Well, speaking as a raw newb, and remembering that I occasionally get the old "restless legs" syndrome, I thought having an adjustable footbrace might be nice. And since I'd be trying to re-position the crosspiece with just my semi-talented foot maneuvers, the drop in crosspiece appealed to me.

Also being the cheap, uh, person that I am, the Duckworks commercial footbraces were going to be my "plan B" since on other forums, they seemed to be well recommended.

I haven't really come across any other designs that seemed easy to build.

: http://paddleandoar.com/index.php
: (third picture down)