The oval shape seems to dig in more than the round shaft which would apply pressure all around
Remember that the Grey Owl wood "racer" model has an ovalized shaft too. I've never heard of any Swollen Members from the G-O woodies (uhhh, let me re-phrase that last bit ... ah, what the heck ...
).
Me, I like the oval shaft better than the full-round shaft of the G-O wood "club" model.
You're not supposed to be doing the Grip of Death on the silly thing, you know, paddleboy!! In hockey, that's known as "squeezing" the stcik ... with the usual unhappy results. Same in tennis.
Relax, boyo, relax ...
I sometimes try - in practice - to focus on relaxing my hands thru every part of the stoke except the Pull-thru. For the rest of the stroke, the shaft is kind of rattling 'round in the circle of my thumb & fingers. Even in the Catch, it's just a light grip on the bottom hand (just enough so's I don't smack a thumb on the Gunnel - OUCH!). And focussing on having to "squeeze" at the right time seems to help me focus better on the actual Pull itself, too.
Other times, I'll put my bottom-hand thumb on the same side of the shaft as my fingers, so I'm pulling & exiting & so on just with the curled fingers. And similar "relax" tricks with the top hand. Same purpose - help me focus on when I really must "grip", yet let me relax the hands when I don't need to waste the effort.
For those of you that outrigger, I'm guessing you do much the same sort of thing.
Again, all this is in DB practices only - which can be a grind, right?
Carbon fibre paddles are generally thought to cause more injuries because they're stiffer than wood.
You never see a carpenter using a steel-handled hammer. Stiffer handles transfer more shock into their arm and causes joint problems ... wood ... absorbs the vibrations. If you hammer a few nails it doesn't matter, but if you hammer all day every day it becomes an issue.
A carbon paddle transfers more stress into your joints. They're good to race with because of the extra stiffness and energy transfer, but can lead some people to injuries if they're paddling with them a lot.
Stands to reason.
There is some shock effect when the blade stabs into the water - H
2O is "hard", meaning incompressible. Ever dive off the High Board, and hit off-line? Owwwwww ...
And at the transition between the Catch & the Pull, there needs to be something that adsorbs the initial shiock from the yank on the "hard" water. If it's not the shaft & blade (C-F blades are stiffer than woods, just like the shafts), it will be your finger, wrist, elbow & shoulder joints.
So for most regular practices, I'd opt for wood, if I were having finger or joint soreness.
For TTs, & pracs in the week or so before races, & the races themselves ... give me Carbon.
(not that I have the choice, since I haven't been able to afford a C-F yet ... but that's another story ... SIGH ...
)
You might want to take a boo at the cheap Apex C-F/plastic blade (get in touch with Chris Grunow thru the FCRCC, he's the local disti). Several folks on my team have them, & like them. Only a few bucks more than a G-O racer wood - & much less than the full C-F. Not quite as good as full C-F, but better than wood, so my teamies who've tried all say.
Dan
