Wing Paddle Art

I always wanted to see what the paddle was doing beneath the water, so I rigged a mount for my 360 camera, and made stills from the video. I pushed air bubbles down at the beginning of the stroke. The sun was just above the trees and over my left shoulder. Algae had bloomed and was lending a green tint to the deep water.

Looks pretty cool! Did you learn anything about your stroke?

I learned that a stroke with little or no air bubbles feels better and is actually faster as per GPS readings. It also showed me that the angle of the face at exit gives me one to two tenths of speed difference. If I apply power all the way to exit, then I am faster than if I try to rotate out cleanly and lift the blade straight up and out. Entry of the blade makes a big difference. I make a good clean catch with the bottom curve of the tip, instead of trying to "spear" the water. I hope some of this makes sense. The 360 camera helped to see what I was doing frame-by-frame from every angle.


Here is a clean stroke:

I used to think (back when I only paddled on flat water) that a good catch was like a cat dabbing water with their paw; a touch that is very quick yet delicate. Very satisfying to leave hardly a ripple with a stroke.