United We Stand
Congratulations to all paddlers for a fantastic race at Treasure Island this past weekend. Huge thanks goes to those who helped us steer our heats so smoothly and precisely.
With this race concluding the season for our mixed crew, several things come to my mind. First, we just completed what I believe to be our most challenging season ever. From the strength and commitment of just a few paddlers at every practice, we’ve managed to pull together a solid crew for every race this season. Though every team at some point faces the same challenges in keeping practices productive and seats filled, SFL has always seemingly managed to do more with less. It’s a team trait that has made us great when rosters were full and kept us in competitive lanes this season.
Second, 2013 will mark SFL’s 10th anniversary. With 2 paddlers remaining from this crew, SFL has clearly been through its fair share of member turnover through the years. Be it for 1 race or 1 year on the team, every former member of SFL who has graced our boat is sorely missed. I do find it satisfying to see that many former SFL paddlers become coaches and leaders on other Bay Area teams and valued members wherever they choose to find themselves in dragon boat. As familiar faces leave the team, new faces present themselves every year; adding to the rich tapestry that is SFL.
As volatile as the roster has been over the years, the strength of the team comes from its strong bonds among teammates. Our members don’t paddle for the flag we wave, the jersey colors we wear, or the medals to be won. I would paddle my hands raw to get the team over the finish line because I know everybody on this team works just as hard alongside me. We are eclectic in our backgrounds but united in our fighting spirit towards a common goal — doing our absolute best as SFL paddlers regardless of finishing place.
The end of this 2012 season will, undoubtedly, see some of our members to other teams or to time away from the sport in general. As 2013 draws near, I am eager to greet new faces and meet new challenges as one team: united.
Until then, team. 10 years strong. You make it happen. We make it happen together.
There’s No “I” in Leadersheep
‘ole George didn’t cross the Delaware on his own
One of the greatest challenges as a coach is to lead the team. When I think of leadership, many things come to my mind. A leader is somebody who inspires their followers. A leader should lead by example. A leader sets up realistic goals for their followers to meet. A leader has a powerful, often singular/unique role, in a team setting.
Think about that last point. Your coach tells the team to reach 2 inches more per stroke. 20 paddlers reach that much more and there is a 4 second overall drop in 500m race time. Many analysts of other sports often credit the coach for team accomplishments like these.
One trap that many athletes fall into, especially in a team sport, is the feeling of safety in numbers. It’s very easy in a dragon boat to look like you’re trying hard but half-ass it. Maybe you are thinking about what to make for dinner later that day. Maybe you have a big upcoming test. Maybe your trying to remember if you locked your car before getting on the boat. Team sports are incredibly powerful because such great things can be accomplished under the group effort but only if the entire group is 100% dedicated towards a common goal.
I fell into a trap as a coach in thinking to myself, “All I need to do is: get the team to practice 3-4x/wk, cross train on days off the water, tell people how fun dragon boat is and they’ll join up, look for exciting new places I’d like to race and folks will join me in paying fees to go, etc etc” but I was/am crazy for thinking this.
As much power as the coach wields, this power only goes so far. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” pretty much sums it up. The horse and the rider are two separate beings. Effective coaching is a delicate mix of inspiring athletes to accomplish more than they once believed possible, but also working within the “lines” of what is realistic. Some athletes are driven up to and beyond the aspirations of the coach, others need more encouragement but are willing followers, others take a very passive role and prefer to be spoon-fed victory with minimal effort on their behalf. It makes a good coach a great coach to realize how to work with each of these athletes to bring out the best in the team overall.
In the end, coaches should realize that their power to lead the team towards victory is just that. The coach must draw out a realistic road to success and it comes to the followers to take that road in stride to see it through. The coach, suddenly, becomes an integral part of the team instead of a free radical. If team success hinges on 100% dedication towards a common goal, perhaps as a coach you might look carefully at yourself to find that last 5% of team unity needed to succeed.
Girl Power
Women and men comprise very close to a 50/50 split in our global population. Beyond sex ratios, women and men are subject to engendering influences throughout life. Gender brings a variety of factors into a person’s development and behaviors, many of which are still being studied and understood.
In the local Bay Area dragon boat community, there exists a difference in how women and men are emphasized in the sport. I’m going to go out on a limb to say that although dragon boat makes itself to be a very accessible co-ed sport, it falls way short of being gender neutral.
The 12/8 Rule
Here in SF, mixed co-ed teams must adhere to the “12/8 Rule” requiring that at least 8 of the 20 paddlers on board must be female to compete. Sure enough, most coaches will keep to this ratio in hopes for better performance the thought being, “men are stronger than women and having more men in the boat vs women maximizes performance.” Of course, we don’t live in such a black and white world of sporting performance, but there is a clear mismatch between how men and women are accounted for in a mixed-gender crew.
I’ll go out on another limb to say that with regs such as the 12/8 Rule, men are put in a position to dominate the sport, which changes the dynamics of dragon boat and, unfortunately, reflects the notion that “it’s a man’s man’s world.” In my short time paddling, I’ve seen the “Men’s Division” turn into the “Open Division,” the title suggesting that it is acceptable for a woman to be aboard but not necessarily required. Beyond the new name, not much has changed in the Open race itself…most crews are stacked with 100% male paddlers. Make no mistake, I’m not writing this article to suggest gender races be done away with, just pointing out some key differences in gender emphasis. It’s a topic rich with debate.
What You May Not Have Realized
Dragon boat is providing hundreds of young paddlers in the Bay Area with an athletic opportunity that also helps build leadership, responsibility, and teamwork skills. While these are great skills to foster, the masculine nature of dragon boat can present a barrier to young women being able to develop these skills with equal opportunity as their male teammates. These differences may present a significant disadvantage to young female paddlers as they mature. Studies have found that if a female has not participated in a sport by age of 10, there is a 10% chance she will participate by age 25. Additionally, 80% of women identified as key leaders in Fortune 500 companies participated in sports when younger and self-identified as “tomboys” growing up for having played sports. The importance of participation and building a long-lasting athletic lifestyle plays many key roles in a woman’s development, future health, and success.
Studies have shown females to value sports for their social and team aspects with athletic/skill development holding lesser value. 76.3% of girls have been cited to put “fun” as their primary reason to be active while males tend to take the opposite viewpoint, putting skill acquisition first and “having fun” second.
The Goal
Obviously, the difference in how gender plays a role in sports suggests that a difference should also be observed in effective coaching strategies for female vs male athletes. Some key strategies are based on these studies of gender in sport:
- Avoid the “star” label for individuals, praise the group effort
- Challenge each team member to assist other teammates in improving, don’t pit paddlers against each other
- Don’t shame, chastise, or otherwise “chew out” paddlers in front of the group
- Forget about challenging paddler “manly-hood” with taunts etc, keep feedback gender-neutral, motivational, positive and constructive
- Validate and acknowledge feelings, concerns, and feedback from paddlers so everybody feels heard and respected
In Closing
Dragon boat rules and regulations are not evenly matched to genders involved, yet the sport continues to thrive for good reason. Dragon boat is a wonderful opportunity for everybody involved to feel stronger both in terms of their athletic ability and passion for fitness. While not every division is written fairly, there are avenues for every type of paddler to participate fully. At the individual team level, the methods employed by the team coach should always help foster equal paddler opportunities for the betterment of the sport. This all starts with knowing your paddlers and their different needs.
Information about psychological differences between female and male athletes from presentation by Jen Kautz, MSPT.
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.
sfldbt.wordpress.com 