This past weekend we had our second paddling race of the season. The race was about three miles long and we paddled through some crazy wind! But, we were successful and we came in third after Punahou and Kamehameha. After the race, I was looking at my paddle when I realized it had physics in it!! When you take a stroke through the water, the lever arm is the length of your arm and the rotation point is your shoulder. As you twist to take a stroke, you are creating a torque when you push down with your top hand. Therefore, if you have a longer arm, then your lever arm is longer and you can pull more water. This is probably why my coach always tells us to twist our bodies out as far as possible and to reach out as far as we can in order to maximize the lever arm. This comes in handy especially upwind when you want your boat to move forward against the wind.
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