I often hear people ask each other about what length of paddle they use, but rarely do I hear people talking about the volume of the paddle (the size of the blade), which also makes a huge difference!
When I was in New Zealand for the Takapuna Beach Cup, I borrowed a paddle for the OC-1 relay race. The course was 2 km out (upwind) and then 2 km back (downwind), and then you jump off and hand over to your partner so they can do the course, with each paddler completing the 4 km out-and-back 3 times.
The blade size of my borrowed paddle was bigger than what I’m used to, and I could really feel the difference. As a woman, I use a combo of tempo change and added power to get on waves. Upwind, I was struggling with the increased resistance of the larger paddle going into the wind, and going downwind I couldn’t increase the tempo enough to pull myself on to waves. Fortunately I had a break between my laps while my partner paddled, and I was able to find a slightly smaller paddle to borrow. My second lap was several minutes faster than my first lap, and it felt much better and I was definitely catching more waves.
While there are many factors to consider when figuring out what paddle works best for you, this was a good reminder that the size of the blade should also be one of them. Test it out in upwind and downwind conditions to make sure it’s comfortable and suitable for your strength level. Bigger is not always better!