Where can I buy a paddle in NJ?

I work for a beach patrol in NJ, where we have a bunch of (circa 1990) skis (Anderson, Burton, Rival, Spectrum). We have one winged paddle, which is a bit short for me, and I'm looking to buy one for myself to use with these skis for training and (relatively short, 1000-meter to maybe 10,000-meter) competitions. After talking with a ski coach, I believe I need one that's about 221 cm.

Can anyone recommend a place in NJ that might have winged paddles I could try before buying or, barring that, a place where I could get a decent paddle online?

I'd prefer to get used but can probably swing a new one if needed.

Thanks for your help!

Talk to Craig Impens at The Jersey Paddler for new blades. Great guy and he'll see you have the right wing in your hand. www.jerseypaddler.com/
Alternately would be www.keystonekayaks.com for used blades (mainly Bracsa).
Another alternate would be Wesley Echols at www.surfskiracing.com. He has some used ones also.

How tall are you NJ lifeguard ? 221 is very long for a ski paddle . (I make paddles in AUS)

Maybe I measured wrong, but I measured the paddles we have at the beach patrol as 85 inches and my hand reaches well past the end of the paddle when I'm standing with my arm raised and the paddle is standing next to me. My fingers were completely above the paddle but my palm overlapped the paddle.

So, I added two inches to get 87 inches and then did 87 inches * 2.54 cm/inch = 221 cm.

Does that sound right?

Just how tall are you ? what type of ski do you paddle ? I am 6ft (183cm) and use a 212cm , A fellow who works for me is 5'11" and uses 211 cm , I'm sure someone on here will tell you how tall Herman Chalupsky is and what length he uses...

ps when I paddled Kayak seriously 20 years ago I used a 221cm , paddlers today of similar height use 219s now .

I have found after much experimentation, that the shorter I go, the faster I go.
I started out at 220cm and have slowly gotten shorter and shorter.

I'm 6'3" with long limbs.

What I have found is that tall people actually need shorter paddles, otherwise the extra length of your stroke because you are tall, gears you too high to make full power.

I rev way faster now and my speed has gone up as well as my heart rate, showing that I am using extra oxygen and therefore making more power.

I am currently experimenting at a way short 205cm.
I will probably settle out around 207cm, but given time, the body adjusts to any length and it feels natural after a little while, so may very well stay where I am now.
I don't really think I could go shorter as it is becoming hard to reach the water sometimes in the ocean.

Even at that stupidly short length, I still stroke slower for the same speed than the paddlers around me.
My own extra size and work on a better stroke allows for a long stroke, even though he paddle may at first sound short.

The bonus is that the paddle is far less effected by winds.


So as far as I am concerned, all the silly little ways of predicting paddle length are just that, silly.
They all predict a longer paddle for a taller person.

If a tall person has a high vertical type stroke with good rotation, then I rekon 210cm is a good place to start.
If you are shorter, then probably around what Lat suggests.

If you get a hold of a 205-215cm adjustable paddle, you won't go wrong.

A shorter paddle also gets out of the water sooner and that stops you from paddling too far back and merely pushing water upward, which is bloody inefficient.
It also makes you think about your entry more and rotating, reaching and getting a good clean catch.

If you think about it, the length of the paddle when it is beside you, doesn't make a difference, because the paddle is vertical and moving away from the boat.

Only at the beginning of the stroke and the end of the stroke does it change things.

Getting the paddle out quickly and cleanly without trying to submerge your boat by paddling with your blade pointing at the bottom is a good thing and allows you to get it back around for where the real action happens in the forward part of the stroke.

Having a longer paddle also takes longer for the catch to happen and builds power slowly.
If you look at the power profiles of the best paddlers, there is a very high, very narrow peak.

Have a read of the article on this site for an explanation of why tandem paddlers must be in sync.
The same applies to a single paddler, it is not about the area under the curve, but more about the peak power produced.
Having a long paddle works against this.

All the time spent entering and exiting a long paddle is better spent on another stroke.


Another bonus is that as the distance apart you prefer to hold your hands doesn't really change with paddle length, your hand is closer to the water with a short paddle and gives a more open and powerful arm position; Much like having a high seat.


I'm not a guru, but I am curious and willing to experiment and go against tradition and folklore to find what really works.
I take on board anything I hear around the traps, but I base my recommendations on hard numbers.

I have spent a good year working on busting the many myths
of paddles and the really whacky ways of finding a size.

I have solid data for many lengths and sizes, and what has become apparent to me, is that as long as you can reach the water, the paddle is not too short.
The speeds reached in a surf ski are just not high enough for most people to reach their cadence limits.

Funnily enough, with a short paddle, because of the cleaner entry /exit, I find that I can paddle down a wave at far higher speeds than I can with a long paddle.

If you hit say 25kph on a wave and try to start paddling, the awkward entry of a long paddle may very well throw you out of the boat, whereas it is easy to start paddling at these speeds with a short paddle.

It is also much easier to get away from a full stop as well as providing better acceleration at any speed.

I predict a future of shorter paddles and faster times for anybody that has a GPS, an analytical mind, and the balls to step outside of the established circles, and give really short paddles a go.

hey lats ,as an ex olympian, how about passes on some tips. i have heard that you should use a shorter paddle for ocean paddling compared to flat water. also drop your hand heights. any tips would be welcome.

thanks

You can order paddles online. Try maxpaddles. I'm sure other places also sell online. Also, I'm 6'4" and I use a 207 to 209. I just can't use a longer paddle than this with any comfort. Buggered if I know why! I don't think about it all that much.

I think one will get as many annswers as there are paddlers ... The length depends on many factors so there is no ideal length even for the same person.

The problem for taller people with broader shoulders and long hands is that if their paddle is short, they can't place the hands wide enough apart and still reach the water far enough ahead for a good catch. The height of the seat relative to the waterline makes a difference too. The paddling conditions - too (downwind shorter seems better, where on flat I like to lengthen it a bit, for instance). The distance b/w the hand and the neck of the blade is also important and needs to be taken in relation to the spacing b/w the hands - the paddle is a lever, after all. The amount of body rotation and the boat width matter too...

So you got to find your own "best" length... For me (6'4") this seems to be no longer than 218cm and can be as short as 212cm based on what ski/kayak I paddle and the conditions (for the same wing paddle). I feel shorter than about 215 or so begins to be too short for me in the Epic V10 Sport in all but downwind on small waves - just can't seem to get a good catch far enough forward while still having enough spacing b/w my hands on the shaft for power.

Maybe I measured wrong, but I measured the paddles we have at the beach patrol as 85 inches and my hand reaches well past the end of the paddle when I'm standing with my arm raised and the paddle is standing next to me. My fingers were completely above the paddle but my palm overlapped the paddle.

So, I added two inches to get 87 inches and then did 87 inches * 2.54 cm/inch = 221 cm.

Does that sound right?

(Does it make a difference that all of our skis are sit-on-top designs, so you're a bit higher off the water?)

(Does it make a difference that all of our skis are sit-on-top designs, so you're a bit higher off the water?)

Yes.
And my paddle only reaches my elbow using your measuring technique.

Is there a way to get a more definitive answer to paddle length. I agree with Rightarmbad in that simply being tall means you need a longer paddle, or conversely if you are short you need a shorter paddle is wrong.
I am convinced that there is a stronger correlation between the length of your torso and the length of your paddle.
For example, I have long arms and legs but an average torso.
This means I need a shorter paddle. The length of my arms allows me a fairly long grab and a long follow through.
If I was the same height yet had shorter legs and a long back
I would need a longer paddle to compensate and to get the same length of stroke.
There must be a way of standardising a measurement for paddle length based on the length of someones' back while in their normal paddling position, maybe with the arms horizontal.
A random sample of 100 measurements would make interesting reading and maybe debunk my mate Big Als theory that a small paddle means a small .......

Not only is it body proportion dependent, but also speed of the boat and contractile speed of the muscles as well.

A faster boat needs a faster turnover or a longer paddle.
If you are already turning over at optimum rate, then a longer paddle is the obvious way to go.
Even though this is not really a proper compensation as length only changes the entry and exit parts of the stroke as the middle is dominated by a vertical paddle where length means nothing.

Most women appear to me to use very long paddles, and they have to, because of their smaller stature means that they have to gear themselves up to go the same speed as a larger person.

Most taller guys also appear to use a short paddle, same thing, they need to gear themselves down or paddle so slowly that they cannot make full power.

My brother is the same height as me, but always has a quicker cadence than me in everything we do, he also has a much higher heart rate.
Again, it comes down to individual contractile speed.

Would be so good if we could just have gears like a bike and everybody could be optimum.

It is just so complicated for anybody other than the individual themselves, to pick a paddle length.

So educate yourselves as to the effects of different paddles and your own physiology, because in the end, only you know everything about you.

It's just too hard to do anything but make a reasonable guess, and then let the individual walk the path themselves, when trying to recommend a paddle.

Epic's updated Paddle Wizard!

I entered my information in Epic's paddle wizard on Epic Kayaks web site. Some years ago it came back to me with 218-219cm wing. Yesterday, it came back with a 212cm. That's a big difference. I think they updated their estimates and also added a lot more options to fine-tune the choice. I like it!

Since I posted my previous message above, I also experimented more carefully with shorter vs. longer lengths and found that the shorter lengts worked better for me. Unfortunately, my paddle is 215-225cm so I can't go shorter than 215 to see how it feels, but I did my last race at 215 and it felt good. I'll see if I can chop-off a few cm off the shaft to get a 212-222 length... I have a White Water paddle that is 200cm and that is definitely too short for forward paddling (but fine or a bit too long for what it is intended for).