Learning to DW with some hand paddles. My fingertips are slipping non-stop and the position of my hand is always moving, dumping out power and wasting time.
I think carefully grinding out some fingertip holes will get me a firmer hold and way more comfort.
Has anyone tried this? Any downsides to it (other than possibly ruining a good set of paddles?)
What about gluing down some traction strips in between a couple of the fingers? This would guide your hand and prevent some lateral slippage.
As a swimmer, these hand paddles are intended to improve feel for the water and catch (as well as building strength). The lack of “stability” for your hand is by design. I can definitely see why that design feature wouldn’t translate well to this application though.
I had the same thing happen during my first (and only) session so far. Take these observations with a grain of salt since I wasn’t able to get on foil but just want to see how the hand paddles only journey is going for someone else. I found that the paddles felt better when the elastic was super tight. When I got some good momentum going, I wasn’t thinking about the paddles as much as technique and positioning on the board. The slots sound like a decent idea though. Maybe drilling some more holes to lock more fingers in could help too.
Have you had success yet? If so what advice do you have? Also curious on the setup you are using. I am 75kg trying on a 7’4" 105L KT Dragonfly Ginxu and Unifoil Hyper2 250.
Success in the form of baby steps and patience. Trying to find a balance between patience with myself and also trying to sponge up whatever I can from a few really talented athletes I’m with. NJ conditions for downwinding are shit compared to what I see others enjoying/learning. We do get bay bumps often enough and have decided to work there to gain some more skills. Organized bumps in the bay are waaaaay easier to deal with than a confused snotty ocean…
The hand paddles are great and work. I can get on foil close to shore on an unbroken bump, but can’t do it yet in the open ocean - those swells have not been steep enough and just plow right by you. The bumps in the bay are steep and give you the good “downhill” feel. I know the SUP paddle offers more drive and think I’m going to work on both. It sucks to be out in the middle of the ocean on a shitty day without the skills to get on foil. Also, EVERY FUCKING TIME a few dolphins like to come up and scare the fucking bejesus out of me.
I’m using a 7’10 barracuda and a Uni PP 170 now. I think a bigger foil would help, but I will stick it out for now. I’m about 80-82kg.
