Hi all, please forgive me if this has been posted before, but there's alot of talk about board sizes for people of different sizes and abilities, but what about paddles?
i recently bought a 10ft Mana on the back of posts here, and it's truly been one of the best investments I've made, as it's perfect for my size (6'3") and weight of 105kgs.
It's the paddle, I'm not sure that its area is big enough to give me a lot of momentum when going for waves?
the model is a naish Kaholo Vario 8.5, I'm thinking maybe the 9" could have been better?
could just be my technic...

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WetnWildWozza said..
Hi all, please forgive me if this has been posted before, but there's alot of talk about board sizes for people of different sizes and abilities, but what about paddles?
i recently bought a 10ft Mana on the back of posts here, and it's truly been one of the best investments I've made, as it's perfect for my size (6'3") and weight of 105kgs.
It's the paddle, I'm not sure that its area is big enough to give me a lot of momentum when going for waves?
the model is a naish Kaholo Vario 8.5, I'm thinking maybe the 9" could have been better?
could just be my technic...

Depends on your cadence and how you like the blade when actually in a wave. Have you tried just taking faster shorter strokes? It may work well and save you money. If you like power strokes then I would guess most larger bodies are in the 9 to 10 realm for blade size.

Hi WWW.. I'm about your height and weight and I don't use anything over about an 8" wide blade.. and about 90 in areas.. I guess it's a personal thing..

Also..

At your weight and height you would notice a huge difference going to a fixed length shaft..

I'm thinking you dont need a bigger blade.. you need a stiffer shaft.. Where are you located..

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WetnWildWozza said..
could just be my technic...

It is most probably the technique... Paddling is much more technical than it looks, and takes a lot of time to get it right.
Read tutorials on how to do it, try to put in practice, and ask experienced paddlers to give your advice on the water...

First learn the basics: developing a solid catch well forward, etc... Plenty of resources to read on the web such as blogs/sites by Dave Kalama, Jim Terrel, etc...
A 7" blade well "planted" in the water with a solid catch will give you more power with less effort than a 9" improperly used (not totally immersed, turbulences / air around the blade, not far enough forwards, etc...). And of course a 9" properly used will be awesome :-)

Vario paddles are now quite good, but they always be heavier and less durable than fixed ones. Fixed ones are better but I don't think it is the source of your problems.

Hi Colas - what about the technique regarding paddling a short sup (< 7ft) & how different it is from a larger & longer board? I recently started using a short top of the line ultra light carbon paddle with 7" paddle and it appears to out perform larger blades - maybe it is just the light weight and / or the decreased resistance from a smaller blade but I can feel great a difference - what do you think ?:-)

thanks for the feedback, I should also advise that I recently sold my old board (MacTavish) with the paddle that came with that board being a surf industries paddle. It had what appeared to being a carbon fibre shaft and a fibre glass looking blade to which I had to cut to Length.
That paddled seemed to get me going quicker at short notice, which makes me think that the shaft maybe the answer thanks DJ.
The main reasoning behind buying an adjustable paddle was around reducing it in size for the kids and wife when they use it.
DJ, I'm from Warrandyte in Vic.

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Johndesu said..
Hi Colas - what about the technique regarding paddling a short sup (< 7ft) & how different it is from a larger & longer board? I recently started using a short top of the line ultra light carbon paddle with 7" paddle and it appears to out perform larger blades - maybe it is just the light weight and / or the decreased resistance from a smaller blade but I can feel great a difference - what do you think ?:-)

There are some discussions here:
www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1623 (first post is more than 4 years old, so you can see the technique evolve along the thread)

Basically, on a <7' SUP, the 3 key points I found:
- Fins are important to counter the row (the hull doesn't help much), but without some speed (2 knots?) the fins have not enough grip to prevent the row: you want to very gently get up to some speed before applying paddle power. A smaller blade helps there, with a bigger blade, just paddle more gingerly.
- You cannot "gather speed": as soon as you stop paddling, the board stops. Thus timing is very important: if the bump of the wave lifts you between paddle strokes, you'll miss the wave (or take off too late). This is why I don't think a high frequency paddling is good. Rather one good stroke at the perfect time than many small ones. But a good stroke cannot be performed without some speed first (see above)
- The board is very sensitive to body weight transfers. Better move around your weight (Imagine dropping in a steep bowl on a skate) on very supple legs (bend your knees!) than milling frantically with the paddle once the bump has pushed you. Try not to use your paddle to finish the take off, but your body weight.

A lightweight paddle is very pleasant. reducing the blade size means a lighter paddle, but you really want a paddle you can apply power to for the take off, and for this the blade shape is also very important, more than just the area. I guess it amounts to personal preferences: maybe you will handle a 7" more easily and have a firmer, deeper catch with it. Or you will be like me and love huge blades (but as light as possible, I love my Gong Carbon pro 8" at 350g, can't wait for my 9", although some love the 7"... including its shaper). But a paddle that drifts under your power on take off? no!

OK thanks Colas I understand the paddle wave catching technique - I have managed a few perfect take offs (and also a few late ones - but with some luck and persistence have also recovered) I find a very low take off stance (my rear knee almost touches the board) combined with a forward weight transfer (almost hanging five on the nose some times for the late drops) works but I do not fully understand the relationship to the fins in as you said to "counter the row" & "the hull doesn't help much" what do you mean exactly ?:-)
thanks regards John :-)

Slightly off topic to WetnWildWozza's initial question but what's the general consensus re paddle flex for surfing vs other/flat water paddling?

My 1st & only paddle until recently was a Laird Pro Carbon X which is nice & stiff however I've been doing a few more dedicated surf trips so I thought it would be prudent to invest in a 2nd paddle incase anything went wrong with my Laird.

I was recommended to buy the Naish Wave LE as my go-to surf paddle which I've cut down to fractionally over head high & to be fair, I've only used it a handful of times but the extra flex is definitely going to take a while to get use to.

I'm happy with the length (it feels more comfortable vs my laird which is approx 8" over head height) but is a more flexed paddle the norm for surfing or does it really come down to personal preference?

Both paddles have the same size blade (95"sq) but my Laird feels like it would get me out of trouble quicker....maybe I should test the difference in speed on flat water. Any feedback would be appreciated - cheers

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Johndesu said..
as you said to "counter the row" & "the hull doesn't help much" what do you mean exactly ?:-)

On a 10' board, you could easily remove the fin, the hull itself has some tracking capabilities to mitigate the row.
On a 7' board, the hull itself will rather pivot than go straight, so fins are really important to counter the row in case of paddling mistakes (with no stress and a good technique, no need of fins to counter the row, but in real conditions fins help :-)

For instance, I love C-Drive fins on my <7' boards, but I have normal fins on my 8'4", because I find the C-Drive stiffen it a bit too much for the kind of wave I use (not very powerful)

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SUPing said..
Slightly off topic to WetnWildWozza's initial question but what's the general consensus re paddle flex for surfing vs other/flat water paddling?

For me, the less flex the better for performance, in surfing especially. But you need to have just enough flex to avoid any pain (shoulder and elbows), otherwise small pains will build up over time and you may face weeks of recovery...

OK thanks Colas I understand now and I am going to get some c-drives and I also might try to make / modify some fins to suit - I will let you know how I go., and regarding my paddle which is very small / short (around 5ft2") with a little bit of flex (almost unnoticable) with a narrow 7" blade I feel that it is very easy to change direction / sides from forehand to backhand while surfing - I will also let you know how I progress (I only recently bought it :-)
thanks again regards John :-)