The5MetreKid said...
When you guys measure the paddle, e.g 2-3 inches above head, is that the end of the shaft or the blade and shaft. Also will shortening your paddle reduce shoulder pain after long intense sessions?
I measure the blade and shaft. When I posted the question on length the variation of responses was quite wide. I spoke to Jacko and Angie as well as Pete Dorries and came to the conclusion that 8 inches above the head suited me on my race board.
I then played around with different Ke Nalu shafts and blades and for me either the 90 or 100 combined with the Maliko paddle seems to be the go. If you like a higher cadence the wiki would be better.
The 100 shaft is more direct and I find this shaft great for racing, but prefer the slightly softer 90 for everyday use. The most impressive thing with these paddles is their weight, combined with their flexibility makes them an unbeatable paddle.
I know 2 guys that purchased Ke Nalu paddles after trying mine have improved their PBs at their local time trial course.
...I had the pleasure of a demo Molokai/xTuf combo over the weekend and once I relaxed into it I liked it...masses of power in it and using it was actually pretty instructive in a way. I own a Wiki and a Maliko and have a tendency to try to muscle them to overcome sloppy form but the Molokai wouldn't let me, I'm just not strong enough to arm-wrestle it. It forced me to back off and pay close attention to timing, good clean catch and recovery, and drive from the core and hips to get it working well for me, once it did it felt bloody good. Definitely not rapid-fire cadence like the Wiki but a reasonably stroke rate was achievable. I liked the springy shove from the xTuf shaft and it's got a nice swing weight on the recovery...would love to try the big blade + springy shaft on a decent downwinder. The demo may have been an inch or so long for me and after a couple of reasonably vigorous runs with it I was sort of expecting my dodgy reco'd shoulder to be screaming today, the old bones and gristle are a bit tired but there's no pain at all. Two thumbs up I reckon, don't overlook the Molokai, especially if you're a bigger unit.
