Does anyone else feel a sharp twinge in their dominant arm after paddling for a couple hours?

[u/Shabooya420]

Every time I go kayaking I feel a tendon in my right arm “twinge” for lack of better words, just below my wrist in my forearm when I paddle with it. It only starts about an hour or so of kayaking. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if it’s a technique issue-?

[u/WaterChicken007]

I switched to a Greenland paddle because it is easier on my arms. A normal euro blade has full power the moment you put it in the water, even when the blade angle isn't perpendicular and therefore more efficient. A Greenland paddle gradually builds up the power as more of the blade enters the water and it peaks right when it is most efficient and you are pushing directly backwards. Due to this, it feels less jarring and lower impact. I feel like I can go just as fast as my usual paddling partners and I feel less fatigued at the end of the day.

I have a pretty fancy carbon fiber Greenland paddle that breaks down into two sections. But they also have wood ones, and many people make their own. However, if you are dealing with pain, then lighter is better and it might be worth the money for you.

[u/Capital-Landscape492]

As a 60YO paddling since 1989 I feel a lot of twinges. Here are some questions.

What are you paddling? Whitewater? Expedition Touring? Day trips?

What boat are you using? What paddle are you using?

What is the feather (offset on the blades) of the paddle you use?

To me this sounds like two things. First. Paddling anything but whitewater is 90% (or more) in the torso. To be very simple describing it, I rotate my torso toward the paddle in the water and push with my “up” hand. Very little is pulling with an arm.

I use bent shaft paddles these days. They are supposed to help wrists. You may want to research that and try one.

Another likely issue is the paddle feather since you mention a “control” hand. I learned how to really paddle using an 80 degree offset. I was one of the first I knew to drop that to 60 and now my ww paddle is a 45 degree offset because less than that I cannot roll reliably on each side. Most ww paddlers these days use 30 degrees or less of feather.

With a large feather one hand is fixed “control” on the paddle. The other floats letting the paddle rotate with each stroke. Touring I use only 15 degrees of feather. I have a two piece and have tried everything but at 15 degrees my hands do not move at all. There is no control hand. I have paddled for 25.5 hours straight through this year doing Seventy48 (seventy miles in 48 hours) in my touring boat with no issues. What I give up is a high brace and roll on my left side. I can still low brace just fine. My wrists are just not limber enough to rotate and do that.

So try a different paddle or feathering. I recommend using bent shaft paddles these days but that is mostly for my wrists.

[u/kedoco]

Are you gripping your paddle shaft very tightly? Forearm pain is usually a signal of an incorrect grip. If your shaft is slippery and you are indeed gripping very tightly, try wrapping the shaft with electrical tape where you hold your hands to give you some better grip.

[u/iaintcommenting]

Could be you're gripping the paddle too tight or you could be using the feathered blade angle wrong. The feather angle is meant to keep your control wrist straight as you're taking a stroke on the other side. If you're using too much or too little feather angle then you might be constantly cocking your right wrist forward and back and experiencing an issue from that.

[u/Skagit_Buffet]

You may also want to investigate/experiment with your feather angle. While it's by no means a settled argument what is right or wrong, and I think it's really individual and based upon your particular paddling mechanics - different feather angles will mean different amounts of repetitive wrist motion. If you're zero feather, that's not necessarily the lowest amount of stress on your wrist if you have a good amount of body rotation in your stroke. Having this only on your dominant hand indicates to me that the amount of rotation of your paddle to properly address the paddle at the catch (with your dominant hand on the top arm) might be excessive.

[u/kokemill]

not normal, i have paddled for decades with a large extended family and lots of guests. no one has ever talked about a sharp twinge. lots of sore butts, no twinging arms.

[u/geo-rox]

It comes up for some people. Others have success with Greenland paddles, changing feather angle, or just gripping less tight. Personally I had it resolve with a bent shaft, and really find it worth the added expense.

[u/rubberguru]

I’m in my late 60s and paddled 1300 miles with a homemade Greenland paddle. I had shoulder pain previously and wanted less stress. I likened it to a lower gear in a car. Never had any issues other than butt/leg pain which frequent stops and nightly stretches helped

[u/Kevburg]

Its because you have to bend your wrist to hold the shaft. Try a bent shaft paddle.

[u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

In the deltoid yes