Ron Lugbill Whitewater Slalom Racing Blog

stroke timing

Stroke Timing

Many paddlers get used to paddling on flatwater and don't learn proper stroke timing to take advantage of waves and drops in whitewater.  Stroke timing is important.  You can hesitate to plant the paddle at just the proper spot- you shouldn't necessarily maintain a steady cadence.  You can also double up (or triple up) on strokes on one side, rather than always alternating right-left-right-left.

You can also increase the stroke rate or decrease it, depending on the situation.  For example, you might want to increase the stroke rate when starting from a standstill on flatwater, but might want to do more guiding and steering strokes once the boat is up to full speed on fast-moving current.

You usually want to place your stokes on each wave, catching the full wave with your blade, rather than placing your paddle in the trough between waves.  Also, when your boat is on top of a wave is a good time to turn, since the ends of the boat are in the air, and there is less resistance to the turn. 

On artificial courses, where there are strong upstream currents in the eddies, you often want to be paddling on the upstream side when entering the eddy.  That way, your boat won't get spun out on the eddy line before you get to the upstream gate.  Try to maintain the boat speed through the eddy and the upstream gate and back into the current.

When running steep drops, you often want to get in a good stroke right before the drop to lift the bow up and to keep it from dropping down at the bottom of the drop.  Another critical moment is when paddling through a hole, you usually want to reach to the far side of the hole to pull yourself through, rather than catching the water that is flowing upstream in the hole itself.

It's important to try to place your strokes, to wait a second sometimes or to do a very short stroke so that the stroke timing is appropriate.  Stroke timing is crucial and needs to be studied for each course.  Any additional comments on stroke timing, readers?

talent can be developed

Talent Can Be Developed

Many people believe that only a certain few people have the necessary talent to become very skilled at an athletic activity.  But more recent research shows that talent can be developed.  It's a process called myelination in the brain.  Here is a link to an article about myelination and sport:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/the_making_of_talent_myelination

Deliberate, focused practice builds myelination that is focused and precise.  Sloppy, substandard practice builds sloppy, careless myelination.  It's not just the amount of practice, it's the focus that you bring to practice that makes the difference between the winners and the also-rans.

Going through the motions in practice produces sloppy brain patterns that you will repeat in races.  If you have highly focused practices, your brain will get used to that pattern and replicate it at competitions.

Yes, there are certain body types that won't excel at certain sports.  For example, a large muscular frame is not best suited to being a great jockey.  But the idea that athletes are born, rather than made is not supported by science.

In our sport, I have seen both short and tall paddlers perform at the highest levels.  Both muscular and thin athletes do well in whitewater slalom racing.  You may have to work on your weak points, but your success or failure in this sport was not pre-ordained at birth.

By doing lots of quality practice and making it as high-quality and focused as possible, you will improve the myelination in your brain and therefore your performance on the race course.  The difference is not in your genes, but in your brain.  Here is the link to the article about talent and myelination:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/the_making_of_talent_myelination 

 

start practices with short speed training

Start Practices With Short Speed Training

Here is an interesting article about doing very short speed courses at the beginning of training sessions:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/speed_and_skill_optimization_a

The article recommends doing 6-8 all-out sprints of about 6 seconds each at the beginning of your workout.  The rest periods should be approximately 50-75 seconds between sprints.

The author states that most coaches know about the strategies and techniques in their sport, but know little about how best to develop speed and technique.  Many coaches have as their aim to tire out the athletes in order to develop endurance.

However, this approach fails to develop speed and technique, which are the most important qualities of most sports, including ours.  Speed and technique should be worked on in early in training sessions when you are fresh, not later on. 

When you are tired, you cannot develop speed because you won't be going at top speed.  And you can't develop new technique when tired either- the athletes aren't receptive at that point because of the fatigue.  You should strive to maintain good form when you are tired and the coach should emphasize maintaining good form if the athletes are tired because it is easy to develop bad habits and ingrain poor technique when fatigued.

So, start workouts by doing speed work.  This takes less than 10 minutes but will make you much faster. This article recommends 6-8 sprints all-out with about 1 minute rest in between each sprint. 

If you have a group of boaters and they wait a little between each paddler, this comes out to about 1 minute rest.  If you time each paddler on the sprints, it encourages them to go all-out and gives them some feedback on how they are doing. 

So, the new training paradigm is to concentrate on speed and technique work, especially in the first half of workouts.  Slogging it out doing long loops will not make you faster or improve your technique.  It's not hard work alone that will make you better- it's smart work that will bring you better results.  Here is the link to the article:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/speed_and_skill_optimization_a

four ways to get faster

Four Ways to Get Faster

Here is an article that compared 4 different methods of training to improve acceleration.  Acceleration is very important in our sport because at every turn, you lose speed and have to get the boat back up to speed.  Here is the link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21912294

The 4 different types of training were: 1. free sprint training 2. weight training 3. plyometric training and 4. resisted sprint training.

All 4 methods increased acceleration from 0-10 meters by 9-10%.  So, all 4 of these methods are effective in increasing acceleration.

If you want to get faster, you should be doing at least one or these methods, preferably more than one method.  You can alternate days, so you use one method one day, then another method the next day. 

Free sprint training is a very effective, specific means of improving your acceleration.  Just do some repeated short sprints when you are fresh with some rest in between sprints.  You can do this with straight forward paddling and on gates.  It's good to do some of both straight ahead sprints and short timed gate sequences.

Weight training is also an effective means of improving your time.  There are some blog posts here about weight training- just look in the archives.  For best results, do heavy weights with low reps and multiple sets.  Look at weight routines designed to build strength and power, not muscle size, and lift on alternate days, not daily.

Plyometrics also increase acceleration.  Clap push-ups are an example of plyometrics.  You can also do complexes, where you do a heavy weight exercise, then rest and then a corresponding plyometric exercise.  Do just a few reps when fresh for power, not endurance, then rest and repeat.

And weighted sprint training is another way to get fast.  Sprinters sometimes sprint uphill or pull a weighted sled or use a weighted vest.  Paddlers can have someone hold their boat while they paddle, or tow something behind the boat to create some resistance.  Do this for 10-15 seconds, then have a complete rest and repeat.

You don't get faster by long slow slogging it out on loops.  You can get faster by using these 4 methods though.  Here is the link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21912294 

very short sprint training

Very Short Sprint Training

Here is an article from a swimming science website about doing very short sprint training:

http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/bullets/ultra28.htm

Swimmers are not known for doing this type of training.  Swimmers usually do lots of distance.  This type of training isn't prevalent in swimming circles.  However, this article is research-based and makes the point that to have effective training, you should do as much training as possible at race pace or faster. 

If you do intervals of less than 15 seconds, you won't build up lactic acid in your muscles.  You won't be as fatigued, so you can do lots of repetitions at a high rate of speed without too much muscle fatigue, so you can do many repetitions.  The article describes 90 repetions of 15 seconds each.

Interestingly, the article also describes relatively short rest periods of 30 seconds between repetitions.  And it's important that the short sprint training be done at the beginning of a training session.  Many coaches do sprints at the end of a training session and this is ineffective in building speed.

The article indicates that since this type of training is less fatiguing, you can do it more frequently than 30 or 60 second training.  With more training done at race speed or faster than race speed, the body adapts to going at this pace more.  That is the concept- do more training at race pace or faster so the body will be used to this pace and will learn that is the pace to go.

Since I am not a swimmer, I had to look up the top times for 100 meters in swimming.  It's around 50 seconds.  Our sport is a little longer than this time- 90 seconds or so.

I understand that most slalom racers don't train this way.  This blog is not intended as a status quo blog, describing paddling tradition.  This blog is mostly research-based, not tradition-based.  I am trying to bring some up to date science to our sport to help people who are looking for new methods to get faster. 

I also know that most people won't want to try new and different methods.  Most people are happy just doing what everyone is doing and just love to paddle for fun.  But if you are looking for something different- if you want to get faster, you can try this type of training.  Here is the web site:

http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/bullets/ultra28.htm 

times, videos, analysis, or watch others?

Times, Videos, Analysis, or Watch Others?

Feedback in your training is very important.  There are varied forms of feedback.  One form is to have a coach watch your run and then tell you how to do it better next time (analysis).  Another form of feedback is to have someone time you and count penalties so you can compare times and learn which way is faster (timing).  A third form of feedback is to do a video of your run and watch it between runs so you can see how you did and figure out how to do it better (video).  Finally, you can watch others between runs and learn from their mistakes and their successes (watching others).

You can learn something from each of these forms of feedback.  I suggest that you use various forms of feedback because you can learn something from each method.  And different approaches can be combined, for example, you can watch others, get coached and get timed all on the same course at the same time.

And some people might learn in different ways and prefer different types of feedback.  Or, you might prefer different types of feedback at different periods in your paddling career.  Very young paddlers might not be that interested in watching videos after practice, but they can probably learn a lot by watching other boaters and by getting coached and timed.

More advanced boaters often like to get videoed and watch the videos of the various boaters and figure things out on their own.  Getting coaching advice is the standard feedback approach for all levels of paddling.  But just getting your time and penalties is a clear-cut method for figuring out a course.  You may think something looks fast on video, but when you time it, find out it's actually slower.

So, what is your preferred type of feedback?  I am looking for comments and feedback on types of feedback. 

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.

metrosexual paddling

Metrosexual Paddling

Metrosexuals and paddling may not seem to have much in common.  Metrosexuals are guys who live in big cities and care a lot about their appearance.  They wear designer suits and shine their shoes and go to hair stylists, not barbers.  They do laser hair removal treatments and whiten their teeth.  They stay clean and smell nice.

Most paddlers are not like this.  Paddlers get messy and dirty and don't care much about their appearance.  Paddlers don't like metrosexuals.

But I have come to appreciate a certain style of paddling that I will call metrosexual paddling.  It's a crisp, clean style of paddling where you don't just slog down the course with poor technique.  You maintain nice style and proper form throughout every training session. 

You keep a straight back.  Any leans come from the hips, not a slouch forward.  The paddle appears light in your hands and your movements are quick, not sluggish.

Sluggish paddling is the opposite of metrosexual paddling.  It comes from doing long, tiring loops courses or trying too hard on short timed courses and losing your technique in the process.  In your efforts to have a faster time or to complete one last loop, your technique falls apart and you start bobbing the boat, putting your chin down, and grimacing.

Instead, you need to maintain proper technique no matter what.  Even if you are tired, even if you might be 1/10 of a second slower or whatever, you need to maintain that picture-perfect style.  Just like a metrosexual.

When you are tired, if you can't maintain proper technique, you should end the workout.  The worst thing you can do is to ingrain bad habits and poor technique.  Top racers never do this.  They keep excellent technique at all times.  In other words, they care about their appearance, just like a metrosexual.

 

rate of force development decreased by endurance training

Rate of Force Development Decreased by Endurance Training

Here is a link to an interesting study that compared a strength training only group with a strength training plus endurance training group:

http://greatist.com/fitness/muscle-building-better-workout-tips-research/

Interestingly, the strength only group significantly improved rate of force development, whereas the rate of force development actually decreased in the strength training plus endurance training group.  In other words, strength training alone increases your power, whereas strength training plus endurance training reduces your power.

The endurance training in the study started at 30 minutes of endurance training and progressed to 60 to 90 minutes of endurance training.  That is why the rate of force production went down.  The body became accustomed to the slower movement of the long endurance training.

If the training were done at or near top speed, there would not be a decrease in the rate of force development.  Short sprint training that is done at or near full speed would not decrease rate of force development. 

This is why I favor short courses done at or near full speed, rather than longer endurance training or loops.  Speed training or speed endurance training will help you maintain your power, whereas endurance training for periods of 2 minutes or more will decrease your power.

Our sport is not a pure power sport like shot put or javelin, but power is important, along with technique, speed, speed endurance, quickness, and strength.  So, decreasing your power is not an effective strategy for improving your performance. 

The research does not support doing long distance endurance training for our sport.  Instead, work on strength, speed, speed endurance, quickness, power and technique.  Here is the link to the article:

http://greatist.com/fitness/muscle-building-better-workout-tips-research/ 

 

don't exercise- train instead

Don't Exercise- Train Instead

Don't exercise.  Instead, train for your sport.  There is a difference between exercise and training.  Exercise is what most people do so they don't gain weight or so they feel better or look better.  Training is what athletes do to get better at their sport.

This is not just a difference of terminology.  It's a difference in what you do.  For example, if you exercise, you might do some cardio a couple times per week.  And you might go paddle a couple times per week.

If the paddling isn't slalom paddling at or near race pace or something close to our sport, it's not really training, it's exercise.  The cardio isn't really training either- it's exercise to keep from gaining weight and to get in general condition, not particularly designed to make you any faster or cleaner in whitewater slalom.

Basically, if your "training" isn't designed for whitewater slalom racing, it's exercise, not real training.  That doesn't mean that cross-training isn't a good thing to do sometimes, but it's not really training for slalom racing.  And if an exercise is specifically designed to help you in slalom racing, you can consider it to be training. 

For example, if you do a strength-training program that is designed to help you get stronger for slalom racing, then it counts as training.  But if the weight program you are doing is designed more to build size or to tone or otherwise improve your appearance, it's not designed for slalom racing- it's designed for beach purposes. 

Most of the people you see in the gym are not training for whitewater slalom racing.  They are mostly not even really training for sports- most are training for purposes of appearance or how they feel.  So, don't train like them.  If you aren't sure how to train, you can read some of the other posts in this blog or look at what strength and conditioning coaches recommend for other sports and adapt them to our sport.

Crossfit is an example of exercise, not training.  It's not designed for any particular sport.  It's designed to get you in good overall condition, but given the high number of injuries in Crossfit, it doesn't appear to be so effective even in that respect. 

If you are training, you work your body in specific ways so that your body gets stronger in those particular muscles.  With Crossfit, the exercises are constantly varied, so your body isn't clear about which movements it needs to get stronger in.  This is what they call muscle confusion.

Your muscles shouldn't be so c0nfused.  They should be clear about what needs to be rebuilt in a stronger way because of the demands placed on them. 

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't develop general strength or you shouldn't develop opposing muscles.  You should develop general strength and you need to develop opposing muscles to avoid injury.  However, the bulk of your work should be working the muscles you use in slalom racing in a specific way, mostly by paddling slalom at race pace or faster.

That is what training is for our sport in a nutshell.  Exercise is almost everything else.  Exercise is what your neighbor does when he goes for a jog.  Exercise is what the people at the gym are doing.  Training is what Olympic athletes do.  Training is what professional athletes do.  So, train, don't just exercise.

 

basic principles of slalom racing

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.

Times or Analysis?

Times or Analysis?

I have noticed that there are 2 types of analysis in whitewater slalom racing.  One is quantitative analysis based on times, by doing splits and timed runs.  The other is qualitative analysis, based on observing an athlete, and providing feedback about how to do the course better.  In quantitative analysis, the emphasis is on the time, and in qualitative analysis, the emphasis is on the technique.

Bill Endicott is a former coach, who produced many world champions using a quantitative approach to the sport.  His training sessions almost always involved timing athletes on the course so then the athlete could use this feedback to determine whether the moves he made were faster or slower.  It is possible to do a move that seems faster, but is actually slower. 

And it's also possible that conventional wisdom about proper technique is sometimes wrong.  For example, classic upstream technique is sometimes slower than using a backstroke-pivot move in an up.  And sometimes a smoother paddler looks better in terms of his technique, but is actually slower than someone with rougher technique who simply pulls harder.

On the other hand, a qualitative approach gives the athlete a guide on how to get faster.  The quantitative approach only tells the athlete the end result.  It doesn't tell the athlete how to get faster or do the course better on his next run.  The qualitative approach is the classic coaching technique.  You tell the athlete where he went wrong and how to improve on his run the next time.

Combinations of these two techniques are also possible.  It's hard for a coach to be both running a stopwatch and analyzing technique.  But if you are only coaching one athlete at a time, this is certainly possible. 

Or, different techniques could be employed at different levels of the paddler's development.  For example, use a qualitative technique for beginning and intermediate paddlers, but switch to a more quantitative approach for expert and world-class paddlers.

Or, it might depend upon the course.  More difficult course moves may mean that a more qualitative approach be used, while easier, while a quantitative technique may be better for a more straight-forward course. 

Alternatively, a more qualitative approach may work better in the off-season when you are working on technique.  And a more quantative method may be more appropriate closer to the big races when you are trying to avoid major technical changes and just trying to get information to the athletes.  The athletes then can use the quantitative information to help in their decision-making process about how to do a course.

 

Speed Training and Skill Training First

Speed Training and Skill Training First

This is one of the best articles I have run across in terms of sports coaching:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/speed_and_skill_optimization_a

The article talks about how there is a window of opportunity during each session when speed and skill training should be done.  After a warm-up, you should work on speed and technique, not later in the workout.

You learn much more when fresh than when you are tired.  And you develop your speed by going fast, not by training when you are already tired.  When you are tired, you will not be going at full speed.  To develop speed, you need to go all-out, for very short distances (max. 10 seconds), have a full rest (at least a minute rest) and do the speed work early in the training session, when you are fresh.

If you do "speed" training later in the workout, you won't be able to go at top speed, so you won't be making yourself faster.  You will be doing work capacity training, not speed training.  It's better to do work capacity training later in the workout, not early.

Yet coaches in many sports do "conditioning" such as sprints at the end of workouts.  Everyone feels like it was a good workout because they feel tired.  Somehow people equate that feeling of exhaustion with having a good workout.  But the sprints at the end of a workout do not develop speed.  You are already tired at that point, so your muscles aren't going as fast as they can, so you aren't training your muscles that they need to be able to move faster.

The article suggests combining technique training with speed training at the beginning of the workout because you need a break between sprints anyway.  For example, do a short sprint, then work on sweep strokes for a minute, then do a short, all-out sprint and work on feathering your paddle. 

Learning skills when you are tired is ineffective.  Skill develoment is much more likely when an athlete is fresh than when he is tired.  You can't teach an old dog new tricks.  And you can't teach a tired dog new tricks either.  You need a fresh eager dog in order to effectively teach him new tricks.

Anyway, this is an important article about how to do skill development and speed training early in the workout when you are fresh.  Here is the link:

http://xlathlete.com/blog/articles/entry/speed_and_skill_optimization_a