It’s sounds counter intuitive but paddling is wonderful and easy to become addicted. I have found it’s almost meditative for me and I love being on the water. It can def lead to calluses on your palms but I don’t find a great deal of pressure on individual fingers the way climbing holds can exert. It’s uniform and you can control how hard you push yourself. It’s not like “if I don’t use 100% I’m gonna fall”.