Ron Lugbill Whitewater Slalom Racing Blog

Ron Lugbill Whitewater Slalom Racing Blog

Welcome!  This blog is not just for my ideas- it's for yours.  That's why I started this blog- so we can all share ideas.  Please comment on articles if you want to.  I hope to generate some discussion on these issues.  Tell me what works for you, how you train, what you have learned, etc.  Your input is encouraged!

People from all over the world visit this blog.  If English isn't your native language, comment in your own language and we can translate it.  We want you to feel free to comment, even if your English isn't perfect.

I've been involved in this sport for over 40 years.  I've coached World Champions and Olympic Champions.  I've even been World Champion in the team event.  I've raced c-1, k-1 and c-2.  I know the sport has changed over the past 40 years- I've seen it evolve.  Whitewater slalom is a fantastic sport and we all love it.  That's why we are here- because we love this sport.

Please be respectful in your comments, even if you disagree with someone, keep it civil.  I want to encourage disagreements.  People inevitably have different ideas.  We all want to hear yours. 

And have fun paddling!  Greetings to all! 

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Dive Gates (Downstreams in Eddies)

One tricky kind of gate is a downstream gate in an eddy, also known as a dive gate.  When your boat is traveling downstream, headed towards the gate, there is a crucial moment when the boat enters the eddy.  The bow of the boat is in the eddy and the stern is still in the current.  If the boat is very broadside at this point, it will be extremely difficult to keep the boat from turning because of the different forces on the boat.  The bow is being turned upstream by the eddy water and the stern is being pushed downstream by the current.

So, it is better if you enter the eddy without too much angle.  And you need to anticipate the fact that the boat is about to get spun out by the eddy.  I suggest having your paddle out away from the boat, ready to do a stroke far away from the boat just as your boat is about to enter the eddy.  If you wait until you feel the boat starting to turn and then reach out to counter-act the turning force, the boat will have already started turning and it will be difficult to get it back.  Better to anticipate that moment.

I suggest the stroke away from the boat when entering the eddy.  Some people prefer to do a stern rudder, however this may slow down the boat, rather than keeping the speed of the boat going.  Other paddlers prefer the full sweep stroke at this point, but when you start the sweep at the bow, you are putting weight on the bow of the boat, so the eddy grabs the boat more.  Instead, the stroke away from the boat keeps the bow up and it has maximum leverage to keep the boat from spinning out.

Normally, with offset gates, you want to be pointed toward the next gate as you go through a gate.  However, with dive gates, this is often not the case.  Often it is better to go straight through the gate and then turn with a pivot and head upstream when you go into the currrent and then go towards the next gate.  If you go through the dive gate angled towards the next gate, you are likely to hit the current with your boat headed downstream and get immediately peeled out by the fast current.  If you turn with your boat completely in the eddy, you can get your bow headed back upstream before entering the current so you won't get turned downstream by the current.

So, in general, go straight down through the dive gate, then pivot the boat so that the boat is heading upstream before entering the current.

Another option with a dive gate is to do the gate as a full-spin reverse gate.  Sometimes this is the better alternative, particularly if you can't really carry much speed through the move if you do it direct.  The advantage of going direct is that you can carry your momentum through the move.  But if the turn is so sharp that little or no momentum is carried through the turn, it may be just as fast to do a full spin reverse on the gate in the eddy. 

On a full-spin reverse in an eddy, it is often helpful not to pivot because you may stop your downstream speed instead of pushing the boat back through the gate.  If you want to avoid a pivot, lean to the inside of the turn and lean forward so that the stern doesn't dig in.  If the stern digs in on a pivot, you will turn quickly, but won't be able to push back through the gate. 

Also, if the next gate is across the river, rather than downstream, you should have your boat positioned at a ferry angle as you exit the gate, rather than having the boat turned downstream.  Conversely, if the next gate is further downstream, you should probably just do the gate direct, since then you can keep the speed of the boat going and not lose time by doing a reverse.

Dive gates separate the better racers from the weaker ones.  Practice them so you can do them well in the race.  Practice them when you are just running rivers.  Put the boat where you want it to be, not where the river wants it to be. 

Fast and Clean or Slow and Sloppy?

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Fast and Clean or Slow and Sloppy?

Is it better to try to be slow and clean or fast and sloppy?  This is a false choice.  You don't have to choose between being fast and being clean.  You need to do both.

Slowing down does not make you cleaner.  It just makes you slower.  Being on line makes you clean.  You need to paddle fast, but stay on the correct line.

Don't attempt moves that you can't do at least 9 times out of 10.  Don't think that if you try this gamble that it might pay off and make you faster.  It won't make you faster.  Stay on the line you know you can do 9 times out of 10, not the line you might be able to make 1 time out of 10.  Those are not good odds.

Your race speed is probably not your top speed, but just under that speed.  But you really shouldn't be concentrating on your speed while on the course- you should be in the moment and concentrating on what is happening and your next move and executing your plan for the course.  The speed should be what you normally do in training- not something different or special for the race, so there is no reason for you to focus on that.

Likewise, in practice, you should concentrate on having quality fast and clean runs.  Yes, sometimes you can experiment, but particularly when it is close to race time, you need to be concentrating on having consistent clean and fast runs.  Then, when it comes to race time, you just do the same sort of thing you've been doing in practice.

In practice, you should frequently have someone time you and count your penalties.  You can do it yourself, but it's good to have an outside observer doing it sometimes as well.  It is good to get instant feedback so that when you finish a run, you know how you did and you can remember your run and figure out where you might have gained or lost time or picked up penalties.  Then, you can improve on any errors on your next run.

It's important that your practices ressemble race conditions and that you get feedback on your practice runs and that you bring as much focus and study to your practice as possible.  Concentrate on having quality runs in practice, not on just paddling for a certain period of time for some physiological reason.

Excellence is a habit.  Practice it.

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Sliding Pry Stroke

Here is a stroke some of you may not know.  It's the sliding pry stroke.  It is the opposite of a sculling draw stroke.  The sculling draw is used to pull the boat sideways towards the paddle.  The sliding pry is used to pull the boat sideways away from the paddle side.

Mainly used in c-1 and c-2, variations of the sliding pry also have other uses.  For example, rather than sliding the boat sideways, it can be used to turn the boat away from the paddle side.

Here is how it's done.  Angle the blade sharply so that the thumb on your top hand is facing forward.  It's a twist of the wrist forward stroke.  Place the blade in towards the bow of the boat, like in a forward stroke, but with the paddle shaft against the boat and the wrist cocked so that the pinky finger is towards you and the thumb is forward.  Then, pull the paddle back, keeping the wrist firmly cocked the whole time and the blade angled throughout the stroke.  Pull it out when it gets to the hip.

Do not allow the wrist to become uncocked during the stroke.  Keep the blade angled throughout the stroke.  Often, the wrist gets straightened out during the stroke- keep it rigid and angled.   Run the paddle shaft agains the boat the entire stroke.  Put some sort of plastic protection on the exterior of your paddle shaft so it doesn't wear through the shaft or weaken the paddle shaft by wearing it against the boat. 

I often use the sliding pry as an introduction to the j-stroke in c-1 or the stern of a c-2.  The j-stroke is used to keep the boat going straight.  It is just turning the top hand so it is angled at the end of the stroke.  A straight forward stroke with a twist of the wrist during the stroke so the boat goes straight, rather than turning away from the paddle side.

I also teach the reverse sliding pry.  This is a reverse stroke with the paddle angled.  This time, the thumb is facing towards you and the pinkie away from you as you slide the paddle shaft from your hip forwards along the side of your boat.  Smooth boat seams help reduce friction and wear on your paddle shaft.

Then, there is the combination of forward sliding pry and reverse sliding pry, which is the counter-part to a sculling draw.  Do a forward sliding pry, then rotate the paddle and do a reverse sliding pry, linking the two strokes for a continuouse sideways movement of the boat.

I find the sliding pry to be particularly important in the bow of a c-2.  The bowman is constantly varying his forward strokes slightly so that they are slight draws or sliding pries.  That way, the team can keep up the rhythm of the paddling cadence and steer at the same time.

The reverse sliding pry is also the basis of reverse paddling in c-1 or c-2.  At the end of a reverse stroke, rotate the paddle with the top hand so it is a small sliding pry at the end of the stroke and this keeps the boat on course paddling in reverse.  For a more robust pry to turn the boat, you can do an actual pry stroke by bringing the top hand down and across the boat, using the boat as a fulcrum.

And while it is rarely useful in k-1, there is no reason why kayakers couldn't learn this stroke also.  I sometimes use it in kayak, when I am in an eddy jostling for position and need to move sideways and there are other boats right next to me, so that I can't really reach into the boat next to me to do a draw, but I can do a sliding pry on the other side to move the boat sideways.  Experiment with the sliding pry stroke so you have one more tool in your toolbox to draw on (so to speak) when the occasion arises.

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Developing the Race Plan

When a new race course is set, you have to learn it, study it, analyze it, plan it, visualize it and then refine your plan when you have new information.   When you first see the course, you draw on your prior experience to make determinations about how to do the course.  You have seen many other race and practice courses and you have probably seen similar moves before.  You use the principles you have learned in practice and in racing and apply it to your course analysis.

You first learn where the gates are.  One down, two up left, three down, etc.  Then, you come up with a "rough draft" of where you want to be throughout the course, not just on the gates themselves, but in between the gates.  Boat placement is everything.  And how you want your boat to be angled at every point on the course.

After learning the basics of where the gates are and applying your prior experience in analyzing the course, you gather more information.  Usually, you can watch the forerunners actually running the course and learn from their runs.  This helps you refine your plans.  I suggest that you videotape the foreruns so you can replay them to get even more information.  And walk the course with a coach or a fellow athlete and learn as much as you can from them about the course.

Then, you use the information you have gathered to refine your plan and to develop a precise idea of exactly how to do every gate.  In my humble opinion, it has to be the athlete's plan at this point.  The athlete takes in as much information as he can from the coach, but ultimately, it has to be the athlete's plan because he is the one in the boat. 

So, at this point, I normally walk the course with an athlete asking questions to get the athlete to articulate his plan.  I have already given my input at the information-gathering stage, and now it is the final planning stage, which is the athlete's plan.  At each gate, I ask about the athlete's plan.

That certainly does not mean that the plan is set in stone.  It just means that there is a precise plan that then can be varied from as new information becomes available.  Often, an athlete will vary from Plan A because something went differently and then, you go with Plan B.  Or Plan C. 

And, often after coming up with a precise final plan, an athlete will get new information in the form of video or watching someone else on the course, or looking at split times, or getting more coaching advice.  The plan can get refined and changed as new information becomes available.

Next, there is the visualization stage.  The athlete should visualize the course before his run to help implant the plan in his mind.  In your mind's eye, go through every move on the course to learn it even better.  Close your eyes and imagine yourself going from start to finish.  Some people like to time it and see if the visualization time is close to the actual race time.

When you are at a race, you need to study every move on the race course.  Look at the current and which way it is going.  Study the pole heights.  Plan your boat position.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  You can't just "wing it".  You need to spend as much time as possible studying the course.

And remember that your race is against the race course, not against the other boaters.  Watch the other boaters only as a means of improving your run by learning from them.  Don't watch them to figure out where you are going to be on the scoreboard.  You can learn form others, both the ones who do great moves and those who make mistakes.  Learns from the successes and failure of others.  

Run your own race- don't be overly influenced or pressured to do something a certain way just because someone else is.  Watch the top boaters, but remember that sometimes, what looks fast for them is not the best plan for you. 

Somewhat paradoxically, it may be better for younger athletes to watch the k-1ws, rather than the fastest men boaters because the women often use the water to their advantage, rather than trying to out-muscle it as some of the top male racers do.  Younger athletes often have less strength and are unable to pull off some of the moves they see older, stronger boaters doing.  They are often better served at this point by watching someone who is working with the water, rather than against it. 

After the learning stage, the information-gathering stage, the planning stage, the visualization stage and the final planning stage, it's time to execute the plan.  Don't be so set on the plan that you forget to look at the water and the gates for more clues as to how you do the course.  Have a plan, but it's often necessary to deviate from that plan.  You also have a lot of muscle memory and prior experience that will help you execute your plan.  Use all of your resources available to make your run the best you can.

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Paddle Length for C-Boaters

I recently had a question about paddle length for c-boaters.  Here are some rules of thumb.  One is to have the paddle come up to chest-nose height when you are standing.  Above your nose is too long and below the pecs is too short.  Neck height is about right.

However, I think that this rule of thumb might not be the most accurate.  What really counts is not where the paddle comes to when you are standing, but where your top hand is when you are paddling.  Most effective is to have the top hand about at eye level.  So, your paddle length will depend on various factors, such as seat height and the length of your torso.

Many of the top c-1s now have very low seats- 2 inches or so.  Previously, seat heights were higher, around 5-6 inches.   Sorry, I am used to using inches, rather than centimeters.  With higher seats, you might get slightly more reach and power and more leg comfort.  However, with lower seats, you get more stability- not as tippy.  A lower seat would mean a shorter paddle than a higher seat would require.

Anyway, when you are taking your normal forward stroke, your top hand should be somewhere around eye level.  If your top hand is around the top of your head, it might be too long and your arm might tire from holding it up so high.  On the other hand, if your top hand is around your chest-level, you won't be able to get enough reach on your strokes.

The longer your paddle, the more reach you get, not just on your forward stroke, but on all strokes.  A longer paddle also correlates to a slightly longer stroke and therefore a slightly slower stroke rate.  Conversely, a short paddle means a slightly shorter stroke and would requre a faster stroke rate.

I used to use a shorter paddle for the bow of a c-2 than I did for c-1 because I felt that I didn't need to do pry or j strokes in the bow of a c-2, so I didn't need the extra space between my hand and the paddle blade that I needed in c-1 to use the shaft against the boat.

Another point is that the paddle blade should be fully immersed in the water on your strokes to get maximum power, however the shaft should remain above the water.  If you have a habit of stroking deeply with part of the shaft in the water, you will trip over your paddle on shallow courses.

So far, I haven't given any specific lengths on paddles.  I don't know centimeters that well, but 150 centimeters is in the correct range of c-boat paddles, depending on your height, torso length, and seat height.  I used to use approximately a 58-60 inch paddle.

I suggest you try out some different length paddles- just borrow a paddle or two and practice doing some slalom gates and measure the paddles.  You will soon get a feel for what works best for you.

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Quality Not Quantity in Training

Rather than focusing on the quantity of your training, you should try to improve the quality of your training.  Don't just grind out the time in the boat- make each workout important.  Every workout is a technique workout.  Every stroke is deliberate and important.  Pretend that the success of each run is just as important as the second run at the team selection race. 

Make your training more race-like.   Do some race simulations on full-length whitewater courses to improve the quality of your training.  The more race-like you can make it, the better.  For example, rather than timing yourself and counting your own penalties, have someone else do it.  Rather than just starting when you want to, have set start times and have someone give you a countdown.  Instead of designing the course yourself, have someone else design it.  Instead of practicing on the course ahead of time and doing a bunch of runs, just take 2 runs on the course.

Anther way to improve the quality of your training is to have feedback at every session.  Use varied forms of feedback, including coaching, video, someone else counting times and penalties, and watching other boaters performing the same courses.  On one day, you might get coached, then the next have someone video the session, and then on a third day, have someone count penalties and tell you your times after every run.  Get together and train with other paddlers when you can and see what you can learn by watching and talking to them.

And make your training specific to improve the quality.  Paddle at race pace or faster in your training and do whitewater gates as much as you can.  Paddling slow by yourself is low-quality training and should be avoided.  The exception is if you are doing it as a recovery session on flatwater by just paddling straight ahead for a short period of time (not going too long or hard, so it isn't really training).

Doing loops for more than 3 minutes or so, is a low-quality workout.  It's not specific enough to be a quality workout because the speed is slower than race pace. 

Paddling with swinging gates is another form of low-quality workout.  Don't start until the gates stop swinging from the previous boater.  Or, if you are doing full-lenths, don't follow right behind another boater because then, the poles may be swinging all over the place and it will lower the focus.  Wait 2 minutes after the last boater (preferably more) to ensure that the poles won't be swinging when you go down the course.

Taking a run without adequate course study is also low-quality training.  Study the course like you would before a race run before you take your first run.  Don't just go out and do the course without enough planning ahead of time.

Take your practice like a race to improve the quality of your training.  Bring the same kind of attention to your training runs as you would for your runs at the team selection races.  That will raise the quality of your training, making you a better boater.

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Go Fast by Relaxing?

In order to really go fast, not only must you train for speed, strength and power, but you must relax the muscles not involved in the stroke.  Practice doing your speedwork with relaxed face and neck muscles.  Think of softening the muscles in face and neck.

Here is an article about sprinting that explains some of the techniques for running fast.  Some of the information is also applicable to paddling fast:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni46a3.htm

There is a normal human tendency when you want to go fast to tense all of your muscles.  This is very wasteful.  You are wasting energy by tensing muscles that do nothing to make the boat go faster. Instead of tensing the face and neck, you need to let go and just pull harder with the arms, torso and shoulders.  All of the running coaches emphasize relaxation as the means to getting faster.

It is sort of paradoxical or zen-like to think of going faster by relaxing.  But practice it in your speedwork and in your training.  Have someone observe you or video you to see if you are tensing muscles when doing short timed courses.  Most people do tense up, unless they make deliberate efforts to relax. 

Learn from a running coach about how to go fast:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni46a3.htm

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Slalom is About Acceleration, Not Speed

On a slalom course, it is rare for a boat to be traveling at top speed.  Top speed isn't achieved unless you have been traveling in a straight line for at least 15 seconds.  In other words, if there are no turns for 15 seconds and you are paddling as hard as you can, your boat is at top speed.  But that occurence is rare in our sport.

What is more common is for the boat to turn.  Every upstream requires a turn.  Every offset gate requires a turn.  If you have turned the boat at all within the past 15 seconds, your boat is not at top speed.

What is important in terms of having fast times is the acceleration after a turn.  Hopefully, you will carry as much speed as possible through the turn and not lose boat speed.  However, there will inevitably be some loss of boat speed for even a slight turn.  Then, the boat needs to be reaccelerated.

The crucial thing is to train to reaccelerate the boat as quickly as possible.  The important factor is not stroke rate but your ability to apply lots of force to the paddle to get the boat back up to speed.  General strength training does help with this.

Another good way to improve acceleration is to use specific strength training.  I like to hold a boat stationary and then have the athlete paddle hard for 20-30 strokes, maintaining good form.  Then, repeat after a full rest.

Or, you can pull another boater behind you who is holding your grab loop.  Or, you can cram your bow into a river bank and paddle.  Or, if that is not available, you can paddle forwards 6 strokes, then backwards 6 strokes, and repeat.

This should be done all-out for strength, not done slowly for endurance.  The idea is to apply maximum force on the paddle without losing your good technique.  This exercise alone will greatly improve your times.

I also recommend doing very short courses to improve acceleration and resistance training using heavy weights and low reps as a means to improve strength and therefore acceleration.  If you do all 3- heavy weights, stationary boat training, and very short courses, your times will improve.

Runners who train for sprint events use various techniques to improve their acceleration.  Lifting heavy weights is one.  Also, doing short "starts" in training improve acceleration.  Some use uphill running and some use downhill running.  Some drag weighted sleds to increase the resistance, which I consider to be analogous to the stationary boat training in paddling.

Also, sprinters do exercises, such as plyometrics, squats, bounding, and jumps to increase their leg strength and therefore their speed.  Here is one article by a coach who favors the use of weighted sleds to train for sprinting:

http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PBOnePieceView?storeId=10152&catalogId=10753&languageId=-1&pagename=383

He says that you don't reach full speed until you've run about 60 meters.  So, for most sports, top speed isn't so important.  But acceleration is crucial.  Like our sport, in most team sports, it is rare to be travelling at top speed. 

Hockey players, basketball players, and soccer players rarely get up to top speed because it means that they would have to be travelling in a straight line for 60 meters.  However, they frequently turn and change direction and have to reaccelerate, just like we do. 

Their speed "out of the blocks" is very important, even though they don't have blocks.  So, training for such sports should include more training for acceleration than top speed training.  Take a look at this article:

http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PBOnePieceView?storeId=10152&catalogId=10753&languageId=-1&pagename=383

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Speed Workouts and Race Pace Workouts

Here is a link to some research about cyclists.  They were divided into different groups who did intervals ranging from 30 seconds in length to 8 minutes.  Then, they were tested over a 40 kilometer course to see which groups performed best.

Surprisingly, the 30 second interval group and the 4 minute interval groups performed the best.  The two groups were at about the same level of performance.  Here is a link to a summary of the research with some analysis:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/how-red-hot-interval-training-fires-up-performance-in-seasoned-cyclists-54

So, the article states that both training types are very effective- short intervals and longer, more race-paced intervals.  This may because the short intervals improve speed and the longer intervals are more specific in terms of pace.  This is an important principal in training- specificity.

A combination of the two types of training- speed and short endurance training at approximately race pace may be the most effective training program.  I suggest that both types of training be done simultaneously, alternating between speed training and endurance training.

Since the event in the research is a 40 kilometer race, which is much longer than a slalom race, the time for the endurance training for whitewater slalom should be significantly shorter- perhaps 60 or 90 seconds.  Alternating between shorter speed training of 10-30 seconds and longer endurance training of 60-90 seconds done at race pace may be an effective training program for whitewater slalom racing.

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/how-red-hot-interval-training-fires-up-performance-in-seasoned-cyclists-54

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Vitamin D Supplementation May Make You Faster, Stronger

Many people are deficient in vitamin D.  Particularly in northern climates during the winter, levels drop a lot.  Vitamin D is a steriod hormone, not just a regular vitamin.  Deficiency of vitamin D can lead to muscle weakness and increase the risk of injuries.

There is a lot of older German and Russian research on the topic of vitamin D supplementation for athletes.  Here is a link to an article about vitamin D and athletic performance:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19346976/

Your body can make vitamin D from sunlight and this is a significant source of vitamin D for those in sunny climates who spend a lot of time outdoors.  However, they have done studies of cyclists and runners who spend a lot of time in the sun and many are still deficient because of sunblock and protective clothing.  There are also food sources of vitamin D, such as cod liver oil, and fortified products, such as milk. 

Vitamin D helps develop the fast twitch muscle fibers, which are important in our sport.  Many people are deficient in Vitamin D and supplementation could help them.  I do not recommend taking excessive amounts, but supplementation could be helpful to most athletes, especially those is northern climates.  Read the link for more info.:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19346976/

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Inverted Periodization

Here is a link to an article about inverted periodization for triathletes:

http://www.sdxtraining.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212:inverted-c

Rather than concentrate on building an aerobic base during the off-season, with inverted periodization, you work on motor skills, technique, speed and strength.  Then, when you get closer to race season, you add in more endurance training, but maintain some speed training year-round.

This contrasts to traditional periodization, where you do a lot of long endurance training during the off-season, then start more aerobic training during the pre-competition season.  Traditional periodization developed during the 60s and 70s, but since then, there has been more research that has shown it to be ineffective.

Periodization is nothing more than planning.  Planning is a good thing.  You need to plan out your training.  However, you also need to listen to your own body.

The author of the article lists many physical problems resulting from the common application of aerobic base training with high volumes of training.  Many athletes develop physical and medical issues as a result of this excessive volume of endurance training and would be better served by less volume and a more balanced approach.

This article is about an endurance sport- triathlon.  If traditional periodization is not effective for a very long distance, endurance-oriented sport like triathlon, it certainly does not work for whitewater slalom racing where the emphasis is on technique, precision, power and speed.

Instead of spending hours paddling slow on flatwater during the off-season, work on technique, speed and strength.  Get faster first, then work on being able to maintain that speed during the pre-competitive season.  In other words, do more short courses in the fall and winter and more full-lengths during the spring and summer.

Here is the link to the article on inverted periodization:

http://www.sdxtraining.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212:inverted-c

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Going Through the Motions in Practice

You want to have high-quality, focused practice sessions.  You don't want to just be "going through the motions", lacking intensity and enthusiasm in practice.  Every practice should be focused.

Here is an article about the issue of athletes just going through the motions in practice:

http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/lauerpracticeintensity.pdf

The going through the motions syndrome has various causes.  Sometimes the athlete is tired.  Sometimes the athlete is uninterested.  Sometimes there is something else going on in the athlete's life that is distracting and lowers the focus.  Often, the athlete is over-trained and tired.

In order to avoid going through the motions syndrome, try to do practice races as often as possible.  Also, vary the workouts- don't just do the same thing every time.  Try to get feedback in your workouts, such as having a coach, getting timed and scored, and getting videoed.

And avoid over-training.  Do active recovery training.  Get a good night's rest. 

It is better to skip a day of training than to do a low-focus, poor quality workout.  Because your practices establish habits.  You don't want to establish poor habits by having poor quality workouts.  Practicing bad technique does so much harm that it is better to just skip the workout altogether and get a good night's rest and come back tomorrow with a better attitude towards training.

Sometimes coaches unwittingly foster conditions under which the athletes are more likely to be just going through the motions.  Coaches should emphasize the focus of the workouts, rather than emphasizing telling the athletes about a particular energy system that is being developed during the workout.  Coaches should hold frequent race simulations.  And coaches should keep the workouts varied to keep the interest levels high. 

If you keep moving from one type of training to another during the workout, it helps keep the athletes focused and interested.  For example, do 10 minutes of stroke technique, followed by 10 minutes of gate technique, followed by a timed and scored short course for 15 minutes, followed by a timed and scored 60 second course for 20 minutes.  This is more interesting than just doing one hour of all stroke drills or one hour of all sprints, for example.

Having a group to train with also helps avoid the going through the motions syndrome.  It is much more interesting to train with a group than to train alone.  The social support of the group helps keep people motivated and enthusiastic about training.  And you learn from others- you watch their runs and figure out how to do your own run better.

The best athletes have the best practices.  They bring a high focus to practice sessions.  The practice sessions are well-planned to keep the interest high.  Then, the best athletes simply use the good habits they have developed in practice on race day.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/lauerpracticeintensity.pdf

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Basic Principles of Slalom Racing

Many beginning racers make mistakes regarding boat placement and their lines on the course.  When you get to a race, boat placement is everything.  Almost all of my other posts are worthless at this point, because most of my prior posts have to do with training, not with your lines on the course at a race. 

It is hard to over-emphasize how important it is to have your boat precisely on the right track throughout the course.  Most people don't understand this.  Your speed, power and endurace will come from your training, so there isn't much you can do about them at this point.  Thinking about stroke technique at a race is probably not the best point to emphasize on race day.  That should already be ingrained as a habit from your training.

On race day, it is time to place the emphasis on where the boat is at all times.  Many boaters mistakenly believe that simply memorizing the 20 gates is sufficient.  It isn't.  You need to know not only precisely how the boat should be angled through each gate, but where the boat goes between gates.

On offset gates, the boat generally needs to be already turned before the gate and travelling cross-stream towards a point above the next offset gate (not merely aimed at the next gate).  If you turn in the gate, rather than before it, you will be late for the next gate.  If you aim directly at the next gate, you will end up turning in the gate, not before it, so it is vital that your boat be angled across and already be moving in that direction before you go through the gate.

Upstreams.  You need to be moving across towards the upstream generally, not going straight downstream and then try to do a 180 degree turn to come back up through the gate.  Try to think of the ideal approach to the up, if there were no other gates on the course.  Then, try to get on this course as soon as you can from the gate before the upstream gate. 

As a general principle, try to anticipate forces on the boat, rather than react to them.  For example, if you are crossing into an eddy but want to continue downstream, have your paddle in place to counteract the turning effect that the boat will experience when part of the boat is in the eddy and the other part of the boat is in the current.  There is a split-second when part of the boat is being pushed downstream and the other part is being pushed upstream.  You need to plan for this by having your paddle in place in advance.   Don't wait until the boat is turned to straighten it out- anticipate the river forces.

Try to keep the boat's momentum going, rather than slowing it down and then having to reaccelerate the boat.  If you have to do a back stroke, rather than a turning stroke (duffek or sweep), it is more likely to slow the boat down.  Not only will you lose time by having to reaccelerate the boat, but you will lose energy because it takes a lot more force to reaccelerate the boat than to keep it gliding at speed.

Another basic principle is not to try to go fast or slow.  Try to go precise.  Aim for precise placement of the boat throughout the course.  Deciding whether you need to go fast and sloppy or slow and clean is a false choice.  You need to go at your speed and you need to keep the boat on course. 

Rather than thinking of running a 20 gate course, you need to think more of your lines between gates- effectively running a 60 gate course if you count the imaginary gates you need to run in- between gates to keep the boat on the proper line throughout the course.

Some people walk the course from finish to start, so that they see first where they need to go after each gate.  Gate exits are crucial.  Every time you go through a gate, you go through it lined up with the next gate in mind. 

 Walk the course several times before you take a run.  Visualize yourself running the course several times before the race.  Watch other boaters so you learn all you can about the course.  The course is a puzzle for you to figure out.  Applying some of these basic principles of slalom racing will help you find the solution to the puzzle.

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Train Smarter

This blog is all about training smarter.  You can do lots of different things to train.  But which methods will be most effective?  Not all training is equal. There are thousands of different types of training you can do.  But only a few of those methods will get you where you want to be.

Many of us tried all kinds of different training methods over the years, both ourselves and by observing other athletes.  We wish we had the kind of knowledge that is available now.  But very few athletes are even using the new information that is available now.  They are using training methods from 20, 30, and 40 years ago.

Old is not necessarily bad.  Some things are tried and true.  However, there are some methods that have been proven to be ineffective.

And there are many training programs that have different goals in mind.  There are lots of fitness programs out there.  But few of them are designed specifically to bring you good results in canoe and kayak slalom racing.

Some programs are designed for overall fitness, or to lose weight, or to make your muscles bigger or to look better.  That's great if that is your goal.  But if you goal is to become a better, faster whitewater slalom racer, you need to have a training program with that as the priority.

So, just working out or just maxing out or going to failure or whatever, even if you are training every day, working very hard won't get you good results unless your training plan is specific to your sport and it is well-planned. 

Here is an example of what I am talking about.  You could do a normal bodybuilding weight program 3 or 4 days per week.  And do cardio for an hour every day.  And paddle daily for an hour.  You train 2 or 3 times per day, dedicate your life to training, and go to failure every day, putting every ounce of your body and soul into your training.   And you wouldn't improve very much.

Here is why.  The bodybuilding program isn't building strength so much as size.  So, you are making your muscles bigger without improving your strength to weight ratio nearly as much as you could.  You will be muscle-bound, rather than just being stronger.

And the paddling isn't high enough quality.  Should be coached often, timed and scored often, on whitewater often, and at or above race pace often.  More technique and less slow paddling.  Just paddling straight on flatwater won't get you anywhere, regardless of how much you do.

The hour of cardio is essentially training for another sport.  Good sometimes as cross-training perhaps, but it won't really make your boat go any faster or cleaner.

This type of training is perhaps popular, and maybe it makes you feel like you are working hard.  However, it won't bring you very good results.  It's not designed to.   It is just a mishmash of various other types of sports that will leave you exhausted but not on the medal stand.

So, rather than just doing standard sort of training, train smarter.  Use the knowledge available now that will help you improve more rapidly.

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Do Explosive Resistance Training and Fast Intervals to Get Faster

Here is a link to a meta-analysis of training research regarding different types of training and their effects on performance.  For short endurance events (less than 2 minutes long), such as ours, the best types of training were explosive resistance training, both specific and non-specific explosive resistance training, and also supra-maximal interval training, fast intervals done all-out for less than 2 minutes.

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.sportsci.org/jour/04/cdp.htm

A meta-analysis is a collection of a series of studies that helps develop a consensus from the research.  So, the research here does tend to point towards doing explosive resistance training and short intervals. 

The explosive resistance training results here seem to contradict another study that found that for acceleration, slower resistance training is more effective, while for maximum speed, faster resistance training is better.  But that may be one factor that the meta-analysis fails to differentiate.  The meta-analysis is looking to lump together studies to find a trend, but there may be important distinctions in a trend. 

For example, a sport that lasts 90 seconds long but is cyclical and has only one start and then you maintain a high speed may have very different physical demands from a sport that lasts 90 seconds, but has many starts and stops and where varied movements and acceleration and agility play a greater role.  The meta-analysis would put both of these sports into the same category when there may be very different requirements for each sport.

In any case, the meta-analysis does tend to show that fast-paced intervals are very effective training methods for events lasting less than 2 minutes.  And they also show that explosive resistance training is also very effective for short endurance events.

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Wheelchair Athletes' Training

In this study, two wheelchair athletes were put on a new training program:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni7a9.htm

Previously, the wheelchair athetes had done high volume training and no resistance training.  For nine weeks, they switched their training to higher intensity training and resistance training.  They were tested both before and after the new training.

 

The new training consisted of strength training, speed, interval, tempo training, and specific resistance training (pulling tires) and overspeed training ( training with a tailwind).   Both athetes had improved body composition and improved performance after the nine weeks of new training.

In looking at research, we are usually interpreting results from other sports because there isn't really enough research on each specific sport.  Wheelchair sports may be useful to compare to whitewater slalom, because it is one of the few sports that mainly involve the upper body.  Most other sports (basketball, soccer, track and field, etc.) have an upper body component, but are mainly lower body sports.

The research we find on wheelchair training is very similar to other sports though.  Resistance training improves performance in wheelchair sports, like other sports.  Training intensity improves performance in wheelchair sports, as it does in other sports.  Speed training is important in wheelchair sports, just as it is in other sports.  Specific resistance training is helpful for wheelchair athletes, just like other athletes.

Like other athletes in other sports, wheelchair athletes often train in ways that have been shown to be less effective.  Many wheelchair athletes don't do any resistance training and do a high volume of training at lower intensity.  This study shows that when they switch to more effective, proven methods of training, their performance improves.

Likewise, many of the athletes in whitewater slalom don't do resistance training and do a high volume of training at lower intensity.  They would benefit from a training program that includes the following:

1. resistance training

2. speed training (short bursts of high speed, followed by complete rest between runs)

3. tempo training (training at around race pace with complete rest between runs)

4. specific strength training (paddling with boat held still with complete rest between repetitions)

5. lower volume of total training

6. less low-intensity training

Here is the link to the article about the study of wheelchair athletes:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni7a9.htm

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Short Courses are Aerobic

There is substantial new research that says that the aerobic energy system is used a great deal even for short courses.  Here is a summary of some of the recent research on this topic:

http://www.zone5endurance.com/

There is a study of flatwater kayak racers that shows that at around 40 seconds into the race, it is half aerobic.  By one minute into a race, it is about 90% aerobic and then it plateaus at around 90%.  And this study just looked at a race.  In training, the first run may be half aerobic at 40 seconds but by the time you are halfway through your workout, it is mainly aerobic if you are doing 40 second courses.

So, this is much shorter than sports physiologists had previously thought.  The take-home for us paddlers is that you don't have to do those long paddles for the training to be considered aerobic.  You can paddle at or near race pace and as long as the distance is 30 seconds or more, it is mainly an aerobic workout.  If you are doing  1 minute intervals, it is about 90% aerobic, yet the pace is specific to your event.

You don't have to paddle long and slow for a workout to be considered aerobic.  Paddling long distances is not specific enough to be effective training.  But, anything from 30 seconds on up is going to be a mainly aerobic workout.  See this article that provides summaries of recent research:

http://www.zone5endurance.com/

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Stop Stretching Before a Race

Could stretching be bad for you?  Well, there is substantial research that shows if you do static stretching (long stretches where you remain still) within 2 hours of an event, it lowers your strength and power.  Here is a recent New York Times article on the subject:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/reasons-not-to-stretch/?src=me&ref=general

So, don't use long stretches as a warm-up.  The best warm-up is movement.  Do jumping jacks or burpees or just run or paddle as a warm-up.  The idea is to get the blood flowing.  Dynamic stretches are ok, where you stretch and then instantly return to your normal position.  But static stretches that are held for more than a few seconds can reduce your power and strength if you do them right before a race.

That doesn't mean that static stretching is all bad.  I think everyone should do static stretching- after a workout.  Or in the evening as a means of developing range of motion and also for recovery. 

I highly recommend active recovery, such as an easy, short run, followed by a hot shower, and then some static stretching.  This works wonders for helping your body to recover.  I recommend doing some type of active recovery after every workout, before you do another workout.  If you first gently warm up the muscles before you do static stretching, such as easy movement or a hot bath and then do static stretching, it enhances the stretching and the recovery.

Just don't do the yoga poses before the race.  Warm-up by moving the body, not by keeping it still.  Here is the New York Times article:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/reasons-not-to-stretch/?src=me&ref=general

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How to Reduce Penalties and Major Time Errors

Here is a systematic way of reducing both your penalties and major time errors in races.  Get a notebook and after every race, make a little diagram of the gate sequence where you had problems.  Do this for every touch (penalty) or major time error.  Have arrows showing what the sequence was and make a note of which pole was touched and what it was touched with (boat, body, or paddle).  Then, write your analysis of why this happened and what you can do in the future to avoid it.

You won't want to do this probably.  You feel that you already know what went wrong.  But, by writing down and analyzing every error, you will reduce your errors systematically.  Eventually, you will have made every error and analyzed them all and filled up your notebook.  At that point, you will be making very few errors.

Another method is to have someone take videos of you and the top boaters at every race.  Then, you can analyze the runs by watching the video after the race.  Video analysis should be part of your training.  The more you learn by analyzing videos, the better you will be at analyzing race courses ahead of time.

A very important skill in our sport is being able to look at a course and figure it out from shore, before you take your run.  You look at the gates, the water, etc. and based on your prior experience, you know what you need to do and where you need to go through the entire course.  The most experienced boaters are better at this than less experienced boaters.  But you don't have to just wait for the passage of time to get this experience- you can do training and analysis that will help you acquire this skill more quickly.

Try to get as much race experience as you can on good, hard courses.  Do race simulations and full lengths in practice on good whitewater slalom courses.  Plan out your runs extensively in practice, just like you would in a race.  Analyze your runs afterwards with videos.  And keep a notebook of all penalties and major time errors and your runs will become more and more perfect. 

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Developing Upper Body Power

This is an interesting article about resistance training and research on raquet sports, such as tennis:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/increase-your-dynamic-hitting-power-with-periodized-resistance-training-and-shoulder-exercises-39309

Research on racquet sports is important because, like our sport, they deal with upper body power. 

 The idea is to get a more powerful stroke.  Periodized resistance training was found to be superior to circuit training in improving power.  Even though the movements were not identical to tennis strokes, the resistance training still improved the power of the strokes.

The article also discussed training with elastic bands, which also increased power.  And, like our sport, tennis players get rotator cuff injuries, so there is some discussion of exercises to prevent this. 

Interesting read on research on improving upper body power:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/increase-your-dynamic-hitting-power-with-periodized-resistance-training-and-shoulder-exercises-39309

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Concurrent Training

There are different types of periodization, such as short to long, long to short, dual periodization, etc.  This is an article about concurrent training, where different types of training are done at the same time.  This is an interview by a successful 400 meter running coach who uses a concurrent training program, with 2 days off per week.  Two days on, then a day off, then 3 days on, then a day off.

Speed and speed endurance and lactic tolerance training are all done each week.  Here is a link to the interview:

http://speedendurance.com/2013/02/22/interview-mike-hurst-journalist-400m-coach/#

Now, how does 400 meter running compare to our sport of whitewater slalom?  Well, this coach states that this approach should apply to various distances and different sports.  400 meters is a difficult event, in case you have never run it.  Running longer distances is actually easier because the pace is slower.  With 400 meters, you are really hurting for the last 100 meters or so.

But, the sport does not have the turns and varied strokes that our sport does.  It is more akin to sprint flatwater racing in that respect.  It only has the one acceleration at the start, whereas our sport has multiple accelerations at every upstream and every turn.

Like our sport, technique, acceleration, power, speed and speed endurance are very important in the 400 meters.  He says that you need to train year-round for speed, doing some workouts that are faster than race pace once or twice per week.  That way, you feel comfortable running at race pace. 

Slalom racers should likewise do some fast training year-round at speeds faster than race pace, such as 20 or 30 second courses.  That way, race pace will seem normal and easy and not a strain.

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Video Analysis

Interestingly, video analysis can be useful or useless, depending on how it is used.  Just showing videos to developing athletes might not be helpful unless skills of analysis are developed.  There is little research support to simply showing videos to developing athletes.

However, if the video is accompanied by questioning and/or analysis, critical thinking and analysis skills can be developed that will carry over to other situations.  To develop analytical skills, first use video modeling, where you watch a video of a champion athlete.  Point out aspects of his technique, strokes, boat position, etc.  Then, show the athlete a video of himself.  Ask questions.  Ask the athlete to compare his boat position, technique, etc. to the model.

Then, start applying the analysis to other boaters.  Watch different videos and ask the athlete questions to raise his level of analysis.  Soon, the athlete will apply this level of analysis when he is observing at every race, watching the other boaters. 

Notice the steps to this approach.  First, the athlete sees a champion racer with very good technique and this image is implanted in his mind.  Then, the champion's technique is analyzed, so the athlete learns more detail about the champion's techniques. 

Next, the athlete sees his own performance and compares it to the champion's so he learns the differences between his technique and the champion's.  He develops his own ability to analyze at this point by the questioning.  At this point, further analysis of other boaters deepens his ability to analyze and criticize the technique of all boaters.

The athlete has gone from not really understanding much about his sport to where he understands completely what is happening and then develops a habit of analyzing every run he sees at a very high level.  This type of structured video learning is very helpful to developing athletes.  You can do it in a coach-led process as described above, or if no coach is available, an athlete can go through the process on his own to deepen his understanding of the sport.

Lower Volume Training

Lower Volume Training

Here is a link to an interesting article about running science:

http://trainingscience.net/?page_id=675

The article states that according to the research, intensity and specificity are highly correlated with performance, but volume is not.  In other words, it's important to train fast and close to race pace, but the number of days you train is less important.

The author also states that few, if any elite runners actually train like they recommend- 2 or 3 days per week and thus, it is difficult to tell if the elite runners would do better on lower volume, but that is what the research tends to indicate.  Additionally, higher volume training is significantly correlated to increased risk of injury and a shorter athletic career.  Lower volume training decreases the risk of injury and helps keep you competing longer.

There is a big disconnect between what the research is indicating regarding training volume and how elite athletes train in real life.   I believe that the research and real life experience are both valuable sources of information to base your training on. 

However, each individual is unique and the amount of training should be based on what works best for that individual, not necessarily what worked for some group in a research study, or what worked best for the World Champion.  The World Champion may have a very different body than yours that works better on a different volume of training.

It's a very interesting article.  It's actually part 5 of a series on "How Much Should I Train?".  Here is the link:

http://trainingscience.net/?page_id=675

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The Imaginary Boat

Before you make a run, try to visualize how the perfect boater would do it.  The Olympic or World Champion- how would they do this course.  By implanting that mental imagery in your mind, you will start to become more like the ideal boater.

Watching videos of top boaters is also a way to start having good mental images in your mind.  There are many videos of top boaters available on the internet and you tube.  This should be incorporated into your training- video analysis.

Instead of just thinking of yourself, you can try to visualize yourself becoming a top boater.  Think of how the best boater in the world would do this move, then try it yourself.

In 1992, this is how 1992 Olympic gold medalists Joe Jacobi and Scott Strausbaugh would train.    They would imagine how the ideal boat would perform the move.  This changes the paradigm so that even if training alone, you had something to compare your run to.  Or, if you are training with others, you aren't just trying to do better than their runs, you are trying to have the ultimate run.

That should be your goal in training and racing anyway.  Instead of thinking about how the other boaters are doing, something that you have no control over, think about how you can be the imaginary boater, doing the best you can.

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Switching in c-1

While most c-1 racers just paddle on one side, there are some who are "switchers".  That is, they switch hands on the paddle at strategic points to try to gain an advantage.  I'm not talking about cross-strokes- I mean putting the other hand on the t-grip of the paddle.

While I am not a switcher, I do have some proficiency on the other side and some knowledge about how it is done.  I do not recommend switching for beginners because then they never learn the full compliment of strokes on each side.  When they don't know how to do a stroke, they just switch hands to compensate.

That is not how top switchers do it.  Top switchers normally only do pre-planned switches.  It isn't a desperation move when they can't figure out how to put the boat where they want it to go.  And top switchers could paddle the whole course on either side.   They don't switch to compensate for weak technique, but to gain an advantage in a move.

And top switchers normally only switch when the boat is traveling at speed.  They don't switch when the boat has little or no boat speed, because that just delays the reacceleration of the boat and slows you down.  If you switch when the boat is already traveling fast, there is no lost time for the switch because the boat keeps gliding at full speed during the switch.

As for the actual switch, it needs to be practiced to be quick and effective.  You slide the bottom hand up the paddle during the recovery  and release the fingers, but not the thumb of the bottom hand so the thumb slides up the shaft to the t-grip and then the fingers catch on at the top of the t-grip.  You do a sort of controlled toss of the paddle to the other side during the recovery and the other lower hand catches the shaft of the paddle, ready for a new stroke.  The switch needs to be practiced to be effective.

Then, switches need to be planned for certain parts of the course where it will be more effective.  Usually the switch will be once the boat is traveling downstream at some speed, you can switch for an upcoming move, such as an upstream or a move across a hole.  Switch well ahead of the move while the boat is traveling at speed.  Switchers normally do right upstreams on the right and left upstreams on the left side, however this is not a hard and fast rule.

However, in observing many split times at races, the times are not usually faster for right or left c-1s.  The split times vary more depending on the speed of the racer and how well he does the move, not so much based upon which side he is paddling on.  But there may be some moves where you feel more comfortable paddling on one side or the other for the move and may have a greater likelihood of making the move clean and fast on one side, so this may be an occasion to switch for that move.

In any case, learn all strokes on both sides if you are a switcher and be able to do all moves on each side.  You need to have a full toolbox of strokes and moves, not just depend on switching if you can't find out the right stroke in a pinch.  Because that is an ineffective form of switching- emergency switching due to a lack of technique, rather than planned and fast and smooth switching.