Winter gloves

[leong]

Phil and Lisa,

In a post above I mentioned this article that theorizes how to determine the feather angle that minimizes wrist cocking. The theory says that the optimal ergonomically chosen feather angle should be the same as the paddling angle (the angle between the upper and lower arm as measured at the most powerful part of the stroke).

Well, I spent a few hours on the water today to see how well this theory holds up in practice. I paddled with good and bad rotation, low and high angle paddling, switched to about 10 different feather angles and even did a few rolls to cool off (it was in the mid 80’s with 80 deg water in SE FL). It turns out that the theory is completely invalid, at least for me. That’s because, for a given paddling angle, as you raise the feather angle the required amount of positive wrist cocking (i.e. rotating your wrist up) increases. And for a given feather angle, as you raise the paddling angle the required amount of positive wrist cocking also increases. So, in general, you two are correct.

But for some reason I can’t completely eliminate my wrist cock. If I hold the unfeathered paddle tightly with both hands and keep my wrists aligned with my arm bones I can’t paddle at all. Perhaps that’s my particular body mechanics or that I’m just too used to paddling with some non-zero feather angle. It turns out that my minimum wrist cocking (about 5 deg, I think) occurs at a feather angle of about 20 deg. However, I feel more comfortable staying with my usual 30-deg feather angle even at the expense of increasing the positive wrist cock angle a little bit.

Note that Barton does say, “Unfeathered paddles do not require wrist rotation and put less strain on the wrist.”. I should have remembered this before I gave any credence to the theory in the article.

Regarding the energy expense consideration; I still believe that, overall, and disregarding ergonomics, etc., a high feather angle is best. But this really is a consideration only for very serious racers. On this topic Barton says, “Top racers paddle thousands of miles per year with feathered paddles and rarely suffer wrist problems. The bottom line is that you should use what feels best to you. If you are experiencing tendonitis in your control wrist and notice it goes away with an unfeathered paddle, then that may be a good choice for you.”

Phil, regarding the problems paddling in a crosswind with a feathered paddle, you’re right. But it’s not too bad with a feather angle less than 45 deg.

Bottom Line 1: Some of us are predestined to wear out the glove on our non-control hand. You two are lucky in that regard.

Bottom Line 2: Except for serious racers and paddler's who have crazy body mechanics I wonder why sea kayaker's use feathered paddles?

-Leon

[BethS]

Back to the topic of glove wear; I have been told that wearing a very thin pair of cheap work or gardening gloves over your neoprene gloves can help them to last longer; i wouldn't know myself though, i haven't tried it. My gloves seem to last a long time, maybe because I mostly use a greenland paddle? For feathering I like to switch back and forth from left to right feathering throughout the day; it keeps my aging wrists from getting sore. i'm a pretty low key paddler anyway though, so maybe that reduces glove wear. I only use feathering when it's windy, otherwise i don't see the need.

Edited May 2, 2014 by BethS