Kayak - How to Hold a Paddle

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Mike Aronoff: Hi, I am Mike Aronoff with Canoe, Kayak and Paddle Company. I am going to talk a few minutes about the parts of the paddle and how to hold it, really important piece of gear. We kid sometimes and say, dont really use the paddle for much except for going forward, going backwards, turning, going sideways, stopping and keeping your self from falling over, and thats about all you use one for. It's simply a lever that propels the kayak through the water. Lets talk about the parts; starting at the top, top is not surprisingly called the tip and this big portion is called the blade. Most kayak paddles made today are convex; they have a curve in them. The outside, this is called the back face and the spooned in part, as if you are going to eat, surely a lot of them like a spoon is called the power face. So, we have a tip, blade, power face, back face. The blades are asymmetrical. You have a top edge and a bottom edge. Where the blades comes back and runs into this thing, this is called the shaft. The shaft runs along and you might be able to see this, its called a drip ring, the idea of this is that it stops water from running down the shaft on to your head. I am not sure that that works, but thats what they are there for. Paddle runs through, this is a two piece paddle. This is a way where you can take it apart. Shaft runs all the way up and to another blade. Thats pretty simple really; tip, blade, power face, back face, shaft, where the blade meets the shaft, we refer that as the throat, drip rings, if it's a two piece paddle, this is the button for taking the paddle apart, some of these are, some arent, this is a straight shaft paddle, it comes back to another blade. Most people use these types of paddles. However, there is another type. The type differs only in that it has a bent shaft. Ill talk about how to hold these paddles. Ill go back to the one that most people use. First of all when you hold a paddle, you use a lose grip, keep your fingers curled around the paddle, but not grip tightly, grip tightly just put stress on your tendons, forearms and wrists and it doesnt work well either, so a nice relaxed grip on the paddle. You are going to hold the paddle, we use a thing called a 90 degree test, if you put the center of the paddle on your head, my arms ought to be at about 90 degree or about right angles, that about where your hands go, and because this is a lever, you want your hands equal distant from the blades, this is right way up, top edge up, bottom edge down. Hands held like this. You can see that this blade is straight up and down, this one is not. This is a choice. People can have their blades the same, both blades at the same angle, or they can have their blades feathered or off set. In either case when you hold the paddle you have your knuckles up the blade thats up straight, with both under your up straight and both sets of knuckles are lined up with the top edge of the blade, so that you are going to be able to control the blade angle by moving your wrist forward or back. That will allow you to use the big muscles of your torso and back to make the paddle work, same thing; no difference; top edge up; bottom edge down; the bed shaft. The folks that like bed shafts say that they are easier on their forearms and wrists. Again, they are quite popular, but not as popular as the straight shaft. They also are going to cost more. Paddles are made out of different materials. This paddle is made out of carbon fiber. This paddle is made out of fiber glass with a fiber glass blade and a fiber glass shaft. You will find some excellent paddles that are made out of wood and some others are made out of aluminum and plastic. So, thats about enough on paddles until we get in the water and learn how to use them there. of all when you hold a paddle, you use a lose grip, keep your fingers curled around the paddle, but not griped tightly, grip tightly just put stress on your tendons, forearms and wrists and it doesn t work well either.

So, a nice relaxed grip on the paddle. You are going to hold the paddle, we use a thing called a 90 degree test, if you put the center of the paddle on your head, my arms ought to be at about 90 degree or about right angles, that about where your hands go, and because this is a lever, you want your hands equidistant from the blades. This is right way up, top edge up, bottom edge down. Hands held like this. You can see that this blade is straight up and down, this one is not. This is a choice. People can have their blades the same, both blades at the same angle, or they can have their blades feathered or offset. In either case when you hold the paddle you have your knuckles up the blade that s up straight, if both arms are up straight then both sets of knuckles are lined up with the top edge of the blade, so that you are going to be able to control the blade angle by moving your wrist forward or back. That will allow you to use the big muscles of your torso and back to make the paddle work, same thing; no difference; top edge up; bottom edge down; the bend shaft. The folks that like bend shafts say that they are easier on their forearms and wrists. Again, they are quite popular, but not as popular as the straight shaft. They also are going to cost more. Paddles are made out of different materials. This paddle is made out of carbon fiber. This paddle is made out of fiber glass with a fiber glass blade and a fiber glass shaft. You will find some excellent paddles that are made out of wood and some others are made out of aluminum and plastic. So, that s about enough on paddles until we get in the water and learn how to use them there.

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