frozentripper wrote;
Quote:
The points you raise on quantifying paddle efficiency in test facilities and the numbers and findings such studies produce will, I'm sure, add to the overall efficiency of any paddler. Some of these might be most suited to racing, where very efficient, highly-evolved and ultra-tech designs are used to squeeze out every ounce of speed.
I guess I am not making myself very clear and for that I apologise. Maybe this will help.
Consider for a moment if we knew what characteristics of the paddle produced the "feelings" we are talking about. Would that not help a person in choosing a paddle? If so, then would it not be worthwhile to find out what those characteristics are? Apparently so because at least the web site mentioned talks about the power produced by a paddle.
So how would we learn that information? Can we do it by just going for a paddle? If we could then everyone would agree on the best paddle. Obvioulsy there are many factors of varied importance so we need something more objective than opinion.
Let give you an example. (For the moment forget racing because racing is not the only place one might want efficiency)
Supppose we wanted to find how flex affects the paddler's perceptions of paddle performance.
To do this we might make paddles that cover a wide range of flexibility.
Then we would test them under varied conditions to see how people respond. Suppose they prefer the flexible paddle.
Now, suppose after we "learn" that a scientist looks at our work and asks," Did you make sure the weights and moments of inertia were constant?"
OOOPS. We goofed. We can't say for certain that it was flexibility or weight or moment of inertia or some combination that the paddlers preferred.
So we need another series of tests to find out how the weight of a paddle affects the paddler's perceptions of the paddle.
We could make a bunch of paddles identical in every way except weight. Then we could have a wide range of paddlers test them and tell us what they thought.
When finished we would have a good idea of how weight affects paddler perceptions.
Then we need another series to see how the moment of inertia affects paddler perceptions. From this question we could formulate another test where only the moment of inertia varied. The results of such a study would add even more to our knowledge of what people perceive in a paddle.
From that, a scientist might ask, '"What effect does the paddle grip and shaft thickness have on perceptions?"
OOOPS. Missed another possible variable.
Each time we ask a question we have a test that will shed more light on paddler perceptions (and there are many tests we can do).
Supppose we found out that it was not flex that made the paddle feel good but the drag coefficient and that a paddle with a low drag coefficient but a much different shape produced the same feel? Would we not have to revisit our statement that it was flex that makes the paddle feel good?
The point I am trying to make is that there are physical reasons why a paddle "feels" good (unless, of course, one believes in magic). To simply accept a gut feel without doing objective testing is coinvenient but not very reliable.
Often people will say, "Only racers need efficiency". This assumes that efficiency only has to do with speed. Consider the fuel efficient car. My wife's Corolla won't win Le Mans it is considerably more "fuel efficient" than a Formula I racer. This also applies to paddles. You might not want to race but you might want the most "fuel effcient" paddle" .
Then again you might not. You might want a gas guzzler that looks sexy.
Once again I would like people to return to the web site. It makes a number of claims but offers no objective proof. If you believe the function of a paddle has nothing to do with physics then you will be quite comfortable with what it says there. If not, you might want something else.
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