Teamwork and Boat Control
These Chinese teams show some kick ass control over their boat and crew. I’m sure they’d have no problem lining up at the start line on a windy day at TI.
OPEN HOUSE 2012
The Suen Feng Loong (SFL) Dragon Boat Team has returned and it’s time to hit the water for an exciting 2012 paddling season. Start shedding those holiday pounds, get a good workout, and meet some crazy people.
New to the sport? Experience the fun and excitement of the sport first hand as our experienced paddlers and coaches show you how to paddle safely and efficiently.
Already a paddling god? Come realize your paddling potential and value as a team member on a individual-oriented team that emphasizes both performance and fun. Learn what makes our team different than all the rest.
FREE to try. Paddle and PFD (life jacket) provided.
See you on the water!
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:
Such a dashing team…
Congrats everybody for a fun day of sprinting out at Quarry Lakes! It was a hard day of racing and is personally one of my favorite events of the season.
To the pandas of the world, this video is for you.
Stereo-GoPro’s
Trying out a new idea to mount GoPro’s on opposite ends of a pole and holding them up front for views of both sides of the boat…hard to keep steady being handheld and the pole vibes can be heard through the mics, but is a neat concept IMO.
Great recruit story!
Just sharing an entertaining and positive dragon boat recruitment story found on the Oakland Renegades website. Kudos to anybody with this level of adventure in them.
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!
Words of Wisdom
Alas, not from myself, but from paddlers and coaches that have my top respect.
LARD’s perspective on the team concept.
Clip from In The Same Boat (also found from LARD’s blog)
Technique of Hcc
Don’t really know if Hcc has anything to do w/ the team, but it’s got probably the best slow-motion capture of dragon boating I’ve seen. It’s a great opportunity to pick apart their technique! I’ll only touch on a couple of their paddlers that really stand out.
0:00 – 0:55 = everyone has a good setup on the start. The black-shirted guy breaks his bottom arm which keeps him from digging fully (this seems to be how he paddles throughout the vid). He also doesn’t reach that far compared to others around him (based on his trunk lean). This means he’s pulling less water both in depth and in length of stroke. The guy in back pulls out early which makes him rush a bit.
1:13 – 1:35 = The guy in the blue t-shirt w/ rolled sleeves has probably the most different stroke technique amongst the whole right side. His top elbow bends so much on the reach that it causes his paddle to twist to face out. It seems to me like he paddles to maximize paddle reach. Not only does his technique make him late on both the exit AND entry, but his paddle fully buries at 90 degrees! Compare that to the guy in red who enters w/ positive angle.
1:44 – 1:53 = rows 1 and 2 match up well except for the exit, where row 2 exits early. They have a nice pause up front, but I prefer a faster dig after the bottom arm reaches full extension. Row 3 bends his bottom elbow in the pull which makes him start to rush.
2:47 – 3:15 = the back 2 guys are interesting to compare. Guy in last row has crazy reach and rotation but his pull depends mostly on his low back (he does the “roll-up”). He also doesn’t drive that much w/ his top arm since his paddle drops at the same speed as his head. He’s using his body to drive the paddle, not his top arm. The problem w/ this technique is that as his paddle pulls back, he loses power because he can only sit up so far. The guy in the bucket hat, meanwhile, has nearly equal reach and rotation but uses more top-arm drive and counter-rotation to pull the paddle vs his back extensors via the “roll-up.” He probably pulls before he’s fully buried to cause the kerplunking backsplash you see trailing his paddle. This is undesirable because the air pocket from a “kerplunk” usually pops up into the paddler 1 row back. This makes it harder to see which can throw off timing.
Strength train w/ your partner!
If your boy/girlfriend is jealous about the time you spend lifting weights when you should be spending time together, just make your boy/girlfriend into a weight! Duh, problem solved.
Video: I Promise
every day, in every way, i promise, to do my best,
its all for one and one for all,
we are a team, we can’t be beat, we are the team, we won’t be beat
Video: Snake Boat
You might want to turn your volume down (or, if you were me, you’d max it out!) for this one.
Video: No Excuses
its too cold … its too early … its too late … i hate mosquitoes … the water’s too gross … its so far … i don’t have upper body strength … its too hard … i’m too small … i hate getting wet …
