As a ski paddler and coach (surf life saving and long distance )for 25 years ,I have seen a lot of change in paddles and types of materials used and the stiffness of the shaft .Im over 40 now and have also experienced shoulder problems mainly rotar cuff .
My belief with sup paddles is the shafts are gemerally too stiff .
I have only been paddling sups for a year but my shoulder pain came back with the first paddle I bought ,I found some more flexible shafts when I bought a paddle from from Dale Chapman and I havnt had shoulder problems again
with ski paddling they did test years ago which reavealled under a 1000mtr race you want a stiff shaft but over a 1000mtr it dosnt matter as you cant keep the high rating and 100% effort as you will be paddling at 85% to 90% effort . the other option is fiberglass blades with carborn shafts which also allows some flex.
I know use a fiberglass shaft and Kevlar blades for skis and a 20% carbon shaft for the sup shaft ,as my physio said if you want to continue to enjoy the water you have to change what you can to stay paddling for the years to come.
As I say this is only my opinion, any other thoughts
see you in Noosa
