My suggestion is go to Demo Days and try them all until you find one you like. Try big blades small blades longer shaft short shafts the works.
Hook up with guys form the forum and try theirs!
When it comes to paddles, everyone I know that started out with a cheaper heavier paddle normally with a large blade and way too long is disappointed or injured and trades up.
The paddle is how you transmit your energy to the water and its
critical.I had a Next Crowbar for quite a while and thought it was the ducks nuts! I struggled day after day and caught the odd wave here and there but it wasnt an enjoyable experience. The blade in reality was way to large and inefficient for me even at 105 and 6ft.
When I changed to a smaller blade and quality light carbon paddle it transformed my ability to catch waves by a factor of at least 10 fold and allowed me to shorten my board size 3 weeks later to 10'6 from 12ft. 6 weeks after that I went to a 9'6. The single most important factor was the paddle. I still have the same paddle over a year later.
I often see people in the line up with paddles way too heavy and way to big and they say the board doesnt work. You hand them your paddle and magically mystically the board transforms. There was nothing wrong with the board in the first place. The blade was simply way too big! Smaller blade allows you to get moving easier with less stress on your muscles when you have little or no paddle fitness as a beginer.
Its simple if you cant catch a wave you cant surf it! If you cant surf it you dont improve!
On flat water the same applies, i see people pushing with huge heavy blades wondering why they are worn out in 300m or complaining about shoulder injuries.
Buy quality once.
My 2 cents.
Phill
