This tip shaping allows sure and quiet entry and exit from the water and reduces riffle chewing. In summary, the freestyle blade should be about nine inches wide and about twenty-three inches long with additions or subtractions to fit paddler strength. Tapered shoulders and rounded ends reduce the surface area of our ideal paddle to about 160 square inches, plus or minus 20 square inches. Cross-sectional shaping is critical to elegant, effective slicing. Blade edges don't have to cut bread, but finer ones allow the blade to slice with less resistance, turbulence, and flutter.
More functional paddles feature fine edging with straight-line taper to the center rib.
Blades are longitudinally stiffened with ribs, reducing flex. Particularly on bent paddles, this rib is placed solely on the blade's backface. This is adequate for cruising but dysfunctional for sliced movement. The spine creates turbulence when water flows across it, increasing drag and deflecting the path of an imbalanced blade. Paddles that slice true need a blade with equal reinforcement on both faces to balance hydraulic jump, and both ribs should be well faired or blended in.