I admit that reading all this training advice might make things seem complicated. So, let me clarify how to succeed at whitewater slalom racing.
You only need to do 2 things- 1. paddle fast 2. stay on line and clean. That's all. Paddle hard and keep the boat on line and don't hit the poles. I put the "on line" and the "don't hit the poles" both in the number two because if you are on line, you are probably going to be clean. It's when you are off- line that you get penalties.
Most of my blog posts are about no. 1- how to get fast. I will include 7 points about how to get fast:
1. Short courses for time and penalties. Less than 20 seconds. Do these at least once a week, preferably 2-3 times/week.
2. General strength training. Lift weights. Heavy weights to get strong. At least once, preferably twice or three times/week.
3. Specific strength training. Have someone hold your boat and paddle hard. 10-30 strokes hard, then rest and repeat. Do this at least once/week, preferably 2 or 3 times/week.
4. Fast power training. Do plyometrics or ballistic training or fast weight training. This can be done after building a base of general strength. 1-3 times per week.
5. Active recovey training. Do this daily, if possible. Examples include massage, yoga, easy run-shower-stretch-combination, foam rollers, ice bath, compression garments, etc.
6. Never train slowly over long distances. Training slowly keeps you from developing your power. Avoid sessions lasting more than 2 minutes.
7. Speed endurance training. In order to keep up your speed over the length of a race course, do some 30-100 second courses for time and count penalties. Do this 1-3 times/week.
That's all it takes to get very fast. And you don't even have to do all of the above. The more of them you do, the better, but some champions only do about half of the above.
But all champions learn how to do no. 2- stay on line. Beginning racers are off-line most of the time on the course. They don't seem to even know they are off-line or what the proper line should be.
I don't include a lot of posts about this because it is complex and hard to explain every situation in a blog. However, I can suggest 7 methods to learn to stay on line. Here are 7 different educational techniques for learning to keep the boat on line:
1. Study videos of other racers, especially top racers.
2. Get timed and scored on your practice frequently.
3. Get coached in practice frequently.
4. Get videoed frequently and study the videos.
5. Practice under race-like conditions as much as possible.
6. Watch other boaters and study their moves.
7. Document your mistakes in a notebook so you learn what your weaknesses are. Learn from your mistakes and practice the types of gates or combinations that have been giving you trouble. Soon, your former weaknesses will be your strengths.
So, there you have it. It is straight-forward. Just do this- 1. paddle hard and 2. stay on line and clean and you will do well at this sport. Training isn't complicated. You only have to remember 2 things.
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