personal taste
Posted by: nickjc
on Dec-12-12 5:15 PM (EST)
how much is too much is a matter of taste.
stiff paddle:
pro: more power in a sprint.
con: more damage to your joints
Only seen it labeled in racing blades. Epic paddles and other racing blades are available in different stiffness shafts.
If it flexes a lot, is the paddler pulling to hard
or, perhaps it made to do that for some reason ?
Pulling hard and flexing the shaft a lot only happens in a sprint and starting off fast. If you are trying to go fast by pulling hard all the time, you're doing it wrong. A wood greenland stick flexes a lot and will lose out to a carbon blade in a the first few strokes but over a day's paddle or even an hour it won't matter. Just ask Joe O'Blenis.