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Flat Blades for Beginners...why ? 15 years 6 months ago #28198

Why do so many kayak intro courses use flat kayak blades for teaching ?
bit.ly/FlatPaddles
--besides the fact they are dirt cheap and don't break easily - they mess with peoples heads as they are attempting to learn to maneuver a kayak for the first time.
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Re:Flat Blades for Beginners...why ? 15 years 6 months ago #28202

In case people aren't sure what I'm talking about, perhaps this helps.
www.canoe-equipment.com/productlist.asp?I=14

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Re:Flat Blades for Beginners...why ? 15 years 6 months ago #28203

I did a number of beginners courses when i started, with 2 clubs (canoe clubs Thun and Bern) and 2 commercial schools (Kanuschule Versam and Europagaai, and must say i've never used a flat paddle.

They typically used cheap (aluminum/pvc) paddles for beginners, which probably makes sense, as beginners are more likely to break or lose them, but flat ones, no...
If you're happy, you're successful.

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Re:Flat Blades for Beginners...why ? 15 years 5 months ago #28257

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Because they are cheap. If they have a 90 feather on them then no need for seperate left and right handed paddles. I'm not saying any of this is a good thing (it's not) just why it gets done by some outfitters who are perhaps more interested in throughput of people than in a good solid introduction to the sport.

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