Ron Lugbill Whitewater Slalom Racing Blog

http://rlugbill.typepad.com/my-blog/

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.

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Relax Face and Neck Muscles to Go Fast

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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Building Upper Body Power

Here is a link to an article about building upper body power through plyometrics:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/plyometric-exercises-are-they-effective-in-improving-upper-body-strength-1067

The article reviews some of the research on plyometrics for the upper body.  While the research clearly supports plyometrics to build lower body power, the research is mixed on upper body plyometrics. 

Many athletes use plyometrics, such as box jumps to build power.  When training the legs, the athletes bodyweight (150-250 pounds) is usually used as the resistance.  However, for upper body plyometrics, the norm is to use medicine balls of 5 or 10 pounds.  The author suggests that the reason why the research is less favorable for upper body plyometrics is because the weights used are so much lower than for lower body plyos.

He suggests using substantially heavier weights for upper body plyometrics, in the range of 30-50 pounds.   Or, use a portion of the athlete's bodyweight, as in the plyometric press-up, where you fall forward from a kneeling position and catch yourself with your arms, lower your body, then press it back up to a straight upright kneeling position.

In any case, plyometrics should be preceded by some general strength training first, then you can start doing plyometric exercises.  Also, technique is paramount.  Someone should teach you proper technique in each exercise and you should only use weights that permit you to use optimum form.  Do not sacrifice technique in any case.  Plyometrics are a very effective method for increasing your power since they are done at a higher rate of speed than most resistance training.

There is some recent research on tennis players where medicine ball workouts were very effective in increasing the power of their tennis strokes.  They split the group into 3 parts- one group did medicine ball workouts and tennis training, another group did training with weighted rackets and tennis training and a third group did tennis training alone.  The medicine ball workouts were more effective than weighted rackets in increasing power and both medicine balls and weighted rackets were more effective than just playing tennis alone in increasing power.  However, the medicine ball group was less accurate in their strokes than the other groups.

So, translating the research to canoe slalom, it appears that plyometrics and medicine ball training can be an effective means of building power.  Like the author of the study, I think that heavier medicine balls are going to be more effective.  And plyometrics such as the plyometric press-up, and medicine ball throws such as the chest pass, side throw, overhead pass, etc. can be incorporated into your current resistance training workout to add more dynamic movements to your training.  Here is the link to the article:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/plyometric-exercises-are-they-effective-in-improving-upper-body-strength-1067

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Athletes are like Ascetics

In many different religions, there are certain people or groups that experience asceticism.  Usually the idea is to renounce earthly pleasures and embrace extreme religious practices, such as fasting, prayer, celibacy, not owning possessions, wearing certain clothing, pilgrimages, etc.

For example, Jain monks vow not to harm any living thing and therefore are strict vegetarians and don't eat root vegetables.  They have brooms and sweep in front of them in order to avoid possibly accidentally stepping on an insect and some cover their mouths to avoid accidentally swallowing an insect.

Ancient Judaism had ascetics, who took the Nazarite vow not to eat meat or drink wine and not to cut their hair.  Some groups, such as the Ebionites and Essenes were ascetic groups, who had strict rules and practices.

Likewise, athletes have clear rules and practices that set them apart from the general run of the population.  Their training is a practice and ritual that is carried out daily or almost daily.  Likewise, athletes might have a day of rest, like the Sabbath.

And athletes have different clothing that sets them apart from others.  They are often in training groups or clubs, like monastic groups and these groups have their own rules and practices.

Athletes have different dietary practices and eat healthier food than the normal population.  Top athletes also sleep more than the general population.

The word ascetic comes from the word for training or exercise in Greek.  Like ascetics, athletes are very dedicated and disciplined and don't just do what the rest of the world does.  They are non-conformists and extremists.  They eschew a life of comfort and ease in favor of a strict regimen.  They don't do what is easy- they deliberately choose the more difficult path.  Rather than looking for short-term gratification, they are looking at a more distant goal. 

Read more about asceticism here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism

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Agility Training

This may be a new concept to some of you- agility training.  Let's look at other sports as examples.  Agility is very important in ball sports, such as basketball and soccer.  It's not so much the athlete's top running speed that is important because you rarely get to top speed.  It's the ability to quickly change direction and accelerate that is important.

With each change of direction, there is a loss of speed and then the body needs to reaccelerate.  That is agility.  It is a little different from your maximum speed.  Your maximum speed is once you have been traveling in the same direction for a period of time, at least a couple of seconds. 

Agility is also a very important factor in slalom racing.  Your boat is constantly turning, losing speed, and changing directions.  A lot of the time in slalom racing is due to your ability to turn quickly and reaccelerate the boat quickly.  Turning strokes such as sweeps and duffeks are at least as important as forward strokes in slalom.

So, agility needs to be trained also.  There is some carry-over from pure speed training to agility, but it's not specific enough.  If you are just training on flatwater, you should included some agility training, not just pure speed and endurance training. 

Doing gate training, rather than just straight-ahead paddling develops agility due to the turning.  If there are no gates, you can do an imaginary course in your mind.  In any case, do not neglect agility training- it is just as important as speed, strength, or endurance training.

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Training for Loops World Championships

 

It seems that many paddlers are training for the World Championships in Loops.  They do frequent long continuous paddles of much greater lengths than the slalom courses we race on, which according to ICF rules should be about 90 seconds long.

I'm not serious, of course about the Loops World Championships.  There is no such race.  But it just seems that given the length of their training distances, it appears that they must be training for much longer races than the 90 second courses that we race on.

But even if they were training for the Loops World Championships, they aren't training properly.  Even long distance events require some resistance training, some specific strength training and some speed training.  

Regardless of distance, resistance training is important.  Resistance training helps strengthen opposing muscles and helps balance your strength which helps prevent injuries and resistance training helps your body produce hormones that are helpful in building muscle. 

Also, some sprint training is important even in long distance events.  One of the best predictors of how athletes will do in any length event (10k, marathon, etc.) is how fast they are over a 20 meter sprint.  If you are very fast, when you back off and go at race pace, your body doesn't have to work as hard as it would if it were working closer to your maximum speed.

And specific power training, where you practice against some resistance, such as having the boat held still while you paddle is also very effective, regardless of the distance.  If every stroke you take is very easy because of your specific strength, you won't have to work as hard for every stroke, saving your energy over the length of the race.

Of course, these wouldn't be the bulk of your training for the Loops World Championships, but it would be better if you at least did each of these once/week.  So, even if you were training for the mythical Loops World Championship, doing all distance work would not be the most effective training.  Even if you want to be the best in the world at loops, you should do some sprints, some resistance training and some sprint training.  However, the bulk of your training would be closer to race pace.

In the real slalom world were we live, there is no Loops World Championships.  In our world, you need to do resistance training, some short sprints, and some specific power training.  Additionally, you should do training that is close to race pace, such as 30 second courses, 60 second courses and full length courses.  

I do not recommend training for the Loops World Championships because there is substantial research that shows that you cannot simultaneously train for power and long endurance because you cannot gain any power under such conditions.  Power is very important to slalom racing, where you are constantly having to reaccelerate the boat after a turn, upstream, etc.  Doing endurance training will prevent you from developing power.

You can simultaneously train for power and short courses, such as 30 or 60 or 90 second courses.  There is no problem building power if you are doing short courses, only if you are doing long endurance work.  So, it makes more sense to avoid or minimize long endurance training- anything over 2 minutes or so, except as recovery training for short periods at very slow speeds.  In any case, train smart and train for a 90 second whitewater slalom race.  Don't train for the Loops World Championships.

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Chicken Wing

Here is a little pointer on kayak forward stroke.  There's a forward stroke video, The Brent Reitz Forward Stroke Clinic.  In the video Brent discusses a common mistake people make in their strokes that causes tendinitis, and recommends what he calls the "Chicken Wing": as you finish a stroke on one side and withdraw the blade from the water to begin a stroke on the other side, you should raise not just your hand, but your entire forearm including the elbow, as you do so.  This helps avoid wrist tendinitis.

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Individualized Physical Training

This article sort of opened my eyes to viewing fitness and conditioning from a very different perspective.  Sort of California, holistic perspective on training:

http://rockysfitnesscenter.com/fitness-approach.html

This guy Rocky wrote a book on fitness and conditioning for paddling.  His approach is to get information on the person's movements and try to correct any issues. 

He started out doing personal training with the only thing he knew, a bodybuilding sort of approach.  He later realized that he was doing a disservice to his clients as he learned more about conditioning and the body.  Now, his approach is more holistic and individualized, although he does group classes as well. 

Having a very good personal trainer would be an asset for any athlete.  If you don't have one and can't afford one, it would be worthwhile to consult with a top conditioning specialist for a session or two, and then follow his instructions in the future.

He admits in the article that we are in the dark ages as far as physical conditioning goes.  There are many things we don't know yet, but our knowledge has come a long ways in the past 20 years or so. 

Many of us have very disfunctional bodies that aren't properly aligned and our movements are not fluid or efficient as a result.  We have muscle imbalances that cause misalignment and injury and disease.

In typical California surfer new-age style, he advocates getting outside, getting in touch with nature, getting in touch with our bodies, getting away from the sedentary lifestyle and poor nutritional and lifestyle choices that characterize our modern industrial society.  Go barefoot and walk on the beach and eat some fruits and vegetables and work out at his gym.

This is a completely new approach to training that most of us aren't familiar with.  Holistic training, rather than just concentrating on paddling our boats and going fast and clean.  Cleaning up our nutrition.  Making our bodies pure and balanced.  Helping our movements to be more fluid and natural.  Athletics as a path to wholeness and balance. 

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Kayak Forward Stroke Article

Here is a link to an article about kayak forward stroke written by Greg Barton, a former Olympic gold medalist in sprint kayak racing:

http://www.canoekayak.com/skills/paddling-technique-forward-stroke-barton/

Of note is the idea of releasing the fingers on the top hand, just holding the paddle with thumb and forefinger on the top hand in order to release tension in the wrist.  I also noted his use of the word "spear" in describing how the paddle should be planted in the water.  First, spear the paddle into the water, then pull back using the torso.

Also of note is the pushing with your toes to get the whole body involved in the stroke.  I am familiar with this from flatwater racing and I know some people use if for slalom paddling also.  I'm not sure if this is effective for slalom boats or not.  What do you think?  I am interested in coaches and athletes thoughts on slalom kayak forward stroke.

 

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Train Twice/Day Then Rest One Day?

Here is an interesting article that seems to show that it is better to train twice on one day and then rest the next day instead of training once/day:

http://jap.physiology.org/content/98/1/93.full#F2

They had one leg exercise twice with a 2 hour rest between sessions and then rest on the next day, alternating days.  The other leg trained daily, but just once per day.

In the end, the leg that had 2 sessions on one day and then a rest day was able to perform longer before exhaustion than the leg that trained every day.  They believe this is because it trains the muscles to work on low glycogen if you do  2 workouts in a day and then give it a day of rest.  If you do daily workouts, you are always working on high glycogen so the body doesn't have to adapt as much to the low glycogen environment.

Both legs did improve significantly and the maximum force between the 2 legs was not significantly different, but the time to exhaustion was very different.  Like almost all studies, it is not directly on point in terms of applicability to whitewater slalom racing.  It is a long endurance exercise, not a short power sport.  It does not involve technique at all.  It is cyclical, with the same movement repeated over and over, unlike our sport.  There are many differences, yet it may have some validity to our sport.

We have a very interesting disconnect, not just in our sport, but in many sports between the science and what elite athletes are actually doing in terms of frequency of training.  The science says that recovery is very important, and varies widely depending on the individual.  Some people need more recovery, some less.  But in general, the science is saying that for most people, 2-4 sessions per week is optimum.  Most elite athletes train a lot more than this.  Many train every day and many train twice per day.

So, it is difficult to make comparisons between elite athletes and what science says they should be doing because almost no one is training like science says they should.  Almost every elite athlete is way overtrained, according to the sports science research.  Yet, shouldn't the collective wisdom of the world's top athletes have substantial validity, even if it isn't backed by research?  Maybe science is behind and just hasn't figured this out yet.

Most of the research is not done on elite athletes.  Much of it is not done with the aim of discovery what is the optimum way for elite athletes to train.  Research is often done to measure what is happening to levels of certain chemicals in the blood or other physiological factors, not so much to measure differences in performance.  And much of the research is done for short periods of time, not for a year or years.

Or maybe the athletes just enjoy their sport or are addicted to it, or are worried that if they skip a day, they will not win, so they keep overtraining, even though it doesn't lead to optimum performance.  Or, perhaps the few athletes who rise to the top are the ones whose bodies can withstand the high volume of training and those without the genetic ability to recover quickly overtrain in order to emulate the top athletes when they would actually perform better with more rest?  In other words, average athletes do not individualize their training, but just take the training methods of the top athletes and misapply them to themselves, resulting in overtraining because their bodies require more rest.

In any case, this is an interesting study and this could be a very worthwhile training plan.  Train twice a day on one day and take the next day off completely.  Repeat.  There is some research basis to believe this is a good method, better than simply training once every day.  Take a look at this article and let me know what you think:

http://jap.physiology.org/content/98/1/93.full#F2