After reading about it and thinking about it for far too long, this weekend I finally chopped about 8" off the length of my paddle. It is now about head height. On Sunday I went out for surf sesh- what a difference! In the choppy and quite windy conditions, the lower stance/centre of gravity enforced by the short paddle meant I had no problem paddling onto waves and hardly fell in at all (not once paddling for a wave). I had no issues with back pain, except the usual twinges from an old injury- but it is still early days. I only wish I had done it sooner 
