[Editor: Al Bowers, a frequent contributor to the Yahoo surfski newsgroup, sent this infomation to me some months ago.  I've only just got around to resizing the images & reformatting the text.  Apologies Al!]

Recent discussions on wing paddles, their technique, and the method by which they work, have generated some differences in opinions and views. These are some of the only open literature data available on the topic. These data were from three sources, two from Ross Sanders and one from PS Jackson. The information is presented here with original statements (abstracts) from the papers, and some interpretation by this observer. No claim is made as to the accuracy or veracity of the data or the analysis or subsequent discussion. The data is presented only as information that may be used as basis for further exploration of the use of wing paddles. -Al Bowers ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

A Description of Olympic Kayak Stroke Technique

Ross H Sanders & Selina J Kendal, The Australian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, March 1992.

Recently, a new type of paddle, the 'wing' paddle, has been credited with improving the performance of elite Olympic flatwater kayak paddlers. This study was designed to compare technique across a range of abilities to determine factors which are associated with skilled performance using the wing paddle and to describe the path of the paddle. Five kayak paddlers ranging in ability from novice to elite were each filmed at 100 frames per secondfrom the lateral and frontal aspects while paddling at maximum speed. Among the variables determined from the digitized film record were boat velocity, stroke length, stroke frequency, and the path of the blade of the paddle. It was found that stroke frequency was associated with kayak velocity (p<0.05). The increase in stroke frequency with increasing performance was achieved by reducing both pull time (the time the paddle was in the water) and glide time (the time the paddle was out of the water). Differences in the path of the paddle were also apparent across the range of paddling abilities.

Table 1: Paddling experience, age, height and weight characteristics of the subjects.

Subject..Age...Height..Weight..Kayak..Wing

S1.........29....179.0...83.6....2.5 yrs..1 yr

S2.........29....175.5...89.2....3.5 yrs..2 yr

S3.........22....181.0...75.3....1.0 yrs..1 yr

S4.........23....174.5...75.7.....little...none

S5.........23....183.0...73.7.....little...none