Looks like I'll be joining the Downwinding Club sooner rather than later and am looking to buy a new paddle.

For surf , all my paddles are head high and I'm very comfortable with them. I can't imagine going 10"-12" over my head with a paddle....but I don't know what I'm doing on a DW or race board from a paddle technique standpoint so I'd like to start off with the correct gear so I don't get into bad habits or wreak havoc on my aging body.

What's the current thinking on overall paddle length?

And Could anyone recommend a specific paddle in great detail (blade sizes, shaft length and flex etc...)?

I'm 6'4" and around 98 kg these days.

I use a Quickblade v-drive 91 with oval tapered shaft, at 7.5" overhead. But I use DW-specific boards which tend to be very thick where you stand. On a board with a very sunken deck I'd go an inch or so shorter.

I also like the Ke Nalu Maliko with 100 shaft. Very immediate delivery of power. And if you like a monster strong paddle to put down monster strong power to get you on the bumps, the Kialoa GL Surf paddle would do that for you.

It's a very personal thing though. It's good to try to stand tall sometimes when downwinding, so you don't want to go too short in the shaft IMO. But if you DW mainly in confused short period swell with lots of stopping and starting, then you are going to be bending your knees a lot and constantly pulling fast to get onto bumps so you don't want to go too big with your blade or long with the shaft.

You've probably see this but here it is again for those who haven't...

I'm also 6'4" and about 210.. I've been a fan of longer paddles in the past for DWing 10-12" over head.. but these days I'm down to 6-8" overhead.. It seems like you can have a paddle length that's comfee for upright cruising flat water paddling but once you dig deep and paddle hard it will feel cumbersome.. awkward.. and too long.. So I've found that I'm better off having the paddle comfee for paddling hard even if it feels a little short once standing upright and cruising along.. DWing for me is more about start/stop paddling as I drop off one runner.. recover.. and then paddle hard to catch the next runner so I've found that smaller blades work best for me.. Those who can keep a higher constant speed by linking one runner to the next or use Ace-like shape boards that can keep constantly moving more than a planing bottom board might be able to use bigger blades but I've found that smaller blades help me paddle using a higher cadence without pulling myself off-balance or overloading my joints.. I'm using a Kialoa Hulu Small.. It's a high aspect (long and narrow) blade and the total paddle length is between what I use for surfing and normal flat water paddling.. For the same reason I prefer a stiffer shaft.. Soft flexy shafts feel great when cruising along but when you dig deep and paddle hard some of the softer shafts just flex too much for me and stop me getting the power down to catch a runner.. I also lean on my paddle a lot for both bracing and to help with turning and some flexy shafts flex too much when doing that.. I'd also be interested to hear what others are doing.

There's no hard and fast rule here about this.. and I'm sure different people will tell you different things.. I think it's something you will learn from your own experience and decide for yourself what works best for you.. Even then what you think it right might change down the track..

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DavidJohn said...
You've probably see this but here it is again for those who haven't...

I'm also 6'4" and about 210.. I've been a fan of longer paddles in the past for DWing 10-12" over head.. but these days I'm down to 6-8" overhead.. It seems like you can have a paddle length that's comfee for upright cruising flat water paddling but once you dig deep and paddle hard it will feel cumbersome.. awkward.. and too long.. So I've found that I'm better off having the paddle comfee for paddling hard even if it feels a little short once standing upright and cruising along.. DWing for me is more about start/stop paddling as I drop off one runner.. recover.. and then paddle hard to catch the next runner so I've found that smaller blades work best for me.. Those who can keep a higher constant speed by linking one runner to the next or use Ace-like shape boards that can keep constantly moving more than a planing bottom board might be able to use bigger blades but I've found that smaller blades help me paddle using a higher cadence without pulling myself off-balance or overloading my joints.. I'm using a Kialoa Hulu Small.. It's a high aspect (long and narrow) blade and the total paddle length is between what I use for surfing and normal flat water paddling.. For the same reason I prefer a stiffer shaft.. Soft flexy shafts feel great when cruising along but when you dig deep and paddle hard some of the softer shafts just flex too much for me and stop me getting the power down to catch a runner.. I also lean on my paddle a lot for both bracing and to help with turning and some flexy shafts flex too much when doing that.. I'd also be interested to hear what others are doing.

There's no hard and fast rule here about this.. and I'm sure different people will tell you different things.. I think it's something you will learn from your own experience and decide for yourself what works best for you.. Even then what you think it right might change down the track..

Yep, I think that's absolutely right. Your choices are constantly evolving, as are the options available. I can tell you what works for me and why, but what works for you, or for me at a different time or in different conditions or with different equipment might not be the same.

When I started SUP I followed what everyone said back then because SUP was principally a surf thing: one Shaka overhead in shaft length. 100 sq ins blade. Then Dave and Laird told us to use longer and bigger paddles and I and a lot of others went long and big. I used to use big blades and long shafts (12-14" overhead) and went up to 110 sq ins. Then the kids like Connor came along and went crazy short and small with their paddles and started winning and so like the sheep that I am I started using smaller and shorter paddles too. Each time I went longer or shorter, bigger or smaller, I gained a performance advantage. Now I've gone back to the original "one shaka overhead" length I started off with in 2007!

What I find is that as your stroke evolves and your body adapts, new equipment possibilities arise. If I'd previously tried to DW or paddle long distances using the length of paddle I use now, I'd have got severe back pain. Now I can cope with it, and my technique has improved to allow me to take advantage of a shorter paddle and higher cadence.

So the truth is that giving advice to another person really is pretty hopeless. But no-one wants to hear that, and everyone loves to share their experiences, so you will always get a range of views expressed on a forum like this. By all means listen to other people's opinions, but do not give them too much weight: ultimately you have to work out for yourself what is right for you, right now, by trial and error.