Dragon Boat Paddle talk

[ok_doggie]

hi guys,

as you guys are talking about stiffness of the paddles, will like to contribute,

Stiffness is good for paddle sport performance, however, stiffness also translate to damage to joints.

Olympic C rowers do use wooden shaft with carbon blades for training due to this.

So think again.

[Blastoise]

It's about how you handle your paddles..

[Kona]

Carbon paddle is generally stiff and it is determined that it can be alittle unforgiving therefore it might cause injury to the shoulder joints.
It is exactly why some manufacturer came up with a carbon kelvar paddle.
G-Power has a model where the blade is make of Kelvar with a carbon shaft.
The G-power kelvar paddle weights around 400gm.

[Cartman]

Yes. Think again. And I still think trivium is the best. lol. 

Sorry, but performance is what that matters most. I guess to each his own. I don't agree with stiffer paddle causing injury to shoulder joint. Then wooden paddles that is 600g won't injure your shoulder for long distance paddling? With that amount of rotation on your shoulder joint?

Think again.

[Blastoise]

Well, anybody insterested to conduct a study on this? We can only give our opinions but i think the real answer can only be obtained by doing a complete research on this particular argument.

[merman]

i think this forum have discussed to death trivium. i myself uses one. the light weight really allows me to raise my stroke rate up becos im able to recover faster. read that gpower is 430g. i am thinking how much can 100g affect the performance. never tried that paddle before. i think if you guys really want to get technical, must use stress machine to load the 2 paddles to breaking. then you know how good each is. otherwise, since normal human power against water will not be able to flex carbon kevlar material, i say go for one that is cheaper and/or lighter.

[HushPuppies]

i guess whether or not it will appect joint depends on how u use the paddle. afterall, the user controls the paddle, not the other way round. wads more, joints are only affected if u apply some sort of force against it, which I think muscles from the arms will come into play to minimize that.

[merman]

i think i am not so much of saying whether which paddle is more durable against breaking from abuse, rather which is more stiff against the flexing when drawn powerfully against water. A poorly made paddle not only flexes easily at the joints, also the blade itself flexes.

[Nairners]

hey guys just found this site. Like what I see.

I gotta say from what i've been using lately I really like the Merlin CD2. (don't know if its been discussed before but i don't want to go through 20 pages)

[Cartman]

I totally second merman. The stiffer the better. Unless perhaps u have really poor stroke haha. Maybe u will prefer less stiffness. lol. The lightness of trivium is so light that it almost feels like there is no paddle in your hand when you recover. Don't believe? Try it.