style of paddling

[Peter]

what is the difference between a horizontal and vertical style of paddling? wt difference wld it have on my paddle choice? (eg kintec and eclipse)

[michielv]

I guess the difference in paddling style is rather personal.
Paddling style does have a pretty big impact on paddle choice (and vice versa).

I have always paddled vertically and like the Kinetic type
paddles best. As an experiment I tried the Eclipse for one
season and although the paddle itself is very good it forces
one to paddle horizontally. During this season I found that
my style of paddling isn't suitable for this type of paddle so I sold it on to a team mate of mine who had the exact opposite problem with the Kinetic :-)

BTW: Clyde uses a Kinetic with the blades reversed. He also
has a more horizontal paddling style and this way the Kinetic gives him more grip on the water. It looks rather
funny to me but if it works for him, why not?

Hum... perhasp i should do a similar experiment with a pair of Eclipse blades I've got lying around to see if I can maken these more suitable for my style of paddling ;-)

[Peter]

How does he row with the opposite side of the blade? Isn't the catch lesser?
wts the difference between horizontal and vertical style of paddling?

[michielv]

Paddling more horizontal usually comes with having your arms lower than in a more vertical paddling style. As the Kinetic was designed for a more vertical paddling style
it doesn't have the max. amount of grip on the water in a more horizontal position (too much of the blad is out of the water). By switching the blades upside down (or left to
right) the grip/catch of the blade changes and the paddle becomes more efficient.

If you have a more horizontal paddling style (i.e paddle with your arms in a more lower position) you might try it by flipping a Kinetic paddle over and see how that feels. To me it feels awkward but last year in Ieper I've seen a number of players actually using this style (including one guy from St Albans).

[michielv]

Perhaps my description of Clyde's paddle wasn't totally clear but what I meant is that the lefthand blade is in the right hand position. The catch is still facing the paddler, only the blades are turned upside down (Curved upwards instead of downwards, like the Kinetic).

It does look pretty funky and as the logo is displayed correctly one wonders at first what is wrong with this picture :-)

[Peter]

quite an unorhtodox style since most people row with the catch of the paddle facing them but i guess it is mostly down to the individual's personal preference and trial and error.
thanks Michael

[Mark]

Peter I think you have missunderstood what these people are trying to tell you Clyde and others like him do not paddle off of the back of their baldes instead they simply paddle with their blades upside down.
IF you are still unclear what we mean try this:
Hold a set of asymetric paddles as you would normally now hold the paddles above your head and rotate them 180 degrees so your right paddle is on your left side this is how clyde paddles. You will probably have a problem with this if you only have one grip on you shaft as it will now be at the wrong end. but this is how clyde paddles(his grip has already been moved)

[Peter]

Thanks Mark and Michael
your replies have helped me understand clearly.=)

[clyde]

Sorry to get in on this late but thought it was an interesting issue not worth a total miss.

Here are a number of things to note from points made.

I was trained as a marathon paddler from the age of 10, so was always told to paddle with high strokes which I continued through most of my polo days.

Until Sooty Harrison started. He learnt to paddle a lot from me, but then also decided he wanted to pump some iron to get stronger - specifically to be a fast sprinter.
This build very large arms and he adopted a very low paddleing style, which was perfect for the job.
He has long since left the sport, but this style stuck in my mind. I tried like hell to adopt this style which I found very hard, but it does work for sprinting - despite the fact that it just looks lazy !

I switched to the Kinetic from the Mega Reactions about 18 months ago. The Reactions were only slightly asymmetric so if they got switched the wrong way during a game it wouldn't feel so bad.

Mega wanted me to use the Kinetics, which I have to say I didn't like too much until I noticed I could get on with them ok when they were upside down (left to right).
They just seem to get a good grip to me, maybe it's becuase I paddle so badly.

Why doesn't it look so wrong ? Well, I do put an extra set of stickers on to stop people kindly telling me I am using them the wrong way !

Dave Saunders in St.Albans also paddles this way.

Oh, by the way, I also have two grips, so if they do go the "Wrong Way" (even for me), then it's no big deal.