On a 20 gate course, there are really about 60 gates if you count the imaginary "gates" you need to go through between the gates. It's as if you need to add a couple of gates between each pair of gates to make sure you are on the right line.
Common mistakes are sliding to the outside of turns on offset gates and not getting the correct wide approach to upstream gates. Really, your main race strategy is to determine what line you need to be on for the entire course and planning and accomplishing that. Your speed will mainly be determined by your training, so on race day, there is little left to do but to determine the proper line and execute it.
Basically, our sport comes down to 2 things: 1. going fast and 2. staying on course. If you can accomplish those things you will do well. If you stay on course, you are likely to avoid hitting poles or missing gates. As for going fast, you are unlikely to suddenly get much faster on race day. You are more likely to travel the same sort of speed that you do in training. So, on race day, there isn't so much you can do about speed. That's why it is crucial to concentrate on speed workouts during your training.
So, how do you determine the correct line? Even top racers will sometimes have questions- direct or reverse? What is the fastest way to do a particular section? Sometimes you can do splits of other boaters to find out which way is fastest. Sometimes, you will just have to figure it out on your own, using your base of experience from similar situations in the past.
The most experienced paddlers will usually pick the best routes. You can watch them and copy where they go. It takes a lot of course study and planning before your first run. Don't just wait and figure it out on the water. Determine your plan and memorize it before you take a stroke.
Visualize the course in your mind before you go, even in training. Many boaters want to rush out and try out the course right away in training. Instead, take your training like you would a race. It will increase your focus and help you get better runs right from the start, instead of waiting until the 4th or 5th run to do a quality performance in training.
Train like you race. Then, when you get to a race, you just do like you normally do in training and it won't be such a change for you. You just do what you always do in training. Nothing different, really.
The important thing is to be very mindful of your lines. On flatwater practice courses, if is sometimes less important to be on line that to be paddling hard, so some people get used to being off-line a little. In a race, with stronger currents and drops, being off line a little is fatal. So, get used to being right on line in practice.
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