Hand Injury

Hi all,

I picked up an hand injury over the weekend after fighting my way upwind for 4km, I'm new to the sport and was pushing it too hard I guess (maybe with bad technique too). The injury is on my right (strong side) hand at the base of the thumb.

I've got quite large hands, and my guess is that its got something to do with gripping a paddle shaft that is too small in diameter for my hands. Right now I don't use gloves or any grip tape, just shaft as it comes.

Is this common? I assume that some layers of grip tape would help to build the diameter up, anyone got some wise words on matching shaft diameter to hand size? Or is one layer of grip tape typically enough, might be that it stops shaft slipping and hence one doesn't have to 'grip' shaft tightly to get control.

Cheers.

What is the Injury?

Hi Barch,
You may find this site useful for identifying paddling injuries.

www.charleswmoore.org/wordpress/index.ph...ies-in-sea-kayaking/

Not sure if it's relevant, but I remember having very sore hands for months, maybe 18 months after I started paddling back in the day. I still get soreness in the finger joints sometimes.

I try to relax my hands when paddling now - make a conscious effort to do it every now and then.

I use racquet handle tape (as in squash or tennis racquet) on my paddle shaft - on the right ie my controlling hand. I find that makes things more comfortable and my hand doesn't slip. It does tend to cause blisters though if I haven't been doing long paddles.

But yes, beginner paddlers often grip the paddle too hard.

I hope your hand heals fast...

I have been paddling since last year Feb, and were getting sore and numb hands until a month ago. The pain were usually at the base of my thumbs. Then my coach had another style session with me and said that I do not always relax my hands when I move my hand forward, although I thought I did.

The thing is I sometimes used to grip tighter when paddling parallel to the chop because I wasn't trusting the ski's movement and was doing a semi-brace with each stroke as the ski moves lower with the movement of the wave. This I did uncontiously BTW. It's much better now. I get less and less sore hands in chop.

The other situation which still causes me to grip thighter is when paddling in stronger winds when it feels like the wind wants to rip the paddle out of my hands. I do not yet have much experience when paddling in strong winds so I still need to get used to it.

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replies. Mrak, that was an interesting read you linked to below. The best description of the injury I have is tenosynovitis. Not sure its a perfect match, because at first it felt more like muscular pain in the apex of the thumb and forefinger. Either way I'm now pretty convinced the cause of the problem is my over ambitious grip on the paddle.

The lady at the local kayak shop recommended a plastic spacer, that is to be placed on the 'power' hand and secured with heat shrink tubing. I was told it would make the paddle more oval in the grip area, and hence allow me to relax my hand. So I'll give that a try. I wonder if others have tried the same?

Thanks again

Cheers,
Barch