One key aspect of whitewater slalom racing is acceleration. With every turn, upstream, sweep stroke, offset, etc. there is a loss of speed. The boat is rarely at top speed. We are constantly having to re-accelerate the boat from a slower speed to a higher speed.
A lot of the time in slalom racing is due to this factor. It is more important than your top speed in slalom racing. How do you increase your acceleration so you can get your boat up to top speed quickly?
Short courses on gates that are done quickly (at or near full-speed) help develop acceleration. So do short sprints- 10 to 15 seconds. Longer sprints of 1 minute or more mainly develop top speed, not acceleration.
Power training is also important in acceleration. Strength is the ability to do a certain movement. Power is the ability to do it quickly. The research says that more general strength should be built first, then more specific power training should be done.
The general strength training is usually resistance training, such as weight lifting. The research tends to show that more sets of heavy weights with adequate rest is better than lots of repetitions of lighter weights in building strength. Three sets is really a minimum and 5 sets with 5 repetitions is better.
The research also shows that after a month or two of the same weight routine, the strength levels off. So, it's good to change the workout after a month or so. Alternatively, there is some research that changing the workouts each time is more effective and avoids the plateau effect. For example, have a two week schedule of varied workouts that repeats itself. You have about 6 different weight workouts that you do on an alternating schedule.
Usually, you should only do resistance training about every other day to allow the muscles to rest and rebuild between workouts.
After a base of strength training is done, you can move to more specific power training. This can be done in the boat, using the methods in my other blog post on specific strength training, or using plyometrics or a machine that simulates hard paddling. Again, this should be done with more sets but fewer reps and adequate rest between sets.
This is one area where periodization does have a strong research basis, unlike aerobic base training. Early in the season, do more general strength training, then move to more specific power training at higher speeds as the season approaches for maximum benefit. The research also shows that strength training can help reduce injuries, if done properly.
However, I have seen lots of world champions who did little or no special strength training- only in the boat training. They do a lot of the short courses, paddling on hard whitewater courses, and did specific in the boat power training though. In any case, there should be adequate provision for acceleration improvements in your training in order to make you faster in competitions.
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