No offense - but possible you may have purchased wrong kind of paddles.

Slow troll paddles put out by Dave Troester -is excellent for me. Have had them on for 3 yrs now
I own a "big O" boat (21.5 ft) can deploy paddle in 3 settings - at full setting will take boat from 1.2 wind drift down to
a .7 - Have used them all over Florida -

A lot depends on thickness of paddles and basic design along with stablizing rod