When a new race course is set, you have to learn it, study it, analyze it, plan it, visualize it and then refine your plan when you have new information. When you first see the course, you draw on your prior experience to make determinations about how to do the course. You have seen many other race and practice courses and you have probably seen similar moves before. You use the principles you have learned in practice and in racing and apply it to your course analysis.
You first learn where the gates are. One down, two up left, three down, etc. Then, you come up with a "rough draft" of where you want to be throughout the course, not just on the gates themselves, but in between the gates. Boat placement is everything. And how you want your boat to be angled at every point on the course.
After learning the basics of where the gates are and applying your prior experience in analyzing the course, you gather more information. Usually, you can watch the forerunners actually running the course and learn from their runs. This helps you refine your plans. I suggest that you videotape the foreruns so you can replay them to get even more information. And walk the course with a coach or a fellow athlete and learn as much as you can from them about the course.
Then, you use the information you have gathered to refine your plan and to develop a precise idea of exactly how to do every gate. In my humble opinion, it has to be the athlete's plan at this point. The athlete takes in as much information as he can from the coach, but ultimately, it has to be the athlete's plan because he is the one in the boat.
So, at this point, I normally walk the course with an athlete asking questions to get the athlete to articulate his plan. I have already given my input at the information-gathering stage, and now it is the final planning stage, which is the athlete's plan. At each gate, I ask about the athlete's plan.
That certainly does not mean that the plan is set in stone. It just means that there is a precise plan that then can be varied from as new information becomes available. Often, an athlete will vary from Plan A because something went differently and then, you go with Plan B. Or Plan C.
And, often after coming up with a precise final plan, an athlete will get new information in the form of video or watching someone else on the course, or looking at split times, or getting more coaching advice. The plan can get refined and changed as new information becomes available.
Next, there is the visualization stage. The athlete should visualize the course before his run to help implant the plan in his mind. In your mind's eye, go through every move on the course to learn it even better. Close your eyes and imagine yourself going from start to finish. Some people like to time it and see if the visualization time is close to the actual race time.
When you are at a race, you need to study every move on the race course. Look at the current and which way it is going. Study the pole heights. Plan your boat position. Failing to plan is planning to fail. You can't just "wing it". You need to spend as much time as possible studying the course.
And remember that your race is against the race course, not against the other boaters. Watch the other boaters only as a means of improving your run by learning from them. Don't watch them to figure out where you are going to be on the scoreboard. You can learn form others, both the ones who do great moves and those who make mistakes. Learns from the successes and failure of others.
Run your own race- don't be overly influenced or pressured to do something a certain way just because someone else is. Watch the top boaters, but remember that sometimes, what looks fast for them is not the best plan for you.
Somewhat paradoxically, it may be better for younger athletes to watch the k-1ws, rather than the fastest men boaters because the women often use the water to their advantage, rather than trying to out-muscle it as some of the top male racers do. Younger athletes often have less strength and are unable to pull off some of the moves they see older, stronger boaters doing. They are often better served at this point by watching someone who is working with the water, rather than against it.
After the learning stage, the information-gathering stage, the planning stage, the visualization stage and the final planning stage, it's time to execute the plan. Don't be so set on the plan that you forget to look at the water and the gates for more clues as to how you do the course. Have a plan, but it's often necessary to deviate from that plan. You also have a lot of muscle memory and prior experience that will help you execute your plan. Use all of your resources available to make your run the best you can.
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