Tony,
I had the same problem early on with both the heel and tip area. tcmeyer had an excellent post about how much of the paddle grit travels over those areas. I did a quick search in the knowledge base and couldn’t find the post.
What I found was that I was starting the stroke at the heel with an immediate push forward. That area did not get the same amount of paddle surface contact as the middle of the blade. Same thing for the tip, I ended the stroke without as much paddle contact.
Now I spend dedicated time to just the heel and tip area. I use the microscope to ensure those areas are as refined as the middle of the blade.
I use the term refined to mean looking straight down at the apex with the microscope I see the same amount of light reflected back up by the apex. My goal is to not have any reflected light along the whole blade.
Ed K.
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