I'm on the SLS Slick and love the boom action but lately I've been noticing pain in my wrist. It's nothing major like a sprain but I am feeling the soreness long after the session. Maybe it's the fact that I have to wear gloves for the winter and as a result, my grip get's tighter to compensate for the lack of feel.

Anyone else have this pain after using a boom? Any tricks other than using the harness line?

DC

Three years now using Duotone boom wings without a harness. Never had any wrist issues from just holding on. I've always been able to depower enough for a light grip and still point pretty high upwind. Down wind is always a light grip ( most of the time).

I'm ~77 kg and I like riding my 1250 sq cm mid aspect front foil when fully powered even though I could ride my 950 sq cm foil at higher speeds in the same conditions. IMHO it's just less stress on the arms/shoulders/wrists for this old guy while riding/tacking/jibing at a slightly lower speed. The delta between max speed and stall speed (the # that matters to me the most) is still about the same for the 950 foil versus the 1250

Only times I've jammed/twisted my wrist is trying to do quick re-grabs while learning handle pass (behind the back) tacks, some variations of a luffed wing 360 and occasionally while trying to flip the wing back overhead after doing the starfish thingy

I do not use booms but:
I had chronic wrist pains when i tried to wing with my usual windsurf grip (front hand palm up).
I switched to a both palms down grip and it solved the issue.

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mcrt said..
I do not use booms but:
I had chronic wrist pains when i tried to wing with my usual windsurf grip (front hand palm up).
I switched to a both palms down grip and it solved the issue.

I also found the same it feels like your wrist is twisted weird front hand palm up on the Slick SLS - especially when pumping onto foil.

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MeonAsh said..

mcrt said..
I do not use booms but:
I had chronic wrist pains when i tried to wing with my usual windsurf grip (front hand palm up).
I switched to a both palms down grip and it solved the issue.

I also found the same it feels like your wrist is twisted weird front hand palm up on the Slick SLS - especially when pumping onto foil.

Thanks! I'll definitely try palms down going forward.

DC

Don't know about booms but I sure do recognize your physical complaints.
I switched from soft handles (Ozone WAsp's) to hard handles (Cabrinha Mantis V2) in january 2023 and had soreness in my underarms about 5 to 10 cm from my wrist. Not during a session, but the day(s) after.
It seems to lessen slightly, but can appear with certain motions (turning or lifting something in one hand, like grabbing a pump).

Same happened to me with the boom, try bringing your hands closer together to reduce the angle your wrists are at. Your hands will naturally want a V shape which is the way they have oriented the handles on the Unit for more comfort. Not a problem with windsurfing because your harness does the hard work.

I do like the soft handle for that reason, I tend to like bend my wrist in a more confortable position and soft handles permit that. I'm a long time windsurfer and when I windsurf, I feel my wrist/elbow pain coming back. With soft handles it's not a problem, knock on wood!!!

I am afraid I experienced discomfort too. I wore neoprene gloves and it were the first two sessions coming out of winter. Third session was with soft handles (w.o gloves) and felt better. I did take off my gps watch before the last session to allow for max blood circulation.. maybe that helped too.

I hope it's more related to gloves and being rusty..

I've only ever used a boom with Duotone wings and like the ability to slide my hands on it as I come from windsurfing but like you have noticed sore wrists especially after multiple days in a row. I wonder if the lack of shape in the boom loads the wrists funny. There are a few hard handle brands that are angling the handles, possibly trying to alleviate these issues/add comfort.

I'm the opposite. using soft handles on a Smik gave me hand cramping issues, whereas I have no problems with my Slicks

Solite gloves are the solution to forearm pump. They are pre-curved, easy to compress, and still have lots of dexterity. I have arthritis in my left wrist, so I feel your pain. Duotone is now selling the SLS Mini Boom which is carbon and very thin. Costs a lot but cheaper than drugs and therapy.

Wrist angle under load is a big deal for long term repetitive trouble-free function. Maybe get your wrists looked at by someone who knows enough about it, to check for restrictions in movement and to fix your wrists.

I think that spreading the wrist+forearm loading in different ways can help, with booms or rigid handles.

I'm a boom user and not had wrist issues but I've had a lot of problems with tennis elbow tendon pain. I'm always sailing with both palms facing down, but found that forceful pumping with front palm facing up helps reduce my top of elbow tendons flaring up.

Another trick I learned is to eat more collagen. Easy to get from animal products. Tendon problem? Then eat more tendons. Castor oil and DMSO is pretty good on joints too.

^ Tennis elbow or golfer's elbow? Golfer's is on the inside of your elbow and is aggravated by gripping and pulling.

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FlyingPeew said..
Don't know about booms but I sure do recognize your physical complaints.
I switched from soft handles (Ozone WAsp's) to hard handles (Cabrinha Mantis V2) in january 2023 and had soreness in my underarms about 5 to 10 cm from my wrist. Not during a session, but the day(s) after.
It seems to lessen slightly, but can appear with certain motions (turning or lifting something in one hand, like grabbing a pump).

Using wasps and F1's now - like the soft handles, slick boom gave me wrist issues (could be operator error), and demo'd hard handle mantis recently and immediately felt hard on hands and forearms.