Paddle Length and You
A quick search online will reveal several published resources making general recommendations for choosing a paddle length. These resources often quote paddler height, level of experience, or bench placement in guiding buyers towards choosing a paddle size. While these rationales are reasonable, there are several factors in choosing a paddle size that, when thoroughly understood, can help determine how to find a paddle that works best for you.
Background
The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) has established a general schematic for all dragon boat paddles approved for use in IDBF competitions world wide. This helps minimize any disparities between teams racing in an IDBF event due to equipment considerations. The current standard is known as Specification 202a, which specifies that paddle length (from blade tip to top of handle) is between 105cm and 130cm. Dealer websites may measure this in terms of inches, but the standards are the same.
The Business End
What part of the paddle matters the most? The blade. It’s the part of the paddle that serves as the interface between you and the water. When choosing a paddle length, the ultimate goal is to get the blade into the water where it works best. Generally, this means AT LEAST submerged below the surface of the water.
Shaft, can you dig it?
Since Spec 202a paddles all have specific dimensions for the blade, the one effective variable in paddle itself is the shaft length (spanning between the top of the blade and the handle). This makes choosing a paddle length about facilitating the best leverage for a paddler to apply force to a fully buried blade.
Lower Triangle
Triangles are an efficient shape for transferring force. By this rationale, our bodies will theoretically transfer force efficiently to the paddle and water when our back and outside arm are straight. Different paddling styles aside, after burying the blade, the goal becomes pulling the blade back (or yourself up to an “anchored” blade) while it is at a set depth. This means that as we pull back, our outside hand remains at a somewhat consistent distance to the water’s surface. This creates a triangle between our body and the plane of the water. This triangle is our foundation, the basic requirement to getting the blade buried during our reach. Paddle length has little to nothing to do with this triangle as it depends primarily on the physical size of the paddler.
Fig 1Upper Triangle
Adding the top arm and paddle shaft into the picture, we see an upper triangle formed. The efficiency of this triangle is highly dependent upon paddle length and paddler technique. In Figure 2, increasing trunk rotation on the reach has the functional effect of lengthening our outer arm and shortening our top arm. This affects angle of paddle at entry, influencing the vectors (direction) of force applied by the paddle to the water. It also serves to increase the horizontal displacement of our paddle during the pull, which is a good thing!
In Figure 3 B) and C), we see how increasing paddle length affects our body position and efficiency. Leaving the bottom hand the same in B), a longer shaft forces our top arm higher which can cause more strain to our top shoulder’s joint and potentially lead to increased risk of rotator cuff or labral injuries. Choking up at the bottom hand in C) to preserve top arm angle forces the paddler to bury the blade deeper in the water. Because the blade is farther from the bottom hand, the force of the water against the blade (or vice versa depending on the relative physics) is applied farther away from the bottom hand. This increases the torque that a paddler fights during the pull, making each stroke feel more difficult despite the same amount of power being put into the water. In other words, choking up due to a paddle being too long puts the paddler at a mechanical disadvantage, wasting energy.
Having an excessively long paddle also forces you to compensate during recovery just to clear the blade from the water. Having an excessively short paddle will decrease the horizontal displacement of your blade during the pull, which decreases paddling efficiency. A short paddle may also force you to flex more at the trunk during the reach to get the blade buried, which compromises 1 side of the Lower Triangle and may increase your risk for spine injuries (not pictured).
Fig 2
Fig 3
Choosing the “Right” Length
After all that theory and physics, it requires trial/error and close assessment with your coach to determine the paddle size that gives you the best fit. Depending on how skilled you are with paddling, your fitness level, where you sit, and how your coach would like you to paddle, you should choose a paddle length that allows you to get the blade fully buried while allowing you to pull with an Upper and Lower Triangle that is most efficient for you.
Recommendations
1. Continuously refine your paddling technique.
2. Get regular 1 on 1 feedback from your coach about your paddling technique.
3. Try a variety of paddle sizes from teammates to see how it meshes with your paddling technique.
4. Consider changing your paddle length if your technique is strongly compromised, it forces you to work beyond your level of fitness, or you have noticed it contribute to painful symptoms.
Ways to Improve Efficiency: Being Rigid
Part of any racing sport involves efficiency. Efficiency means you spend as little energy as possible in accomplishing the same goal. Take a Prius vs a dragster, for example. If both cars rolled 1/4 mile at 35 mph, the Prius would probably expend less gasoline getting there than the dragster. The Prius is obviously the more efficient car, right? Now, have both cars complete the 1/4 mile in as little time as possible. The dragster takes 5+ seconds while the Prius finishes in 15+ seconds. Which car was most fuel efficient? The Prius was of course. Who cares? Nobody cares, because the Prius lost the race. Which car was more efficient at winning? The dragster was.
In a competitive sprint sport such as dragon boat, it shouldn’t matter if your team can handle a 2:30 split time for 10,000 meters. 2:30 in a 500 meter race will put you at a recreational team level. In this case, the judicious use of extra energy is warranted to boost performance. That’s not to say that losing all focus and coordination in exchange for high stroke effort is worth it, it just means that racing should never be paced easily to be competitive. The big question is, how do you apply energy to the water efficiently to give you the highest performance possible?
There are many ways to be a more efficient paddler, but today this post is about selectively making your body rigid during the pull phase.
Why be rigid?
Rigid structures transmit force efficiently, ideally to where that force can be applied for the greatest power and work. Flexible structures do not efficiently transmit force because of their tendency to deform in response those forces. Think about the dragon boat paddle itself. Why not make a paddle out of yarn? It’d be pretty light, but it’s so damn flexible you can wrap it around your neck as a scarf! You can try to paddle with it till your workaholic significant other comes home and it still won’t get you far. Now, wood and carbon fiber paddles are very stiff and deform very little when you apply force to it. This allows the paddle to transmit force to the water, which by action/reaction, provides a force back on the paddle. Thus, current IDBF spec 202a paddles are much more efficient than a yarn paddle. Who would have thought?
To bring this back on track, let’s apply that concept of rigidity to your body movements during paddling. Collapsing top arms, bending bottom elbows, and slouching spines all contribute to lost paddling efficiency. Theoretically, because rigid structures transmit force better than less rigid structures, the less rigid structures in a system are more likely to deform in response, which can coincidentally increase the risk of injury to those body parts. Back to the yarn paddle example (last time I swear), your body is hopefully more rigid than the yarn and so the force you put into the yarn paddle is poorly transmitted to the water. The opposite can be the case for a wood/carbon paddle. The paddle may be much more efficient than you are at transmitting force.
Example of how less rigid structures are poor transmitters of force
Notice how that kid’s butt is moving more than the weight he is lifting? His crappy technique and weak back are not enough to lift the weight efficiently. The same thing can happen if you slouch or crunch your torso when paddling. Instead of pushing the boat forward through your feet (your firm connection point to the boat), the water is bending your back into a U, as if it were some kind of…yarn spine. Hardly efficient.
The Mt. Home Canoe Club has published some articles that refer to multiple ”Power Circles.” I prefer to summarize the concepts through the transmission of force from the water, through the paddle, through your body, to the boat. The ultimate goal is to turn 100% of that water force into a force to move the boat.
1. Assuming you have the skill to apply effective force to the paddle without “ripping the water”, we’ll assume the water pushes back on the paddle with equal force (untrue since the paddle itself is not 100% efficient).
2. The water’s force is transmitted through the paddle to your arms, shoulders and torso. Here’s where it’s important to maintain that A-frame in which the relative position of your shoulders and hands don’t change during the pull. A collapsed A-frame decreases efficiency.
3. By keeping your spine as rigid in neutral as possible (the position it would have as if you were standing up tall) the force can be transmitted from your upper body to your lower body. Slouching, crunching during the pull, or doing the “roll up” as you pull, decreases efficiency.
4. Firmly planting your hip, outer leg against the gunnel and wedging your heel against the seat stop ahead of you anchors you firmly to the boat. This allows for efficient transmission of the water’s force to the hull. Have you ever tried paddling with your legs held off the floor of the boat? Try it, see what happens. Did you move the boat at all or did the water end up moving just you instead? Making yourself as much of a solid, attached part of the boat as possible improves efficiency of force transmission.
5. Force applied to the hull is expressed in terms of the wonderful F=ma and the boat is accelerated in accordance to how little force was wasted along the way from the water to the hull.
This detailed schematic basically sums it up
There’s the magic effect of improved paddling efficiency! If you can increase your paddle power by 10% in a few minutes of changing how you transfer force, that’s a much better deal than trying to get 10% physically stronger, which can take 6-8 weeks of working out!
So as you paddle, try to think about how to hold yourself selectively rigid from the tips above to avoid losing paddling power.
Pain in the Butt
You’re out on the water for practice, it’s a beautiful day, and your coach is making you paddle a combination of high-intensity interval sprints mixed with long distance sustained paddling. Ten minutes into the workout and you are feeling great. Thirty minutes go by and while you feel like the workout is kicking your butt, you also feel a nagging pain under your butt cheek(s). Does this sound familiar?
A couple things could be going on.
Pain in the Butt No. 1: Pressure and Chaffing
Since dragon boat is a fast-paced, seated sport with a lot of rotation in addition to forward/backward movements, your rearend is likely to be a point of friction. Friction over time can lead to skin chaffing, which can cause pain (and searing agony once you hit the shower). Sometimes wearing compression shorts under your normal board shorts or pants can reduce friction against the skin. Other times, a cushioned bench pad can help. Prolonged, sustained pressure against soft tissue and skin can cause soreness because you are preventing blood from flowing into the tissue. Common areas for pressure soreness and chaffing are under the “sit bones” of your butt aka ischial tuberosities. Shifting your weight during rest intervals or using a bench pad can help promote perfusion of blood to pressured tissues. More importantly, you should get your technique checked carefully by your coach. Faulty stroke technique can result in excess energy being spent drilling your booty into the bench when more power and body weight could be applied to the water.
Pain in the Butt No. 2: Muscle Strain
Back to the heavy emphasis on rotation during paddling, your legs serve to anchor you to your seat and transfer stroke power to the boat. If you’re taking full strokes, you’ll probably notice that your legs will swing and swivel depending on how you like to brace your feet against the floor. When the rate gets faster, this swing and swivel is a very active movement and while it’s not directly related to your racing fitness, having weak gluteal muscles can develop painful symptoms when fatigued. Areas for gluteal soreness can be felt in a variety of areas due to extensive number of gluteal and hip rotator muscles present. Commonly soreness is felt spanning between the side of your tailbone (sacrum) and side of your hip (greater trochanter). Occasionally, hamstring tightness can cause a pulling sensation at the ischial tuberosity where they insert in which case improving your flexibility can help (see link). If pressure to the muscle is causing the pain, you can try using a bench pad as with No. 1. If gluteal muscle soreness, tightness, or fatigue are the reasons, then self-massage, stretching, and strengthening are a good idea (check the video links).
Pain in the Butt No.3: Discs, Nerves, Joints Oh My
Occasionally painful symptoms in the buttocks region can be caused by a phenomenon called pain referral. Referred pain essentially means that the cause for pain may not necessarily be where you feel it. Our nerves and brain have millions of sensory connections. We have a very specific map for light touch but not always for pain. For example, a fly may land on the back of your neck and you know exactly where to reach back and crush it (or shoo it away for you kindly folks). Compare this with banging your kneecap against a table. You only hit perhaps a 1 cm area of your kneecap, but your whole knee can ache/throb like nobody’s business. Sometimes if we have a low back injury, pain can be referred and felt in the buttocks region. Injuries sustained to joints in the hip or pelvis can also cause pain in the buttocks region. If you have a previous history of issues involving your discs, nerves, or joints, getting specific advice from a medical practitioner who has evaluated your issue in relation to dragon boat paddling is key.
If your pain is severe or not improving, you experience changes in bowel/bladder function such as incontinence, you have leg numbness/weakness/clumsiness, or numbness in your saddle region, you need to get this checked out with your doctor or emergency services as these could be very serious if not emergent issues.
The Thirst – Importance of Staying Hydrated
season, I was thinking that keeping yourself healthy through nutrition
is just as important as staying active.
Some weeks ago, I went to 24 Hour Fitness dressed for cold weather.
However once I started exercising, I was getting hot fast and started
to sweat a lot. I failed to account for the fact that I was going to
be inside and that the heaters were probably on. Since I was taking a
nutrition class, I thought this would be important to share:
Staying hydrated is very important. Drink ¾-1 ½ cups (4-8oz) of fluids
for every 15-20 minutes of activity. Another thing to be aware of is
water intoxication, which is consuming too much water alone. Too much
water dilutes the blood electrolytes, therefore be sure to consume
liquids that also replace your electrolytes. Be sure to drink before
you start working out and during your workout. And drink before you
feel thirsty because it may be too late.
Now that it is wintertime, we need to adjust for the cold weather. It
is harder to gauge dehydration; most water loss is through
respiration.
A rule of thumb is: Drink early and drink often. Be sure to drink cold
liquids because it empties from the stomach faster and therefore
absorbed more quickly.
For training that may last for more than an hour, consider a pre-
exercise meal high in carbohydrates. Foods that are an immediate
source of energy and easy to digest include bread, oatmeal, pasta,
rice, potatoes, banana, cereal, or an energy bar.
During endurance exercising (lasting longer than 60 minutes), be sure
to consume foods or drinks with carbohydrates (such as Gatorade or
Powerade; however these drinks also have calories.) It will help
maintain blood glucose and glycogen levels. It will also replace
fluids and electrolytes lost through sweating. Consuming enough
carbohydrates allows you to exercise longer and faster.
For post-exercise recovery: Consume foods which are high-sugar
carbohydrates (plain bagel, carrot, muffins, potatoes, or rice) or
drinks (sports drinks, fruit juice, lemonade; 1g carbohydrate/1 kg of
body weight) within 15-20 minutes of finishing. Have a complex
carbohydrate meal with adequate protein within ½-2 hours of finishing,
like whole wheat spaghetti and meatballs, and a salad with Italian
dressing.
Protein is not a source of energy during a workout; it is used for
muscle maintenance among other things. People usually consume more
than enough protein in their regular diet, therefore supplements are
not necessary.
Another thing the book suggested for strength training: do 8-10
exercises, hitting all major muscle groups. Do 1-3 sets with 8-12
repetitions or 10-15 repetitions, two to three times a week. Be sure
to incorporate stretching to prevent injury and soreness, 15-30
seconds, repeated two to four times, alternating sides. And warm up
before stretching.
Hewlings, S.J., & Mederios, D.M., 2009 Nutrition: Real people, real
choices. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Strength training: how much, how often?
Found some interesting article abstracts from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM):
Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults
Kraemer et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Feb;34(2):364-80
In order to stimulate further adaptation toward a specific training goal(s), progression in the type of resistance training protocol used is necessary. The optimal characteristics of strength-specific programs include the use of both concentric and eccentric muscle actions and the performance of both single- and multiple-joint exercises. It is also recommended that the strength program sequence exercises to optimize the quality of the exercise intensity (large before small muscle group exercises, multiple-joint exercises before single-joint exercises, and higher intensity before lower intensity exercises). For initial resistances, it is recommended that loads corresponding to 8-12 repetition maximum (RM) be used in novice training. For intermediate to advanced training, it is recommended that individuals use a wider loading range, from 1-12 RM in a periodized fashion, with eventual emphasis on heavy loading (1-6 RM) using at least 3-min rest periods between sets performed at a moderate contraction velocity (1-2 s concentric, 1-2 s eccentric). When training at a specific RM load, it is recommended that 2-10% increase in load be applied when the individual can perform the current workload for one to two repetitions over the desired number. The recommendation for training frequency is 2-3 d x wk(-1) for novice and intermediate training and 4-5 d x wk(-1) for advanced training. Similar program designs are recommended for hypertrophy training with respect to exercise selection and frequency. For loading, it is recommended that loads corresponding to 1-12 RM be used in periodized fashion, with emphasis on the 6-12 RM zone using 1- to 2-min rest periods between sets at a moderate velocity. Higher volume, multiple-set programs are recommended for maximizing hypertrophy. Progression in power training entails two general loading strategies: 1) strength training, and 2) use of light loads (30-60% of 1 RM) performed at a fast contraction velocity with 2-3 min of rest between sets for multiple sets per exercise. It is also recommended that emphasis be placed on multiple-joint exercises, especially those involving the total body. For local muscular endurance training, it is recommended that light to moderate loads (40-60% of 1 RM) be performed for high repetitions (> 15) using short rest periods (< 90 s). In the interpretation of this position stand, as with prior ones, the recommendations should be viewed in context of the individual’s target goals, physical capacity, and training status.
Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise
Garber et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011 Jul;43(7):1334-59
The purpose of this Position Stand is to provide guidance to professionals who counsel and prescribe individualized exercise to apparently healthy adults of all ages. These recommendations also may apply to adults with certain chronic diseases or disabilities, when appropriately evaluated and advised by a health professional. This document supersedes the 1998 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Position Stand, “The Recommended Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory and Muscular Fitness, and Flexibility in Healthy Adults.” The scientific evidence demonstrating the beneficial effects of exercise is indisputable, and the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks in most adults. A program of regular exercise that includes cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor exercise training beyond activities of daily living to improve and maintain physical fitness and health is essential for most adults. The ACSM recommends that most adults engage in moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥30 min·d on ≥5 d·wk for a total of ≥150 min·wk, vigorous-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥20 min·d on ≥3 d·wk (≥75 min·wk), or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise to achieve a total energy expenditure of ≥500-1000 MET·min·wk. On 2-3 d·wk, adults should also perform resistance exercises for each of the major muscle groups, and neuromotor exercise involving balance, agility, and coordination. Crucial to maintaining joint range of movement, completing a series of flexibility exercises for each the major muscle-tendon groups (a total of 60 s per exercise) on ≥2 d·wk is recommended. The exercise program should be modified according to an individual’s habitual physical activity, physical function, health status, exercise responses, and stated goals. Adults who are unable or unwilling to meet the exercise targets outlined here still can benefit from engaging in amounts of exercise less than recommended. In addition to exercising regularly, there are health benefits in concurrently reducing total time engaged in sedentary pursuits and also by interspersing frequent, short bouts of standing and physical activity between periods of sedentary activity, even in physically active adults. Behaviorally based exercise interventions, the use of behavior change strategies, supervision by an experienced fitness instructor, and exercise that is pleasant and enjoyable can improve adoption and adherence to prescribed exercise programs. Educating adults about and screening for signs and symptoms of CHD and gradual progression of exercise intensity and volume may reduce the risks of exercise. Consultations with a medical professional and diagnostic exercise testing for CHD are useful when clinically indicated but are not recommended for universal screening to enhance the safety of exercise.
***
In a nutshell, exercise to improve performance may seem like a lot work, but really it depends on a small commitment of time/energy, goals, and ability. You can improve your strength with as little as 1 set of 8-12 reps of challenging resistance, be it with your body weight or external resistance 2x/wk. Of course, there are “ideal” training programs depending on your exact goals to bring about the fastest results possible. There is even some evidence that suggests that performing 1 set of exercise to the point of form-failure (your inability to perform 1 rep w/ perfect form) is as effective at improving strength as multiple set exercise in the first 3 months of starting an exercise routine (Durall et al; Systematic Review of Single-Set Versus Multiple-Set Resistance-Training Randomized Controlled Trials: Implications for Rehabilitation).
If you train to the point of form failure, you should take 2-3 days of rest for a given muscle group to recover before trying that same exercise again. This will allow your body to progress in its healing response to prepare your muscles to perform again at the same or higher amount.
The shoulder, of course
Hey everybody, just came back from an interesting seminar on shoulder health and physical therapy assessment. The instructor had a good stretch for the pec minor, which I felt matched well w/ my earlier post on the same subject.
I’ve got a new instructional video rendering as I type, so stay tuned.
updated: ok, you can check out the revised page HERE
Gripping Vid
Ok, no, not really but in response to 1 reader’s comment on the grip tape, I went ahead and made a long-winded video about the stuff just so folks could see how it’s applied.
Hope it helps give you more of an idea how it works. You can read the full post here:
Opus in Pec Minor
Frequently, rotator cuff injuries can occur from an accumulation of wear/tear from external stressors. One possible cause for rotator cuff injury is from impingement against the underside of a bony structure called the acromion. In a healthy shoulder, there is generous space to allow tendons to slide and the ball of the glenohumeral joint to roll/glide during arm movements. The bony ball and socket of the glenohumeral joint coordinates with the muscular articulation of the shoulder blade over the rib cage known as the scapulothoracic joint. One muscle that can affect this relationship is the pectoralis (pec) minor.
The pec minor is a relatively small muscle that spans between the 3rd-5th ribs and a portion of the scapula called the coracoid process. The normal action of the muscle is to pull the scapula down and forward. In the case of an excessively tight pec minor, the muscle can tether the shoulder blade down during overhead movements (such as during the reach phase when the arms are outstretched) causing a decrease in space for rotator cuff tendons to move without impingement. Having a tight pec minor can also be a potential cause for arm numbness, tingling, or swelling due to the number of blood vessels and nerves that pass beneath it.
UPDATE 1/28/12 – found this cool website that animates the action of the pec minor. Viewable here.
Note: if you are experiencing shoulder pain, numbness, tingling, or swelling, you should consult with your doctor. The sheer multitude of structures and causes of these symptoms is too long to list here. As with many health conditions, early detection is the key.
Signs of Tight Pec Minor
- Laying on your back, ideally topless (men) or in a bra (women), arms straight by your sides. Have a friend look at you top-down from ground level. If the back of your shoulders appear to curve away from the floor, leaving a significant gap between the back of your shoulders and floor, then you may have a tight pec minor.
This fellow likely has some tightness in his right pectorals compared to his left.
- Standing up, arms down by your sides, (also shirtless) have a friend look at your shoulder blade position. Are the bottom-most points of your shoulder blades sticking out from your back? When looking from the side, do your shoulder blades appear to be tipped forward vs vertical and flat against your back? These could also be signs you have a tight pec minor
While both shoulder blades seem forward tipped suggesting a flexibility or weakness issue, the position of either one is not “ideal.”
Ways to Improve Pec Minor Flexibility
Foam roller stretch
If you have a foam roller (styrofoam cylinder) this works great. It can also be performed with just a rolled up towel placed parallel to your spine (up/down from back of head to tailbone), pretty much anything that is comfortable to lay over and is thick enough to raise the back of your shoulders off the ground.
Try a prolonged stretch for 30 sec to 1 min, breathing slowly to relax your muscles into the stretch position.
Perform 3 reps (to start) and more if desired, 2x/day
Corner Pec Minor Stretch
Pec Minor Self Massage
You may try to manually self massage your pec minor (in private! sheesh) to reduce soft tissue restrictions aka “knots” that can contribute to pec minor tightness. Using you knuckles or finger tips, gently but firmly find the pec minor as in the picture below. Localized tenderness can let you know if you are in the right place. If you are getting pain from self massage, numbness/tingling, or are pushing over anything that pulses with your heartbeat, you should STOP. Getting bruises from self-massaging? You’re going way to hard (unless you like bruises). Don’t be that epic fail.
See those 3 strips of pec-minor-labelled muscle on the right? Mash ‘em! (Carefully)
Perform this for ~1 min, several times per day for best results.
NOT Fully Recommended:
This stretch is a classic stretch for the pec major and shoulder joint. Conceptually is emphasizes these structures more than the pec minor (less specific to the pec minor) while being a stretch that can potentially harm your shoulder joint (places more stress). While it’s not to say that you’ll injure yourself by doing this stretch, in an effort to stretch the pec minor, you’d be better off using the above mentioned techniques.
(Revised 12/5/11)
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
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Whole vs Part Practice
“How do I teach somebody how to paddle?”
or
“Sometimes people don’t change their technique no matter how you coach them.”
I hear this a lot from new coaches and also from more experienced coaches. Fortunately, there is a body of sports science dedicated to learning more about effective coaching methods and the research findings are well established.
When teaching somebody how to paddle, every coach must decide how to go about it. Most importantly, how do you prescribe a method of practice for a new paddler to learn the skills necessary to perform effectively? It comes down to more than personal style and experience.
Choosing a definitive practice method has been shown to shorten the time needed to achieve skill proficiency.
We start by defining the complexity and organization of a skill in determining the ideal method of instruction. The complexity of a skill reflects how many elements are involved and the cognitive demand it requires. An example of a skill that is low in complexity in dragon boat is “holding the boat” (dragging the paddle in the water to slow the boat). The act of paddling efficiently to move the boat forward is more complex.
The organization of a skill refers to the spatial-temporal relationship between the elements involved. Skills that are highly organized have elements that are closely related to the position/timing of preceding steps. A skill with low organization in dragon boat would be paddling at a sustained rate. Paddling with a variable rate, such as in a race start, requires more organization.
Research suggests:
Skills that are low in complexity but high in organization are best developed using practice of the whole skill.
Skills that are high in complexity and low in organization are best developed using practice of parts.
A sample skill analysis of steady-state paddling:
Complexity characteristics
1. Hold the paddle with 2 hands (outside hand close to blade, top hand on T/palm grip)
2. Lean trunk forward, reach arms forward to prepare the paddle to enter the water (outside arm straight, top arm overhead)
3. Enter water with a “positive” angled paddle maintaining relative arm orientation
4. Pull….etc etc
Organization characteristics
The activity of steady-state paddling can be started at any step of the movement, however to skip preceding/following steps when practicing components does not allow the paddler to experience the timing and movement relationship between components (e.g. performing a drill for entry and exit while skipping the recovery and pull).
Summary
Steady-state paddling involves multiple complex movements that are moderate in organization. As this is somewhat “middle of the road,” a part practice method may be preferable to help paddlers master key components of the skill before moving to a whole practice method that focuses on tying the organization of the skill together, especially as the cognitive demands of paddling decrease.
Application: Coaching Ideas Based on Whole & Part Practice
- Reduce the difficulty of the task
- Reduce attention demand. Slow down the rate! Have new paddlers try stroking at a slow rate without focusing on staying in time with other paddlers
- Reduce involved fatigue. Have paddlers focus on easy paddling in good form before adding power emphasis
- Reduce difficulty of equipment. New paddlers may start with a shorter paddle for their height than one an advanced paddler of similar height may use
- Provide auditory accompaniment to aid timing/rhythm of movement. You can use a metronome, count out loud, or utilize your team drummer to help time the stroking
- Utilize an Attention Approach
- Emphasize parts of the stroke to focus upon while a person performs the entire stroke movement. For example, you may instruct a new paddler to focus only upon getting clean blade entry for the entire duration of the practice. At another practice, the quality of pull can be the main focus. This can be repeated until the nuances of the stroke technique are familiar and well-practiced to the new paddler.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
You’re Hot Then You’re Cold
Most athletes have heard that you should “warm up” and “cool down” before exercise, but what does that mean and why is it important? When taken literally, the act of warming up and cooling down is really straightforward, yet many athletes are confused about the rationale, process, benefits, and methods for their own warm up/cool down. In this post, my goal is to help you understand more about warming up and cooling down.
Rationale for the Warm Up:
Many athletes equivocate the warm up to basically “getting ready” for competition, which could mean anything related to competing in a sport! With competition being about performance, you should understand what physical aspects of their performance affect being competitive. Some important physical aspects of dragon boat performance involve flexibility/range of motion and power output. Warming up can help prepare the body to be flexible and powerful in a safe and efficient manner that reduces the risk of injury and improves overall performance.
How Does Warming Up Work:
As living animals, we have multiple metabolic processes working in the background to keep us alive and moving. Many of these metabolic systems produce heat as a “waste” product because we are not 100% efficient (not all energy put into a reaction results in work done). The more we are active and moving, the more heat is produced. Generally, muscles warm up to a steady temperature under steady work load after 10 minutes of activity and are slower to cool off than they are to warm up.
What Are the Effects and Benefits of a Warm Up:
Our bodies use the fact that we are warm-blooded to its advantage. Many of our systems have an optimal operating temperature where they perform faster and more efficiently. Increased temperature helps improve tissue elasticity, rate of metabolic reaction, and circulation to the extremities. These effects help reduce the risk of injury (sprain/strain) and flexibility, improve energy production, and provide more fuel to hard-working muscles respectively. Warming up through active movements also circulates joint fluid which lubricates surfaces and prepares them to handle load.
What is an Ideal Warm Up:
Since it is assumed the warm up is preceding some vigorous activity where feeling “fresh” is important, the warm up should be performed actively with sub-maximal intensity with a gradual (if any) progression of intensity throughout. Again, the rate of heat production slowly increases with activity and being active takes up energy/resources. Too brief a warm up and tissues haven’t changed much in temperature. Too strenuous a warm up and you risk injury from still being cold or cause early fatigue (not the way you want to start a race). The warm up should be performed early enough before the event to allow temperature to increase gradually but not so far ahead that environmental factors cool you off to less-than-efficient operating temperatures right before the event.
An optimal warmup theoretically involves:
- Using active movements of muscles and joints in a way that is similar to the movements about to be performed in sport
- Submaximal effort levels
- Performing for at least 10 minutes to increase temperature of tissues to stable levels
- Performing within 30 minutes (if well-clothed/insulated) or 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the event
To Stretch or Not to Stretch:
I get this question a lot and it deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned!
About the Cool Down:
Confusingly, the cool down is not just the complete opposite as the warm up. First and foremost, the reason for performing a cool down is NOT to decrease your temperature. Heat is transferred from warmer to colder bodies by the laws of physics. Our bodies do many things to slow or speed up this process, but we can do nothing to change it. Whether you pass out on the deck between races, dunk yourself in ice water, or climb into a snuggie, your body temperature will generally decrease unless the environment is very hot.
The cool down helps set up you for future performances. By gradually decreasing your amount of activity after competition, you reduce the workload on your fast-pumping heart, use muscles to pump away metabolic by-products (which may reduce delayed onset muscle soreness/DOMS), and stretch muscles back to flexible length.
Light paddling back to dock after crossing the finish line for several minutes may do the trick. In other situations, more cool down activities (similar to warm up movements) may be beneficial upon returning to land.
Summary:
Warming up and cooling down are good for your performance and health. Using them smartly can help you paddle with greater efficiency, safety, and longevity.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
Equipment Review – Fox Digit Glove
As a physical therapist, I have to have some manual contact w/ people on a daily basis. Having calloused, rough, blistered hands is a bad thing for me (plus I have sensitive, wimpy hands ha). I decided that wearing gloves would help me keep my hands in good shape between practices so as not to bother my clients. The trick has been to find a set of gloves that really work for me.
I started off w/ Warmers fingerless gloves (can be seen here) and found that the middle parts of my fingers would get pretty shredded up w/ paddling (as this is where I keep most pressure on the paddle). I also found that my thumb webspace got quite chaffed possibly from the stitching inside the glove. Out those went…
Next were some Novarra Tenacity gloves (here) which worked a lot better at keeping my fingers from chaffing, but the terry cloth portion on the back part held a lot of Lake Merced water (which gave a good home for critters/germs and stunk something awful despite washing). The stretch panel portions on the fingers also became ripped up and hole-y in a short period of time. My final complaint was the plastic knuckle guards slowly peeling off from washing/being in water.
Finally, I’ve settled on what is a good (but not perfect) paddling glove in the form of the Fox Digit. You can see mine here (palm, back, side). Apologies for the blurry images, I aim to take better ones soon. The entire palm is made of synthetic leather which, after 2 seasons, has not showed signs of wearing through. The rubberized fingers and palm give awesome grip on the paddle. The fabric backing is very lightweight and the glove as a whole does not hold much water, keeping it lightweight and fast-drying. The single velcro wrist enclosure makes for a good, secure fit. My only qualm about these is over the shrinkage potential of the faux leather palm and synthetic backing. It seems that, unlike cotton which tends to shrink once if exposed to warm temps (such as a drier), all the synthetic materials shrink w/ each exposure. I bought some size large gloves and they shrunk to size small over a period of months. I have since purchased XL’s and these are working out better…but I’m trying to air dry when I can, quick dry on heat if I don’t have enough time between practices. For $10-25, these things are a real steal too.
So except for the Warmers, these are all mountain bike gloves. Why not get paddling gloves specifically? Well, I’ve always found paddling gloves to be aimed for cold water/weather and thus are constructed of neoprene which gets smelly and heavy. It’s also not very durable. Generally the cut of kayaking gloves are also not comfortable (at least to me) for paddling a dragon boat. Ultimately, mountain bike gloves fit the bill as lightweight, quick dry, tough, comfortable, and cheap. I also get way better grip on the paddle (especially w/ my grip tape) without overgripping, meaning I have more energy for longer races and practices.
Equipment Review – Apex Accelerator Paddle
I started off using a wooden Grey Owl High Performance (HP) paddle for several seasons before deciding to invest in a carbon paddle. I churned through every manufacturer website and paddle review page I could find at the time and compiled a handy table summarizing my findings. After all the searching, I decided on purchasing an Apex Accelerator paddle. I was attracted by the ellipsoid shaft, peaked blade face, tapered blade edge, weight, and price. At the time (9/2009), Apex was the only manufacturer to feature all these design concepts while adhering to IDBF Spec 202a rules.
The paddle felt very light, very well balanced (as an uncut 51″), entered the water cleanly, and pulled w/ good feedback. The only thing I missed was that neat “Wok” sound that ZRE paddles make when flaring a bit on the exit (if you know someone w/ a ZRE, you know what I mean). I’ve borrowed other people’s Merlin CDs, Grey Owl Jets, ZREs, Burnwaters, Raabs, Triviums and the Apex just felt better to me. I think one thing about the Apex brand is that they don’t have any local sales rep here in the Bay Area (or West Coast in general) that distributes them unlike Burnwater, ZRE, and Merlin so there’s less competition and chances for comparison for the average dragon boater looking to switch paddles.
Back to the paddle itself, I noticed today that when changing my grip tape (highly recommended stuff btw, you can read about it here) I noticed something rather alarming. (Image 1) On the front aspect of the paddle shaft, there were some fracture lines almost like chips in the resin coat just below where my 5th finger rests when I paddle. (Image 2) On the back side of the shaft at the same level, there’s a bulge forming. I’d imagine that over the thousands of fairly hard, forceful strokes w/ my hand generally always 1-2 cm from that line, the forces exerted onto the paddle cause that point to be a fulcrum. My biggest concern is that the paddle is headed to failure due to occasional exceeding the yield point (nerds read here). I fear for the worse (especially as racing season is upon us) as it does apparently happen.
I’ve contacted Apex and am waiting for a reply. Will keep you all updated on how their warranty and customer service are so stay tuned!
To Power or Not To Power
If you read through the Oxford University Physics of Rowing, you know that it’s more energy efficient to minimize variations in speed over a course and also that you can’t double your speed if you double your power output.
For these reasons, it makes sense that adding Power 10′s into your race piece are risky to your performance.
1. It takes much more power than you think to speed by another moving boat. If you double your power output (an incredible effort when racing) the real change in your overall velocity is minimal due to the need to overcome increased resistance at-speed and change the velocity of the boat (and the mass of 22 people).
2. Fluctuations in velocity are more influential in terms of energy consumption than average velocity. Say you run Power 10′s during a race to spike the boat speed temporarily. Between the Powers, let say your boat speed slows a bit because of fatigue/timing etc. You would have spent more energy and gotten the same finish time as if you just held a steady pace between the velocity of your Powers and your non-Powers.
Just imagine if you had the same car as a buddy of yours and the both you were driving on a very long, straight road. Your friend puts the car on cruise control and holds a steady speed. You, like a spaz, drive alongside by stepping on the gas to get ahead and then letting off the gas to slow down. By the end of the trip, you can bet that by the same physics as rowing, you would have spent more gas on the trip than your friend did.
To bring that example back to dragon boat, you can see our GPS tests here:
Example 1 – paddling 300m with a full race start, no Power 10′s
Example 2 – paddling 300m with a full race start, with Power 10′s
The metrics show that for the run without powers, we moved 0.1 km/hr faster on average than with the powers. Of course, it’s far from proving anything, but for our crew on that day, it showed we had a drop in performance when we added Power 10′s. I can tell you that from being on board that day, people were much more tired when adding the Power 10′s. To spend more energy and go slower makes absolutely no sense especially when running multiple heats at 100% effort through the day. So, we as a team are toying with stopping the Powers.
As a coach, don’t let this article dissuade you from running Power 10′s. Just understand what makes Power 10′s actually beneficial. Your team should be very well-conditioned to handle the physical toll of adding Powers and disciplined enough to maintain technique leading up to and after the Powers.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
Read, Learn, Apply, Rethink, Revamp
I found this a while ago, but thought it was a very good article on The Physics of Rowing. I plan on writing up some dragon boat corollaries in the Coaching Corner. Stay tuned.
Race Piece Design
Most dragon boat races in the Bay Area are either 500 meters or 250 meters, you have 20 paddlers, a steers and drummer. Every team at the starting line is presented with the same basic setup and distance to race. Ultimately, the coach must decide what race “piece” to run. The possibilities are many, but as a coach, it helps to know the strengths and weaknesses of the team and the race competition.
Race pieces generally include a start, middle, and end. If you took a look at a speed/distance plot of the race piece, you’d see peaks and valleys along the way. Fluctuations in certain areas of the race piece favor different distances of races. Think of the 250 meter race as like a 1/4 mile drag race. While the ultimate goal of a drag race is to cross 1/4 mile in the shortest amount of time, nuances such as when to shift gears play a huge role in winning. Quite differently, a 2000 meter race is a lot like a marathon. Consistency and averages are key to longer distance racing.
The Start
The start of the race should accelerate the boat from zero to race pace in an efficient manner. Back to the drag race model, it wastes time and hinders acceleration to spin the tires on the ground without good traction. The trick is to accelerate to the max amount of traction you available. This way, you get the most efficient transfer of energy to accelerate the vehicle. All paddlers should seek to avoid “ripping” their paddles through the water. Pulling should feel as though the paddle is stuck in solid concrete. Bubbles and vortexes in the water should be kept to a minimum as these are indicators that paddles are slipping. Paddling finesse is key to nailing the first few strokes until the boat starts to move.
As for when to “shift gears” during a shorter race, most teams run a set ratio of rate changes that coordinate the acceleration of the boat. A common ratio in the Bay Area is known as the 5-10-10: 5 slower strokes followed by a rate jump into the next 10 strokes and again into the next 10 strokes completed by a transition down in rate to a steady race pace. When deciding what ratio to run during your race, it largely depends on the experience and strength of your paddlers, the properties of water around you (salt/fresh), the speed you aim to hit, and how long you plan to take to reach that speed.
The start is an essential part of shorter races. Although the start represents the shortest portion of a sprint race in terms of time and distance, nailing a solid/fast start can mean early separation from the competition by multiple seat lengths. Often times dragon boat teams (if close in ability) do not have much difference in race pace speed. Having a fast start can mean holding onto a lead long into the race for shorter distances. In a longer race, however, several seat-lengths lead may be less advantageous for reasons below.
Mid-Race:
The middle of the race represents the main bulk of the race distance between the start and the finish. This portion of the race favors teams with consistency. It is generally very difficult for a team to accelerate the boat during this phase of the race without burning out and subsequently dropping off in speed. Also, it is very easy for paddlers (even experienced ones) to lose focus and lose synchronization.
Many teams will run “Power Tens,” a concept borrowed from the realm of rowing, to help surge the boat ahead of close competition. A team with good consistency may have a higher average velocity than another team that is stronger but less consistent, allowing the more consistent team to traverse the race course in better time. While the Power Ten can be a useful tool, less experienced crews may actually find these more disruptive to good pacing. For example, in running a foot race, would it make sense to you to alternate taking 10 fast/hard steps and 40 slower steps during a mile run? Would it make sense if you were trying to pass somebody who was very close?
The Finish:
If there is still close competition towards the end of a race, teams may choose to perform a specific finish call. This is an attempt to do the very difficult, which is to coax 20 exhausted paddlers into accelerating a moving boat. To perform a finish effectively, the team must work together to build the speed of the boat by the same principle of the start. This requires good synchronization, focus of the paddlers, and endurance to pour in enough energy to speed up.
Again, if a team has superior consistency mid-race and has a solid lead, the finish is unneccesary and will likely serve to disrupt that consistency/pacing. GPS measurements have shown on our boats that when a finish is performed sloppily, speed may actually drop despite increased rate/intensity of paddling. This is likely due to a loss in quality of strokes taken. Don’t let this happen to your team. The finish is a tool to hopefully edge out close competition, but should not be considered a key component of every race piece. Overzealous teams may actually lose a lead if their finish is not well-developed.
Final Thoughts:
Designing a race piece should be like designing a battle plan. You want to create a race piece that takes full advantage of your teams strengths and minimizes its weaknesses. It doesn’t matter how good your team is (there are always weak points). Knowing where your competition is strong and weak also helps to design your race piece to exploit key areas to your advantage. Just remember, practice is for figuring out what race piece works best for your paddlers. Don’t be afraid to change things on a regular basis on your way to refining a great race piece.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
Goal Setting
So you’re a coach. You have a lot of ideas to share with your athletes. You see things you want to change. You want results.
Have you ever thought of your team issues as like Wack a Mole? You address one problem and before you know it, another pops up. Just when you think you have things under control, the same old issue rears its ugly, rodent-face.
What’s the solution? Set goals (and always have your hammer ready)
Goals are the target you aim to hit. Each should be practical, realistic, and time-based. Never mind how you’re going to accomplish your goals (yet) but just by establishing goals under these 3 qualities, you’re on the way to better outcomes.
1. Practicality:
It basically means “is your goal going to apply to useful, real-world situations?” Say for instance you want all of your paddlers to be able to run under a 10 minute mile or bench press over 50% of their body weight in the gym because lifting weight and running require fitness. They sound like fair goals, but you should think about how this will translate into a benefit to dragon boating directly. Will fast legs or pushing weights in front your body help paddlers move the boat faster? What exactly will succeeding in your goal help with dragon boat racing? If you, the coach, don’t know the answer to that question, your athletes certainly won’t.
Create your goal to be as directly applicable to the task at hand as possible. You’ll see results faster and inspire more confidence in your athletes that what you’re telling them is going to help in a big way.
2. Realism:
Can your goal even be accomplished? Sounds stupid but it happens. Maybe you want to win 1st place in the A division, be the best of the best, kings/queens of the watery hill. You train your team hard, put in many hours, see them improve every time, and you finish in 3rd place….of the B division. What happened? Maybe you only had 1/2 – 3/4 crew for a majority of your practices. Maybe the majority of your paddlers haven’t even raced before. Whatever the reason, your goal wasn’t realistic given your circumstances.
Know your team dynamics, know your paddlers’ strengths/weakness individually, and know your limits as a coach. Your goal should be tailored to fit your team so that you have the best chance of success. This is different than being a half cup full/empty kinda person. Given your extensive knowledge of the team, what can they accomplish? What goals are too easy, reasonable, and out of reach (currently)? You can set goals that are satisfying to meet and progressive without being unrealistic.
3. Timely
How long do you have to accomplish your goal? What will you do during that time to foster success? This provides your framework for action. Is a local race happening in 2 months? Do you plan to compete at the international level next year? You can’t expect to win races with just 2 wks practice. Likewise, you may be hard pressed to keep people motivated 1 year in advance of an event? Will you burn people out or injure them if you push tasks too fast? Will you bore them out of their minds if you don’t have a definite timeline for anything?
Set yourself a timeline for your goals and write out steps you plan to take to see everything in place. You and your paddlers will be more motivated and meeting goals will become a regular occurrence.
All in all, setting goals can help you set up your season decisively in small chunks. All my examples were in relation to coaching the team, but you too can make personal goals as a coach! Think of it as like New Year Resolutions. Set your goals and by the end of the season, you can look back and feel good about what you accomplished as well as think critically about what you didn’t meet and why.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
Coach!
Introducing the “Coaching Corner.” It’ll be a place to dissect the common challenges and tricks to getting what you want out of coaching! Keep checking back for updates.
Paddle Comparisons
For those of you who are considering buying a new paddle, here’s a list of makes/models (albeit from a few yrs ago). It gives a good rundown of what’s out there even today.
(some notable brands that I know have new paddles not included here are Merlin, Burnwater, ZRE, and Kialoa)
More Technique
Most of us have heard this before…and it’s another thing altogether to make it happen, but coming from one of the top teams on this continent, it’s gotta mean something!
The Secret of Speed
The following is an excerpt from training documents issued to competitive collegiate swimmers. The documents provide no author but these were issued to a swim team under the skilled direction of Mr. Kim Musch. If this excerpt is your verifiable intellectual property and you would like the post removed, please let us know.
The Secret of Speed
Speed results not so much from the swiftness with which you can contract your muscles, but the swiftness with which you can relax them so that they don’t act as brakes on your acceleration.
The concept of relaxation applies to any motion. The more relaxed your antagonistic muscles, the faster – and paradoxically more powerful – that motion.
The source of strength is simply explained. A realxed muscle can be stretched to greater length than a tense muscle. Up to a point, the more stretched it is, the more forceful it’s contraction.
You don’t have to kill yourself to be a winner -
Despite evidence indicating it’s inefficiency, all-out struggle remains a national fixation. Our tradition holds that the battle is won by the man who gives the limit. We treat with supreme regard sacrifice. Death is the ultimate performance. ”He killed himself” is a colloquial form of flattery with antecedents in the legend of the warrior Pheidippides, who ran from the plains of Marathon of Athens to announce, “Rejoice we conquer!” and fell dead. There was a sacrifice consistent with our own concept of achievement - which is that if you have anything left in you at the end of a contest, you haven’t given your all.
“That extra effort can hold you back” – Whether you want to swim fast or think fast, overeffort diminishes your prospects. The way to perform at your best is to learn to ease off all extra tensions by switching off all untimely reactions. Take, for example, thinking and doing. We try to think while we’re doing, which impairs the doing, and we try to do while we’re thinking, which prevents us from thinking clearly.
In our ambition to succeed, we’re driven to do anything and everything at once. This isn’t the way the body/mind functions. You can’t abruptly “stop and think”, as is so often counseled. Stopping is an active process. What you can do is stop, pause and then think. There needs to be n interval between doing and thinking and thinking and doing. While you perform, you mustn’t think about the technique of your performance. While you think through the details involved in performing you mustn’t perform. You can do both at the same time, of course, but you won’t do either well. To think or perform at your best, you keep the functions separate. When you try too hard at anything, you produce extraneous effort: You quiver all over and then become tense; Your motions are inefficient. When you play too hard, you make a business of recreation, which deprives you of its expressive, restorative benefits. Working too hard and playing too hard are roads to self-destruction. Consider the word: recreation (re-creation) that’s its function.
To work hard and play hard should mean working productively and playing ecstatically. Peak experiences result when all elements fit harmoniously together and you become as one with your task. The state arrives spontaneously. It’s almost never achieved through extreme effort – because such striving sets up bodily forces that disorganize and burden the essentials needed for the event.
In neuromuscular terms, a gentle forcefulness is produced by just the right number of muscle fibers coming into play at just the right time in just the right organization to move the levers and joints of the body through the precise motion needed to accomplish the objective. Extra effort upsets this balance. Result: a poor performance.
When you ask athletes who have just performed a record performance, to tell you what happened – they always say something like this. ”I didn’t even really remember starting the race. All of a sudden I was swimming. I don’t remember any particular moment during the event. It all seemed so easy. At the finish, the way the crowd was cheering told me I’d done well, but I had the feeling that if I’d only tried a little harder I could have done much better.” But would he have had the same success if he had tried harder? Probably not!
Exhaustion is no longer the mark of top class performance. It shouldn’t be the mark of yours. So TRAIN for your event – don’t STRAIN yourself.
If you enjoyed reading, please consider making a donation. We SFL bloggers write and paddle for the love of the sport but, like many other things, blogging takes time away from work, family, and paddling (in increasing order of importance, j/k). Every contribution (no matter how small) helps raise money for the team to race and use better equipment. As a team, you have our thanks for anything you can spare in helping us out. You may use this link:
Get a grip!
Some people use electrical tape…slippery stuff, but tough. Other people use athletic tape (gummy/messy/short-lived), surf wax (messy/gross-looking/collects dirt), gorilla grip (made from real gorillas), but what offers a tacky surface w/o the mess while lasting a long time (for as little $$$ as possible)?
I was perusing the vendor tents at Long Beach and saw Burnwater selling what they call “Fusion Grip.” It’s described as “advanced grip technology that utilizes a specially formulated silicon material that offers superior grip performance over wax or adhesive tapes.” You can read about it here. They sell it for $12 and you get 3 feet of it. That’s only $4 per foot! Awesome!!!
But waitaminute….I just happen to know about something called Cold Shrink Tape. Originally designed for sealing wires or other sensitive components that could not be exposed to heat-shrinking methods of taping. It also magically sticks to itself without secondary adhesives, is waterproof, and remains tacky for months (I’ve got it on my paddle and it’s lasted for 1.5 seasons so far). Based on Burnwater’s description, cold shrink tape works exactly the same way as their stuff. Of note, cold shrink tape does roll back slightly in certain areas of high, repetitive friction, but just peel it off and re-tape! No residue!
Best part is….I just bought 2 x 30 ft rolls of cold shrink tape for….drum rolllllllllllll……$20! Turns out to be only 33 cents per foot!
Now, does the Burnwater stuff last 12x longer than my stuff? Does it make your paddle 12x more grippy? Maybe so….but something tells me the Burnwater brand thinks the name “Fusion Grip” is 12x more sexy than “Cold Shrink Tape.” Maybe somebody who has the Burnwater tape can do a comparison? I’d be interested to hear about it.
GPS speed profiles!
UPDATE: I’m going deposit most of our practice GPS profiles here unless they deserve their own post for some reason.
Goals and Planning
I wrote about New Year’s Resolutions on my last post.
First off, goals should be more than wishful thinking and plans less-than-insane. I can wish to be 220 lbs of bulging biceps and dancing pecs, but come on, it’s weird. Also, I’m not about to work out 6x/wk or anything.
My plan is to get to the gym 3x/wk for <1 hour each time and eat well enough to make the most of it. Even that sounds pretty scary to me because I know how easy it is to slack off and fall short of goals. I’ve probably used all the mental tricks to succeed in some crazy plan (following anything from a former Navy SEAL, TV commercial, best-selling author, or with “trademark” after it) and it rarely works. Why? It always sounds great until you start and then you either burn out or plateau. In either case, it’s because the plan wasn’t made by you, for you.
So, the tough part is making something up that is both realistic and motivating for you to follow. For me, it’s packing my gym clothes in my car so I can go to the gym right after work 3x/wk. I’ll also be changing my gym sessions as I get closer to races, so my plan doesn’t just go on forever without change.
Bottomline, make your own plan, set some markers by which to succeed in something, and keep it interesting!
New Year’s Resolutions
If your Resolution has anything to do with dragon boat, it may seem a little late to buckle down and get started on anything considering the start of our season is coming up in February!!!
Fear not, because you CAN still make a change for the better. Already been training off-season? Great. Haven’t done any working out since TI? It’s not too late. Everyone can benefit from smart training. If it’s turning the page on the calendar or writing “1/x/10″ that motivates you to get off your butt, so be it. Get a good start w/ some goal-setting and planning.
