Whats Your Angle?

I ran across an article on aerodynamics the other day and thought of a way of demonstrating the importance of paddle angle in the water. All of us as kids probably played with putting our hands out the window of a moving car. I suggest you try it again as an adult paddler. (Two of you ride scooters so don't try this on the bike!!)

If you put your hand out of the window at speed with hand fully open, palm down and fingers ends pointed forward, there will be little drag and no tendency for your hand to move up or down or to either side (keep your hand out of the eddy created by the door mirror). Now place your hand palm forward and fingers up to the sky. You should feel a great deal of force and it should be difficult to hold your hand in place. What you ought not to feel (again keep your hand out in the clean air and not near anything creating turbulence) is any tendency of your hand to be driven in any direction but straight back.

Now angle your palm thumbside forward. Now little finger side. The wind will drive your hand away from the side you angle forward. Do the same thing but tilt your fingers forward. Now back. Your hand will be driven up (will be lifted) with fingers forward and driven down with fingers back. The effect will be felt better if you push your hand forward into the wind.

The little exercise demonstrates the importance of a good blade angle on the water. You catch the most wind with the palm directly forward without angle. This is analogous to having your blade buried and vertical. Everything else is a compromise. Wind is slipping off the side or top or bottom of the hand. Remember however that water is much more dense than air. Also that the water is not coming at your unmoving blade unlike in the hand in the car exercise, but rather when paddling you are "coming at" (exerting force on) the water.

When you catch your paddle is angled down. Since there is no place for the water to go the force moves you forward and slightly up. It is like having your hand angled with fingers back being pushed except you are doing the pushing with a paddle. When you are nearing the exit you must be careful not to just pull up but rather to continue to keep the blade deep and use that purchase point to drive your hip forward to set up for the catch.

Even if you are having a hard time imagining how the angle of your hand in the wind equates with angle of paddle in the water, what you will know from this exercise is that anything other than palm forward will push your hand away on an angle. And the most force is exerted when your palm is vertical and straight at the wind. This is the vertical blade and what you want to approximate in the canoe.

Don't forget to play with your stroke in the boat. If you just go out and mindlessly do the same thing over and over you will end up going slower and slower. You must be vigilant with your stroke.

BVB