There are only general guides to choosing the length of your paddles and much of this will be determined buy your own personal preference. Normally paddle length is a product of your height and the style of paddling that you normally do.
Touring Kayakers use longer paddles due to the fact that they use longer boats. A longer paddle would also be better suited for open canoeing.
Often, a sit-on-top kayaker will need a longer paddle. A long paddle may provide the paddler with more power, but will also create more resistance.
General Purpose Kayakers should use a medium sized paddle to cope with the variant in paddling.
White Water Kayakers use shorter boats so shorter paddles seem to work best.
Short paddles allow a greater stroke rate, enabling greater acceleration strokes, as it takes less time to complete a stroke which makes it ideal for white water kayaking.
Whitewater kayakers prefer shorter paddles for their increased manoeuvrability,
speed and strength.
Paddle Shape
Kayaking paddle blades can be long, short, wide, narrow, feathered, unfeathered, symmetrical, asymmetrical, spooned or dihedral.
Each shape has it own individual benefits.
A wide blade with a larger surface area can provide greater acceleration but will also create more resistance in the water. This may be an important point to consider, particularly if you are an in a infrequent paddler, as it takes much more effort to use s large bladed paddle than a smaller one.
Touring is more about endurance than speed, so a long, narrow blade will take more strokes through the water but the paddler will be much less tired.
Paddle blades can be either symmetrical of asymmetrical. Normally, touring paddles are long, narrow and symmetrical. Many paddlers find an asymmetrical paddle can help reduce the twisting on the paddle shaft while stroking in the water, as it helps even the amount of water on each side of the submerged paddle.
While most paddle shafts are straight, there are several bent-shaft paddles that may help to increase the paddler’s comfort as well as providing a stronger, more effective stroke.
For expert information on choosing the right paddle for you please
contact AS Watersports.
