C4 Waterman's video: What length and size SUP paddle do I need

What length and size standup paddle do I need? When it comes to length and size of your paddle, there’s been debate since the beginning of standup paddling. As far as me and all the rest of the crew at C4 Waterman, we like our paddles eight to ten inches above our height. The reason being is that if you have your hand placement in the proper place, your blade will be submerged at the beginning of the catch without having to hinge at your hips and lift yourself back up on your return (with your already overworked lower back muscles). As far as size of blade goes, you will hear tons of different things from square inches to width and the height, but what we have found is that a long, narrow blade, like our X-Wing or any other C4 Waterman paddle, with a proper dihedral, will feel good for just about any size paddler. Although you’ll see paddles as narrow as six inches now, if it doesn’t have a proper dihedral, you’ll still find it feathering and wandering on your stroke. What I personally use is an X-Wing Carbon for racing or even touring. For surfing and just cruising around, I use our eight inch wide, adult adjustable three piece or two piece, but if I’m doing rivers with rapids, I use our two piece adjustable Hoe.