Surfing Waves

with snow in the mountains and winter approaching it is time to replace my old winter gear including my gloves . I have been reading about webbed gloves which are supposed to increase paddling power up to 30 percent . I find that a bit hard to beleive but they must increase paddling power to some degree . I was wondering if anybody has tried them and if they interfere with popping up or duck diving .I dont fancy doing a faceplant while attempting to grab the board . Look forward to any feedback

Uncle Jaffa has copped some flak for wearing them.
Paddle power increased quite a lot, some extra pressure on the shoulder joint, if you have a tendency to rotator cuff injury or biceps tendon strain, not particularly helpful, can even be interesting for a handstall in the barrel, bigger the barrel the bigger the risk of shoulder subluxation or evn dislocation.

Also a protection against melanoma on the hands , they don't slip but they do make the board look dirty as the neoprene abraded on the wax.
H20 make a set, there are some others which I use which come cheap from the local dive and fishing shop
Ther are another pair, which make you look like have the creature from the black lagoon hands.
Other countries might have their own version.
Tassiedevil I'll send you a PM re address to send a pair to you.

Thanks Jaffa will pm you when I get to a real computer ( not an iPad )

Thanks for feedback Jaffa have ordered a pair from h2o will let you know how they go

Gloves have arrived and I managed to get out twice to try them out . 1st go was off a reef break with a long paddle out then a long surf in followed by a long paddle back out . After about an hour I was totally trashed with a fair bit of the bicep strain Jaffa warned of .
Next go was on a beach break . Went for half an hour with gloves then half an hour no gloves . It was like jumping out of a V8 into a 4 cylinder .the difference in paddling power was huge especially when extra paddle power was needed eg. Paddling out through the break , catching waves .
Must admit I have found it awkward to perform a rapid pop up , at the moment my pop up with the gloves on is somewhere between slow and clumsy . Probably something I need time out on the water to adjust to .

I'm pretty suprised that they make so much difference to paddling power, simply from the lack of people using them in the lineup.
Do you think it's down to the look factor, or more to do with the additional reducing paddling time or pop up related issues? I wonder.

I used to use webbed gloves as a novice – good for power but tiring. When I could take off under the lip I never used them again and ended up catching waves without paddling at all. The power thing was replaced by skill.
Any neoprene glove is hard to push under the water because it is buoyant, yet it acts as a weight when out of the water due to its’ own mass and that of any water in the glove hence gloves being as tiring as they are.
Mind you . . . . . gloves are excellent for training or as a noob assist / bit of fun but I find they are of no real use to my kind of surfing (anymore).
If your hands slip off the board while popping up during a session simply go home and: Pour just boiled water over the areas of contact on the rails to remove grease, wax and salt . . . sand the rail lightly where you place your palms, pour really hot water again to wash clean . . . let dry for a few minutes and apply some Shoe Goo in a shape of your choice. When almost dry pick the Shoe Goo patch with a cocktail stick or two to create a spikey texture . . . Hey Presto a durable grip area for gloved and gloveless pop ups. I did this to my board in my avatar and the shoe goo is still on there to this day (and I still use that very board) some errrm dare I say 20 (twenty) years on ! [Yes – this fix really is that good].

surf patrol wrote:I'm pretty suprised that they make so much difference to paddling power, simply from the lack of people using them in the lineup.
Do you think it's down to the look factor, or more to do with the additional reducing paddling time or pop up related issues? I wonder.

A picture is worth a thousand words, this is the look factor, would you want a gloved Jaffa in your neighbourhood

After using gloves a burger world moment

Oh and just simply wax the rails or where you place you hands to pop up Works for me and the shoulders and biceps build up the resistance to stiffness and soreness, 3 hour sessions no problem

Love the pictures Jaffa . Who does the photography for you . 3 hour sessions are a pretty good effort for a mature aged person such as yourself .I often surf with a bloke a bit older then you and he never ceases to amaze me .
The gloves do look a bit different and are pretty hard to miss so maybe that is why they aren't used that much . Looks can be pretty important in the surf world .
As eonscar points out they do get waterlogged and add weight to your arms so that could also be an explanation . But after my trial the other day with and then without gloves I am converted to being one of the webbed gloved ones . I like to wear gloves for warmth anyway so for me they provide a dual purpose .
They certainly give you a good workout ( apparently some of the surf club competitors use them in training to increase fitness )
I think my trouble with the speed of my popping up at the moment is probably just me getting used to wearing gloves and booties again . I follow jaffas theory with wax on the rails and the gloves don't slip off it is more a matter of a different feel through the gloves and the booties . I guess it's a bit like running in bare feet for 6 months and then trying to run in joggers . I reckon time on the water will fix the problem pretty quickly .

Evening TD, you're right about the getting used to booties again, that may be it!
About the photos, they came as an add on , they have a photographer on each boat at each break and they just click away by the end of 20 days and two surfs a day they have a DVD full of shots. They do some video too and of course they sell it to you.
Woth the dollars to have bragging pictures, I took a lot of shots too made a video, but my friends wouldn't do their share of shots

Not sure about the shoo gloo!