasport paddles break, i'll go to gpower...
the Gpower or CRC are the way to go...
as far as length, I watched alot at Jr worlds this year, and there was a total spread for lengths. and all I can say is the czechs dominated...
food for thought, I haven't spent much time in a dr boat, but the little i did, i was like 3 in saddle, and still used my 159 cm paddle... then I am 6'2"

if you want more info on G-power here's the site:
http://www.gpower.pl/produkty4_gb.htm

cheers
-isaac

[Col]

Gpower are great paddles a much smoother catch than the Blackjack from Galasport. Plius they look a lot nicer.

I actually import these to the UK after seeing them at the World Cups and Pre Worlds last year. They have been developed by Santamaria/ Leblond from France. Both of these guys have a wealth of experince they won the World Cup and didnt even race the Pre Worlds due to injury.

If you get chance to try them or even have a good importer they are well worth a look.

Edg, id be interested to hear your thoughts on the lower hand being so close to the blade, ie getting your pinky wet.

I have spoken to loads of the Frech guys who used paddles this short. How to i not fall onto the Blade as much? I spoke with Guillame Alzingre who won Gold at last years worlds he told me to cut my paddle to 139 for classic and 140 for sprint. Im 5'11 similar height to him. What do you reckon did the short paddle work well for you ?

Cheers

[edg]

Col- My guess is that shortening the shaft and moving my bottom hand down to the throat of the blade automatically forces me to use my trunk muscles more, and/or makes it easier to keep the bottom arm straighter. If you look the No-Name pictures on the site, you'll see a bit of my stroke from 2005 - not so nice, I know:) I think the shorter shaft makes it easier for me to keep the paddle more vertical on the recovery, for a quicker stroke. I've been trying to mimic video of Santamaria, where he seems to almost drop his bottom arm a bit at the end of his stroke to keep from bending the elbow. But, of course, I train in a bit of a vacuum, so I'm just guessing....Ed

[Col]

Im guessing then my problem of falling onto the paddle is because im leaning out of the boat then.

Do you have footage of Santamaria ? Can you post the link please. I have seen quite a bit on youtube and daily motion but its always good to see more. We have a good coaching structure for WWR kayak here in the UK but no where near the support for C1 or C2. It ends up as we are here networking to find info.

I had a paddler from the Czech Wildwater team stay with me over summer he won Gold at Ivrea in C2 Sprint. He was so laid back and chilled he didnt seem to worry about structuring his sessions too much we just did plenty of training and lots of time on whitewater.

Any information you have that may help with any aspect of Wild water racing that you may see as usefull i would be gratefull it you could forward it and i will do the same.

Im on email cartwrightcolin@hotmail.com