WWWhat's up all..

I was wondering, as a paddler who recently finished his first season (it was GREAT!!!!), if anyone has ever experienced 'hitting the wall' or not being able to produce anymore. I am done this season, but frankly, I know that I'm toasted right now. I've been working out for different sports literally non-stop and I feel my performance has reached a plateau..thank GOD the season is over.

Anyone with similar experiences???


Passing the time until work is over-------------------------Jason

Take a couple of weeks off and you'll find yourself down at Ontario Place begging to hop on a roster.

Dragon's Blood... is it in ya?

Have a break for a week or so...then do Stratford...then do Ontario Place and probably that's it.
The winter is long...so enjoy now. All your hard work is about to reap its rewards.

Bringing home some hardware would be nice, don't you think!

Is that I've really screwed up my fourth finger on my bottom hand when I paddle (I'm a righty so it's my right hand). I hurt it at the end of May and I haven't been able to grip anything properly since. It really hurts to paddle - but I've been dealing with it...it happened before Pickering, so what was I supposed to do...try looking an Imperial Dragon in the face and saying "My finger hurts"...

In the weightroom I have been doing shrugs, cleans and any back exercise with lifting straps and it's seriously detrained my forearms -- yet there's not much to do about it --either strap up (still hurts the fingers, but it helps me get the poundage up) or don't lift and don't paddle.

Has anyone experienced a similar prob?


PLEASE don't say hairline fracture.

I know, I know, I should go to my doctor.

Besides you now have 1 month's worth of rest before training resumes. It'll heal....

i broke a finger on my left hand last winter and it messed up my grip and now my finger is all contorted (you should see a doc) and if he says you can't paddle because of it..laugh at him and paddle on the other side!

Same thing happened to me last year.

Tape your fourth finger to your third finger when you paddle. The third finger will help take stress off your injured fourth finger. Make sure when you tape it up, your fingers are bent so you can hold a paddle. As an added bonus, the tape keeps your hand from sliding on the paddle during a start.

Ease up on the lifting until it heals. I didn't last year and it took way to long to heal.

Since MAY!!!! wow You cannot grip anything? wow!
And you haven't gone to the doctor!!
Go to the doctor will you. See what the doc has to say first then talk to the Imperials.

I play a lot of volleyball and have had a few finger injuries
but all went away in max. of 2 weeks.

Tell Imperials that you have a hang nail...that's far more fun. Can I be there? ha

How did you do that anyway? fourth finger.

I wear a heavy duty rubber dish washing glove on right/bottom hand for grip. Cut short to the wrist and with the finger tips cut off like a weight lifting glove.

I have been having all kinds of problems keeping my gripping power aligned with my torqueing power. The glove helps, but I have also had to start taping my paddle shaft as well.

Once you’ve slammed the fingers of your top hand into the gunnel at full power (Twice) in one practice you’ll be willing to try anything. It hurt so much I thought I was nunna puke.

Squeezing a tennis ball or something similar while you watch TV or whatever can help build up those muscles in the off season.

Cheers

Demon, get a paddling glove for chrissakes!

Paddling glove? Come on, not after June first. And then it should be a pogey.

A thin strip of tape for slippage.

on the topic of gloves ...

Pogey from april to mid may then the neoprene gloves till when on the lake after on pickering

after that its a pair of bike gloves with rubberized palms and thats the way it will stay till we let it run at Ontario Place

i agree with the man who said to get a set of paddling gloves they are the best

as for slamming my top hand on the gunnel at full force ... OH YEAH feels like yer gonna hurl for sure

have fun and keep yer sticks in the water

I have been using this stuff called "All sport grip". I think it is made by Easton and it is like a synthetic leather grip tape. I like it because you get a secure hold on your paddle and because it is not abrasive you don't get the big calluses. I tried a glove but that sucker stunk so much I couldn't keep it in the house.

Oh yeah, about the gloves and paddle shoes for that matter ... man o man talk about stink I rinse my gloves and shoes in a bucket of water and hang em to dry after every practice or regatta

Other than tossing them in with the rest of the paddle stuff once a month and giving them a good wash and rinse, there's not a lot we can do about the stink stuff.

I have seen different things used on the paddles and have been resisting that approach simply cause i don't want to tink with the paddle. Sooner or later you're going to end up in a place of having to use a paddle other than "your own" The gloves at least can be portable even if the paddle changes

Have tried the bare handed "he-man" approach to paddling too but dammit my soft hands just can't take the punishment. It might be good for racing but damn those practices are a killer and it takes longer for the blisters to heal than it takes to rinse or wash a pair of gloves.

keep yer sticks in the water

There is a product sold at diver shops. It's called stink out. It specially formulated to work with your neoprene suit, shoes, gloves.

As for tape I think SEX WAX is the way to go. It's like a very intimate way of getting to know......hhhmmmm

Where were we??????

Stink out huh?

Talk about truth in advertising. I will have to swing by a local dive shop and see about that stuff.

keep yer "stink" in the water

So it sounds like many of you are getting blisters etc.
Do you have a death grip on the paddle?

Well perhaps that is a sign that you are using your arms more than your back and stomach to pull
water. And we know that that is a no-no. Try to loosen that death grip and use those bigger ab muscles instead. Bigger muscle will give you more power.

If you are hitting the gunnel of the boat with your finger/hand...perhaps you are not leaning out over the water far enough. Get flexible.

Stinky shoes...I keep telling everyone that it not really from my feet...my feet don't smell...I don't think that they believe me...I need to check out your stink out stuff too.

Glove only until mid of June then I go au natural.

Febreeze doesn't work. going to have find some of that Stink Out stuff.

Jason, I and several teammates have had the hand problem you described. As you've gathered, it's a repetitive stress injury. I had it so bad that I couldn't pull open a door with my right hand.

A few of us let our hands heal but still paddled by using wrist straps. Neoprene padded weightlifting straps work nicely. Loop the strap around your paddle and sew/buckle it back so that the loop holds the paddle at a comfortable position. When you pull, the strap bears the weight. You barely have to hold the paddle except for the catch. Your hand will feel better in a couple of weeks.

As an additional benefit, you can pull a LOT of water with a strap. Remember that your back will always be stronger than your hand, so your hand, injured or not, is the weak link in your stroke. Just as a strap in weighttraining lets you do bigger deadlifts, a strap for paddling lets you rip a lot more water.

I had the same problem, it will heal slightly over the winter but will haunt you again next year.

First of all, gloves are a sin any time after May.

If you hold the paddle properly, you shouldn't get blisters. Your hand should basically be a hook that pulls the paddle. If you are getting blisters, you are gripping the paddle way too tight.

But, if you do develop blisters, pop them, let the skin harden, and you will have some kick-ass callouses that will help you grip anything!

As for shoes...I never soak em, just let them dry out naturally. The stink is a natural part of paddling, embrace it.

Haven't you people ever done the ritual shoe toss into the lake at Ontario Place?!?! Some prefer into a garbage can, but for me, there's no better symbolism than tossin the stink back where it came from!!

No, I don't recall ever taking part in a "ritual" of pollution. Maybe this year we could make it a ritual to clean up the harbour a little instead of making it worse.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

those shoes are far from environmentally friendly and they would be better off in a landfill in vaughn than the place we get our stinking er uh drinking water from

as for callouses from blisters i didn't think of that and you are likely right about the hand as a hook thing the only proviso being that as someone else pointed out you generate most of your power with those big muscles and they can surely over power the hands

i will try that hooking thing out though (hmm that could have been said better i suppose)

keep yer stick in the water

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

DEATH GRIP. I had a death grip until my coach told me to stop doing that. I don't know if I'm repeating myself but the water was usually (?) cold and I kept trying to hold on for dear life as my forearms locked out on me. And then one day...OH @#$@#$ that hurts..only 8 more minutes to go in the marathon piece.

Question - what is a pogey? I know I can get them at MEC and all those outdoorsey places..but I'm not quite sure what they are....thicker gloves??

I am going to try the straps on a paddle if I'm still having a problem. I hate detraining my forearms like this - for non-db reasons..but I guess you've got to do what you've got to do.

Is only a problem on the catch, which is where the glove comes in handy because that is when you need to hold the paddle the tightest. I agree that otherwise you can simply "cup" the paddle as you pull through the stroke with your upper body, stomach and legs.

Rob, the dish glove (you can get blue ones) has great grip, it doesn’t weight anything and it still allows you great feel on the paddle. (I.E. it doesn't "seem" to increase the width of the paddle shaft as a glove, glove would. Oh yeah, it was like $3.00 and lasted me more than a year and they also don't stink since they don’t absorb any water.

That said I haven't tried an actual paddling glove. Mountain Co-Op? Other places?

Ahhh, stinky shoes. I got this on licked big time. After each use, teepee them over any household heat/air vent (the laundry room works great so you don’t have to look at them either). I keep my furnace fan going year round for circulation so this works great and they smell like new the next day every time. I imagine that a fan would work just as well. I paddle in the Humber so if it will work there it will work anywhere.

Cheers

pogey - (po-ghee) - 1. - gov't assistance income that allows you to sit about all day and post entries to DB forums in between trips to beer store - 2. - thick T-formed neoprene cover that wraps around shaft of paddle and allows hand to be inserted , provides additional warmth to hand by keeping mean temp of air / water at or near body temperature of paddler

Pogey also allow you to hold the paddle with your bare hand while still keeping out the frost bite.

Jason, if your forearms are tiring then you are gripping way too tight.

Yes, I learned that the hard and painful way...back in May. Out of necessity, I had to change. So perhaps the cold water is a good way of kicking some people in the butt to change that grip because the cold temperatures really accelerate and accentuate the tightness.

But I wonder if its completely avoidable, because when it gets cold, those forearms tighten up fast. We'll see next year I guess.

This is so true.