All the Kids are Doing It

You may have heard about paddlers looking to get a little more out of their paddle stroke by ignoring the T-grip and choking down on the shaft with their top hand. A lot of them are elite racers and many are the newest generation of up-and-coming kids like Connor Baxter. It's true, you can get your upper body angled a little lower and you can increase your cadence. I haven't compared paddling speeds with a GPS but I have a feeling that I'm a bit swifter with my hand on the T-grip. I feel I can get more power out of that top arm when I use it. And the paddle is a little more stable with my hand on the grip. That said, more paddling time in the 'shaft grip' position may change my mind. 

Connor Baxter - unstoppable at 17 years old

I have found, however, that when I'm paddling into the wind and I want to get my upper body parallel to the board and as aerodynamic as possible, the 'new' position is really helpful. Try it for yourself. I'm interested in hearing what you discover.