I don't know if this is still true, but I think I remember hearing that in the past some pro paddlers had been experimenting with really short paddles. I think it might have been some Riot members back when Corran was there or something. I'm not really sure.


Anyways, I was wondering what the pros and cons of really short paddles are.


When I say really short I mean 190 or less.


How short can one go before running into big problems? 180s ? 170s?


Are short paddles better for the shoulders?

Hi Senor Pepe,

I have been using 191 for many years on rivers, creeks and surfing. More recently have been using a 188 cranked paddle which worked ok on rivers until it started leaking in the joint. So I took it apart cut it down and now have a 173 cranked paddle with aroun 10-20 feather. I cut it short mainly for surf kayaking, but I have tried it wiht my Ronin and it works suprisingly well! I will be getting a longer paddle for creeking though probably a 188 Stikene cranked with 30 feather.

The reason for shorter paddles is that they give you a faster stroke rate, really good for catching a wave etc. Also hey let you get more vertical strokes closer to your boat. so for surfing and play boating where you need a more dynamic paddling action they work really well. However, their down side is that you have to paddle alot harder to keep the speed up, so you will be doing more strokes, I like to think of it as doing more exercise

Try some out, if you can any one with a short paddle like Marmite you'll either luv um or hate umm

Happy Paddling


Chris

Urge wrote:

Hi Senor Pepe,

I have been using 191 for many years on rivers, creeks and surfing. More recently have been using a 188 cranked paddle which worked ok on rivers until it started leaking in the joint. So I took it apart cut it down and now have a 173 cranked paddle with aroun 10-20 feather. I cut it short mainly for surf kayaking, but I have tried it wiht my Ronin and it works suprisingly well! I will be getting a longer paddle for creeking though probably a 188 Stikene cranked with 30 feather.

The reason for shorter paddles is that they give you a faster stroke rate, really good for catching a wave etc. Also hey let you get more vertical strokes closer to your boat. so for surfing and play boating where you need a more dynamic paddling action they work really well. However, their down side is that you have to paddle alot harder to keep the speed up, so you will be doing more strokes, I like to think of it as doing more exercise

Try some out, if you can any one with a short paddle like Marmite you'll either luv um or hate umm

Happy Paddling


Chris

Wow 173 is short. Could you imagine going even shorter, like into the 160s?

How short is too short?

You mentioned surf kayaking. What length do surf kayakers generally use?





Thanks

Going shorter is limited by the width and height of your kayak. Some wave skiers use around the 165 length, but with kayaks I do not think you would want to go much shorter.


For paddling on wave skis and surf kayaks, as they tend to be much narrower and have less volume around the centre you can get away with a shorter paddle.

For river running I still use a paddle around the 188-190 length, due to creek boats being taller and fatter.

Adios

Chris