How do you decide how long your paddle should be? The tried (and not so tested) method is that if you can reach to the top of your paddle and just curl your fingers over the top of the blade, the length is correct. That method works well for some people and may be a good starting point, however it takes leg length into account, which is not that relevant whereas arm length is, and of course people have different body proportions. The reason it can work for some is that height is reasonably well correlated with arm length for most people.

What might work better for some is directly using arm length to decide on paddle length. Hold your paddle in the correct position: paddle on head with forearms at right angles to your upper arm (or slightly less). If your paddle has a collar at the blade, there should be about 3 fingers between the outer part of your fist and the collar. If there is no collar (as with some of our paddles such as the Orca Inner), use five fingers between your fist and the blade. I learnt this method from Sean Rice (World surf ski champion) who advised me to increase my paddle length by 1cm using this method.

Another method of calculating paddle length is to use a calculator such as the ‘Epic Paddle Wizard’: https://www.epickayaks.com/paddle-wizard

Or use the formula: (252 + body length in cm)÷ 2 = paddle length in cm. I mention this formula as it gives the exact paddle length for me that I’ve worked out by other means.

However, other variables come into play such as your boat (how wide, how high is the seat) and your paddling style (high or low) so you will need to experiment a bit. I set my paddle to 210cm when paddling a sea kayak but 212cm in a K1. Also, paddle length doesn’t need to be fixed. Shortening your paddle a bit is like lowering the gears on a bike, lengthening your paddle is like going up a gear. So on a short, fast, hard paddle, you may want to increase your paddle length and shorten it on a longer paddle or when you’re tired.