Poor paddle technique?

What causes my hands to slowly slide to the right on the paddle shaft? Every few minutes I seem to have to shift my hands back to the left. I go between right feather angles of 15 and 50 degrees, and paddle slides left (hands right) regardless of feather. I’m sure it is poor technique. Any suggestions? Thanks

I make hand locators with electrical tape. The first wrap around the shaft I spin the tape into a twisted cord. That gives it a 3 dimensional shape. Then i wrap flat tape over that twisted cord to hold it in place. The cord of tape slots between two of my fingers. As long as I have that setup, my hands no longer wander. I couldn’t even tell you which of my fingers it goes between. All I know is my fingers find it and it is the same on both sides.

Hand locators didn't work for me, but silicone tape did.



The extra traction is perfect. Not too much, not too little.

I tried sanding, tapes, wax. They all failed miserably in the ocean.

Silicone tape is perfect for me.

I sometimes find myself just barely hooking with one or two fingers.
Other times If I need a bit of extra safety, just grasp a bit tighter. No death grip necessary.

I think the semi grippy tape saves me a lot of effort.

It might help with your slipping, it fixed mine.
My right hand would creep closer to the center.

If one of your hands is slipping to the center, it might be due to the stress of lifting the blade out at the end of the stroke.
My right shoulder is weaker at that motion, I think I was moving the hand in to reduce the stress of liffing the entire arm/blade.
If you take it to an extreme, imagine holding the shaft near the center.
A small flick of the wrist will get the blade out.
Ideally, you want to rotate that blade out of the water, but that's tough.
Anyone with a sore shoulder willl break that elbow early and lift with the biceps, rather than the back of the arm.

Maybe that's why you are shifting the shaft to one side - to favor a weaker shoulder, at the rear exit.

You can see how even pros adjust after a shoulder injury. They keep that ebow low and tight - rather than the typical K-1 sprint Olympian with their entire arms up around shouder level for the entire race.

This guy is a true expert and is doing online coaching for cheap. He's the guy I'd go to if I didn't have a local expert to bug. His videos are the best I've seen since Ivan Lawler's gym video. I think he's a physical trainer (physio) too. His videos really click for me,

Sometimes I find the same problem here. I just move the hands back.
Do think that the issue is probably poor techniques. In particular, one paddle side is stronger than the other. Over several strokes, the hand slip towards one direction. If both sides are equally strong, would imagine the hand would slip very slightly with each stroke, but the opposite stroke, slip would cancel out.

Thanks all. I will try tape as a guide and stop, though I agree with Benmlee that my technique is probably causing the slippage. On my paddle this morning, I realized when I spear the water on the right side, both hands slip ever so slightly to the right. But when I spear to the left there is no movement. So I must be entering the water differently on each side. either different entry angle or different level of power, something different. I'll keep paying attention to it and perhaps get a go pro and online lesson. thanks again.

It is also possible that you have a musculoskeletal imbalance right to left. I have a weaker right shoulder from an old injury. In a surfski with a rudder i don’t notice it much. But if i am in a sea kayak without a rudder, the boat has a tendency to turn to the right because I am stronger on the left.

After watching that video a few years ago, silicone tape has been my go to grip. I redo the tape about once a year and it really helps. My hands don't really wander any more.