Greg -

Bummer. And I do so pride myself on being clear. I do think we're talking about the same thing - the rotation of the 'blade' about it's own longitudinal axis (i.e. rotate the blade by rolling your wrists), not the rotation of the 'paddle' about it's center (like an airplane propeller - i.e. lift one arm and lower the other)

And you're right, it's not that the path of the paddle through the water veers toward the boat, just that having the paddle blade tilted tends to make the blade want to go that way. It felt strange at first.

In any event, thanks for contributing all your first-hand information on this subject!

-- Dave