Many people train on class 1-2 water. Even when there is a good whitewater course available, they usually train on the run-out below the drops. So, most people are fairly proficient at moves on class 1-2 water. These moves are easier and they are practiced more.
The difficulty comes in doing moves through big drops. The class 3-4 moves through drops. If you want to move up, you have to be good at these moves. Eventually you will get better at these moves if you do lots of full lengths and race at the big races but it takes years to get the experience this way.
If you want to get better faster at these more difficult moves through the big drops you need to practice them. A lot. If you do full lengths, you will do the move at the biggest drop on the course once per run. If you take 6 runs, that means you have run the drop 6 times. And you will get tired because you are doing full length runs of approximately 100 seconds.
Instead, just do the move at the big drop and carry back up. Do a 30 second course and carry back up. This way, you can do the big drop 20 times per workout. Because it's only a 30 second course, you can do it a lot more times. And because you carry back up, you have a long rest between 30 second courses. You can go through 3 or 4 different courses in one workout.
And each time you carry up, you see the move and plan your next run. By looking at the move from shore, you learn more than if you stayed in the boat and just did courses on the run-out below the drop. Because you are viewing it from a more vertical position than from the boat, you have a better view of the water and the line.
This is particulary enhanced if you are training with others who are doing the same course, or if you have a coach, or if your runs are timed, or you can view a video of yourself between runs. You will learn a lot even if you don't have any of these things, but you will learn even more if you get feedback.
I know of one top racer whose training during the season was almost entirely this type of training. He would set a 4- 5 gate course and run it and carry back up and run it again until he was doing it well, then he would change the course and do it some more.
By doing this, you really make a lot of progress on the difficult moves on courses and on running big drops, which gives you lots of confidence and skill in big races. But most paddlers don't do this because they prefer to stay in the boat and just recycle on courses below the drops where they can paddle back up.
If you really want to make progress, find a good big drop where you can do a course and carry back up and keep changing the course so you keep learning. You will learn more this way than any other type of training that I know of. It's the secret to get good for the big races.
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