Pain in knees

I have been paddling kayaks for many years without too many physical problems. Recently took up paddling a Surfski and find that I get serious knee pain. How can I get relief? What could I be doing wrong?

I had the same issue and I discovered that I was not rotating enough.

Here is what you may be doing:
1. You are pressing hard on the boat through your legs and not transferring the load through to the footboard.
2. You are not bringing your hips around in rotation.
3. The drive is going into your knee joints instead of your hips and feet.

In order to correct this:
1. Make sure your knees drop slightly when you apply power
2. Sit up straight with a slight bend forward at the waist to free up your hips.

First of all, What kayaks? sea kayaks, K1`s!

Next what is the angle of your footplate, ie what ski?

Hi:
I have paddled all kinds of sea kayaks. Currently I paddle an Epic 18X Sport. I bought an Epic V6 hybrid kayak/surfski. Because of the weight of regular sea kayaks, I want to get into surfskis. The Epic V8 can weight as little as 27.5lbs. I do not intend to race, I love to paddle and need the exercise.

The most likely cause of your knee pain is patello femoral pain. Try this taping method

www.physioadvisor.com.au/11343550/patell...ng-physioadvisor.htm

If this stops the pain then you can tape your knee before paddling, try lengthening the foot plate slightly or add a wedge into the middle of the footplate so that your feet are inverted slightly.

If it doesn't work go and see a physio and get a diagnosis cos otherwise everyone is simply guessing what is wrong.

I thought as much that you were in a sea kayak. Even though the 18X is a very good design it does not have a full foot board so your feet are not used to the new angle with a full foot board.

I had a similar problem going the other way from a ski to a sea kayak, I could not lift my knees up due to the low deck and I suffered big time. I have been trained to have my knees at a certain angle, however with them down my muscles could not adjust, but over time that would have gone away.

However if this is an ongoing problem Dicko might be correct. After a couple of weeks the pain should have subsided if it were a muscular problem.

Thanks for taking the time out and sharing. I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the advice. I will let you know how I progress. It may just be arthritis...I am after all 72 years young.