Pics courtesy of Lisa N

Lisa, a Dennis, and Valerie at the paddlers party. Despite an otherwise gorgeous week of sunshine, pouring rain and a semi-enclosed venue meant I had to bust out the parka. The Canadians were amused to see down in Arizona.




Wasabi Women prepare for a race at the Arizona Dragon Boat festival. We took gold in the 500M and won the 250M race.




San Diego men saved the day by joining the Desert Paddle Green (camp mix-up crew) for our races. They were great guys. Big thanks to Les for helping us put together a good crew, and to these guys for lending us some male muscle!




Lisa Neilson from Vancouver - a paddle camp participant and lead stroke for Desert Paddle Green's mix-it-up crew.




Jackie and Cat, coach and Water's Edge staff, enjoying themselves after a seriously long week of coaching, organizing, and hosting the AZDBA races.




Many thanks to Lisa N for the photos above. Click the link at the right to her photo album for the camp for more images.

more drill videos

Now that you've seen videos of me in the 'wall drill' and erin doing the same - it's valerie's turn!

Valerie discovered in this drill that her break is in the lower back. This is where the power escapes for her.

This drill demonstrates something that was very effective in general with this camp. With the time we had, the coaches were able to focus on stepping us through each aspect of paddling from the basic building blocks - rather than just going straight to the stroke or worse yet paddling or racing. You'll see in these videos that we start without a paddle, just focusing on generating power to your arm from your feet through your core - initiated from the hips. Then we build up to using a paddle, and then we get in the boat.

The whole camp was structured like this - where we started with a full day just focusing on body position and then built upon that, step by step and piece by piece. Within each piece, everything was broken down into component chunks.

This worked incredibly well and really allowed us to focus on both the process AND the results.

I don't know if the DB track followed the same structure - but this was how the OC track worked and it was great. We went from body position through set up to catch through pull and recovery into turns and techniques and starts all the way to racing. Along the way we covered theory and technique along with practice. We covered training methods and race prep.

As you can probably tell... It was incredibly valuable to me. Anyone who has the chance in the future and who wants to become a better paddler should do this. If, on the other hand, you don't want to become a better paddler or think you can't possibly get better or want to show off how good you are... you might want to pass on what could be a painful experience.

Drills

There has already been some video posted of me doing the "wall" drill.
This drill is fantastic and teaches you so much about being connected through your body - from your toes all the way on to your blade and into the water. It shows you where you break in this "circle of power" and teaches you how to focus on that break as you train.

Here are some videos of Erin doing the same drill.

I can't speak enough about the value of this drill.
It allows you to learn so much. You learn about the value of correct body position, you learn yow to really get weight on to the blade... all while allowing your coach to give you constant input.

I, for example, learned that my sequencing is off and like most guys I initiate with my shoulders instead of my hips. I learned that I don't finish my stroke with a bicep curl. Basically, I learned that I generate a fraction of the power I could be putting into the blade.

I'm seriously considering building a mocked-up OC seat section for this drill.

Amazing experience

I just want to reinforce the other posts -- this was an incredible experience.

I didn't do the DB track at the camp - instead, I did the outrigger track. So my comments will be about the camp as a whole... and the outrigger track in general.

To start with... some photos (all courtesy of Erin):

Jason demonstrating our favorite drill


John


Jason


Lynda preparing the troops


Valerie's crew heading to the start line


More of the same


Mid-sprint OC6s



me mid-sprint

More to follow...

About Finishes - and Rating Up - from Jackie

Something Jackie noted about finishes to our crew yesterday...

She said that the leads don't have to bring the rate up. When we call a focus and "bump" at the finish, and the team starts to power together, the boat will move faster. And we'll naturally rate up with the boat to keep moving effectively with the water.

To me this means that the leads are, in a way, listening to, the boat and feeling it surge and allowing that to dictate the rate coming up, instead of trying to "pull" or "push" the rate up at the finish. An interesting thought...

This ties into something that Andrea said about how it's all about being connected to the water and feeling it. A bit esoteric right now but I think with more paddling experience I will develop this water sense and feel for the boat better.

Connection Drill on Land - from Jason

Had a chance to work with Jason today on getting on top of the paddle more.

In case you didn't read my previous post... The drill is... Paddler sits on a low wall or ledge. Brace feet against the feet of another friend or a wall. Gets in normal body position at the top of the stroke. Will focus on a strong, connected stroke, weight on top of the paddle with top arm. The Coach or a friend puts opposing pressure against your blade with their hand and full body weight behind that, they'll need to scoot along as you apply pressure. This person is playing the part of the 'wall of water' - and is there to spot you if you fall off the wall.)

We started with me holding out my "water side" arm and the coach clasping it - bodyposition is like that at the start of a stroke, hinged forward and rotated. Then I focused on getting a connection all the way through a "circle of power". This circle extends from the bottom of my water side foot, through my lower leg, upper leg, hip, lower back, middle back, upper back, shoulder, arm, wrist, to the hand the coach is clasping. Before I even begin to pull back, I establish that connection and circle all the way from the bottom of my foot, up to the coach's hand. If he can't feel it, I don't have an unbroken circle. Once I find the circle, I pull back, hinging backwards and derotating as in the stroke, to pull the coach towards me.

Once this drill feels good, we add a blade and my top arm in, and I focus on driving on top of the blade, down into the water. I should feel like I will fall out of the boat if the blade (and coach substituting as water) were not there to support me. I should practically lift myself off the seat with my blade - in a boat this would have the effect of transferring weight off the boat and onto the blade, assisting with glide and forward momentum.

Another isometric exercise Jason suggested is sitting forward on the top of a wall, and putting your blade up against the wall next to you, as you would have it in the power phase of your stroke. Focus on proper body position for where you would be in the stroke at that moment, look in a mirror, feel the isometric pressure of your blade against the wall. Sit further back to simulate the catch phase.

More on Dragon Boat Starts - from Jackie

First 6 Strokes
-- The goal is to get the boat moving, with maximum power, efficiently.
-- Your first stroke should start from completely buried and vertical, at about half your normal stroke length from the front.
Important note: Your arms should be slightly bent, not straight. If you were at full stretch position the load wouldn't be stable for you at this point since the boat is still.
-- The next stroke get a little longer - 3/4 of your normal length (starting 1/4 back from where you will be able to reach at full extension.)
-- The third stroke should be at full extension.

Next "Up" Strokes
-- The up strokes are performed in the forward portion of your usual stroke. They should end at by your knees, as opposed to normal/full length strokes that end by your mid-thigh.
Important note: You should not lock your body forward and only rotate in these up strokes. This will deprive the boat of your power. You should still be hinging. Try to perform the full body mechanics of a normal stroke, but end it by your knees.
-- The boat will perform a series of these to lift the boat and get it gliding on top of the water. The number to be performed depends on the team, maybe 10, maybe 16, maybe more.
-- Another important note: when transitioning into the up strokes, transition by doing the front 3/4 or so of the stroke on the first "up" (in other words, end the stroke just before mid thigh), then do a little shorter and end just after your knee on the second "up" stroke, then end your next up stroke and all subsequent ones at your knee.
-- The goal is to get full forward extension but end the normal stroke mechanic at your knee.

We didn't get to the transition today, I'll add it tomorrow.

Notes on Outrigger Starts - from Forum with Jason. Jackie's Comments from Water Time

We had an open forum for Q&A with Jason, and one topic we discussed were starts. Here are some hasty notes...

1. This is the most critical time to be "on top of" the blade - and pole vault forward.
2. Get up to the maximum boat speed at your low gear (a slower start rate), then switch gears (a faster rate) to get your boat moving even faster.
3. The first 4 - 5 strokes (for him) are a slow, deep, hard stroke. Then switch gears and rate up. Be sure to get your weight onto the paddle so that you lift weight off the boat and help it pop.
4. He usually does 3 - 5 hard strokes at less than maximum extension, then does 6 - 10 transition strokes, then does 10 to even 20 quick strokes, then settles into race pace. He usually waits until race pace for switches.
5. During the start, you can afford maximum intensity. You will be in anaerobic alactic (sp?) mode - in other words, the start strokes are for a short enough period of time that you are not creating lactic acid buildup during them, assuming you switch to a regular race pace that is maintainable after them. The damage from these strokes in a very short sprint section are at a nervous system level, but lactic acid isn't created. So these are "free" strokes for you - they have no affect on your performance later in the race. Give them everything you've got and take another boat for "cheap" here instead of fighting lactic buildup and taking it later in the race.

While we out in the water on the dragon boats, Jackie also talked to us about her metaphor for starts.

-- It's like we have a motorcycle and we turn it upside down. We want to spin the tire. Instead of lots of fast slaps with our hands to get the blade turning, we start with a shorter, slower slap. The next slap is a little faster and a little harder. We continue to build until we have a nice fast spinning wheel. But there is a maximum that the wheel will spin, and slapping it faster won't help it move faster. Focus on the right application of your power at the moment when it will do the most good to move the wheel.

-- Also realize that there is a point in the apex of the wheel where your hand still being attached is no longer helping the wheel to spin, you're just getting stuck at the bottom of the apex. This is a bit like getting stuck at the back of the stroke.

-- She extended the metaphor to suggest that we think of the wheel as having knobs on it. You want to grab each knob at the ideal moment and slam it downwards - you watch to catch it and push the wheel down by applying pressure. The catch is like this - there is a moment when you want to catch the water and firmly apply pressure, to have the best effect on forward momentum.

Catch Drills from Jason

Jason guest coached our afternoon DB session today and here are a few quick notes.

-- He really encouraged us to slow down the pace and to add a small pause at the front of the stroke, to help our mash-up team (new to paddling together) stay together on our catch. We have slightly different styles and different exits, and the strokes initiating a small pause helps the crew stay together in these circumstances.

-- We worked on two drills on three drills on the water:

1. An exaggerated pause drill, pausing at the front of the stroke, to get the boat catching together.
2. A drill where we did two very short catch-only strokes (get the blade buried to vertical, then exit immediately and do again), followed by a full/long stroke. Here again, adding a slight pause between the short strokes and a slight pause before the full stroke helped the boat do it better together.
3. A 1 minute executed with a slight pause at the front of the stroke. 20 strokes focused on body position at 70%, 20 strokes focused on the setup for a great catch at 80%, 20 strokes focused on a great, powerful catch and glide, at 90%.

-- Jason also worked with us on the land to work on really feeling the idea of putting our weight on the paddle and "growing on top of the blade" at the catch. We sat on top of a low wall with a partner to brace our feet against. We put our blade to the side. Jason created a huge amount of resistance against the blade and challenged us to pull, while really putting our weight "on top of" the paddle. He said that if he weren't there, we should feel like we would completely topple over and he wanted a lot of commitment. After a couple tries, this really felt incredible. I can see how much extra power you can get if you can get "on" the blade. I felt the strain in my upper abs, in particular.

-- One other note that I heard at Jason at one point, which might be helpful for my exit/recovery challenges... He said to imagine that the back of your stroke is like having your hand on a wall behind you, and you use that wall to push yourself forward to set up for the next stroke. Practice this with your hand on a real wall, then go find that wall of water in your stroke and use it to spring fluidly forward in your recovery.

Fixing the Swayback, Better Hip Rotation - from Kamini

I had a chance to work for a few minutes with Kamini today. She noticed right away that I overextend / overarch my back. There is a "c" in my lower back. This is causing me to get a bit "stuck" in both my rotation and my derotation.

Some things to do to fix it:

1. Focus on tightening the muscles below the ribs all the way to the hips vertically. Try to pull the ribs a little closer to the hip bones. For some people, this would cause a forward collapse but I have the opposite problem in my lower back and need to address it.
2. Make sure that I am not side collapsing out over my water side. To do this, focus on tightening the inside oblique muscles a little, rather than only thinking about getting tall water side.

These two adjustments really helped me feel MUCH more connected in my core.

We also talked about hip rotation. As I focus on driving with my outside leg and really connecting, it may be hard to get the hip rotation I'm looking for. Since the hips are connected, this can be accomplished by focusing on the inside hip instead of the outside hip. Focus on driving the inside hip (and consequently the knee will follow) back. This will cause the outside hip to rotate forward.

My Stuff to Work on (from Jackie - Video)

Note: No longer sitting up past 5 degree power position at the back of the stroke - good!

1. Top hand is still a bit too high in the recovery - there is plenty of room under the paddle, don't lift so high.
2. Top arm is a bit too close in to the head on entry - reach/stretch out with it just as you do with your lower hand. (Do the wrist drill to work on a stable top arm out in front.)
3. Collapse "isn't so bad." ( Direct quote from Jackie. ;) I interpret this to mean there is a still at least a mild collapse, but that it is less important to fix than some other things right now.
4. At the catch, keep the entire arm extended, keep the angle below the armpit to the lat open and extended.
5. Shoulder isn't coming back enough at the exit. Need to learn how to "finish the stroke".

More on Core - Some Exercises from Andrea

Andrea from the FCRCC Women's crew also talked to us about new core stability exercises that she feels are having a huge positive impact on the team. Here are some quick notes...

-- Whatever workout or exercises you are doing, try to do them on an unstable surface. For example, do your bicep curls on a swiss ball. If you get to the point where you can do your full weight and need to make it more difficult, take one foot off the ground.

-- For your tricep pulldowns, kneel on the ball.

Note: You may have to back off your normal weight at first while you get your balance. It may take a month or so to be able to hold stable positions and add in your full weight.

-- Balance on your knees on a swiss ball and toss a ball (or a medicine ball) to a partner. Or line up side to side with your partner and twist to toss the ball to them.

-- Get a bosu ball and balance on it with light weight lifting. When this gets too easy, go to one foot on.

Note: This is about progression. Take it in steps and be patient with yourself.

-- Kneel on the swiss ball. When you are stable and can hold that position, start rotating on it.
Do 10 minor rolls forward, 10 back, 10 to each side. Then add small circiles. Hold your arms out to the sides and twist around.

-- Get on the flat side of a bosu ball and do your pulley / shoulder work there.

-- Lay on the ground and catch a small ball thrown to you from a partner over head, then sit up smoothly and pass it back to your partner in one fluid motion. Add a heavier ball when you can do this easily.

-- Modification - twist your knees and legs to the side and to the exercise above. This will work obliques.

-- Stand side by side with a partner and throw the balls to each other. When you get good, add a bend to the catch. When even better, lift the throwing side leg and balance on it until you catch the ball again.

Core Class

Linda taught us about core strength (the ability to flex/extend large core muscles and create movement) vs. core strability (the ability to hold stable positions). The latter is very important for paddling and often underemphasized in a padllers training plans.

Here is a test for core stability that Linda taught us today. If you can get through this entire test, you have a strong and stable core. Chris made it through this. I didn't. I think with some work I can get there though.

Start in the plank position - butt should be level with rest of body. Hold for 1 minute.
Life right arm up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left arm up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift right leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift right leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Keep right leg up, lift left arm, hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left leg up, lift right arm, hold for 15 seconds.
Return to normal plank and hold for 30 seconds.
(The entire test is 3 minutes long and runs continuously.)

Linda promised to share her notes on core stability training - I will share these once I have them from her rather than trying to recreate from memory.

Our Schedule

Wow! What a great camp so far. Here's the schedule for the DB track I'm on:

Sunday
7:30AM Registration & Clinic Signup
8:30AM Breakfast, Intros, Overview
10 - 11AM Break
11 - 12:30 Stroke Mechanics
12:30 - 2 Break
2 - 3:30 On Water DB Session
3:30 - 4 1 on 1s
4 - 4:30 Stretch

Monday
7:30AM Stretch
8 - 9:30 On Water DB Session
9:30 - 10 1 on 1s
10:15 - 11:15 Core Lesson
11:30 - 2 Break
2 - 3:30 On Water DB Session with Guest Coach from Other Session
3:30 - 4 1 on 1s
4 - 4:30 Stretch

Tuesday
7:30AM Stretch
8 - 9:30 On Water DB Session
9:30 - 10 1 on 1s
10:15 - 11:30 Break
11:30 - 12:30 Video Review of DB Session
12:30 - 2 Break
2 - 3:30 On Water DB Session with Guest Coach from Other Session
3:30 - 4 1 on 1s

Wednesday
7:30AM Stretch
8 - 9:30 On Water DB Session
9:30 - 10 1 on 1s
10:15 - 11:30 Yoga
11:30 - 12:30 Developing Training Programs
12:30 Free! Short Day

Thursday
7:30AM Stretch
8 - 9:30 On Water DB Session (Guest Coach)
9:30 - 10 1 on 1s
10:15 - 11:15 Core
11:30 - 12:30 Erg Work
12:30 - 2 Break
2 - 3:30 On Water DB Session
3:30 - 4 1 on 1s
6 Camp Dinner

My Notes from the Stroke Mechanics Intro

Well, a few of us have heard the Jackie Webber stroke technique spiel before (and if you haven't, you really should sign up for a clinic because she does an awesome job walking you through the mechanics.) Every time someone walks me through this it reminds me of something to work on or I hear something a little differently to help me work on some aspect of my stroke. This time I kept up (mostly) with notes, so here is a synopsis.

I. Seated Position In Boat
-- Always focused on the finishing line, everything pointed towards the finish line.
-- Always focused on linear movement.
-- Stare straight forward.
-- Hips are square on the seat.
-- Your weight should be resting between your glut & hamstring ont he bench.
-- Sit in a dynamic power position - tight tight tight core (front to back and side to side).
-- Hinge forward at the hips to a 5 degree forward lean - the "power position".
-- Your hip is against the gunnel, your body should be inside the boat until you get to your lat - half a lat and up should be outside the boat on the water side. Stay straight up.
-- 70 % of your weight is on your outside bum bone, 30% on your inside (this never changes throughout the stroke!)
-- Feet - need to be in a position where you can brace for power and need to ensure your hips are free to move.

II. Top of Stroke
-- Need to rotate & hinge to get forward.
-- Rotate in a linear manner - eyes towards the finish line.
-- Hinge forward remaining the tight front to back core - don't bob. Go as far forward as possible without collapsing or otherwise impeding the smooth glide of the boat.
-- Rotating forward - starts from the hips, not the shoulders. Wind up your body like an elastic band.
-- The forward rotation sequence for your outside side is: hip, lower back, mid back, upper back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand at a stretch position.
-- Simulataneous to this rotation, hinge forward from your 5 degree power position to a 15 to 20 degree position (whatever you can hold without collapse).
-- At the front of the stroke your eyeball should be behind your knee, chin over mid thigh.
-- You should be at the same height you were when you started at the 5 degree power position - you shouldn't grow or shrink as your rotate forward and pull back.
-- Top art position. Lift your top (inside) arm up to a 40 to 45 degree position, hand higher than your elbow, elbow higher than shoulder. Bend your arm (soften) it so the side and bring it straight over so that it is over the water. Fingers mostly forward towards the finish line. The angle of your elbow here should be locked - it never changes during the stroke.

III. Catch
-- Your blade will enter the water at a 45 degree angle. Why? We want a nice, clean entry. We want to slice into the water as efficiently and smoothly as possible, and we dont' want to bring air bubbles down with us because they can cause slippage.
-- Your blade must be fully buried before you pull back.
-- As the blade enters the water it changes angle and gets buried at a vertical angle. It must be completely buried and hooked to vertical as far forward as possible to ensure the longest possible stroke, but only go as far forward as you can with out compromising the integrity of the stroke.
-- Derotation will start at the hips. Get the blade buried in the water without derotating your hips or shoulders - you should be at your full forward stretch position. Keep the angle between the bottom of your shoulder and your lat open while dropping your blade down into the water. Drop with your shoulders, keeping your core tight tight tight.
-- The blade gets buried and the shaft is now vertical, your top hand is above your bottom hand. You should be able to look over your top hand.
-- You are now ready to do the work of pulling the boat towards your blade. Your blade should feel buried against a wall of concrete - that wall of water you caught.

IV. Pull
-- You want to keep a vertical shaft through the pull for as long as possible.
-- The blade is anchored, hooked in cement. The only thing you can do is get your butt up to the blade. You must not break the reistance of the blade against the water.
-- Consider a pole vaulting metaphor. You want to vault yourself up on top of the blade towards the finish line. You want to be tall up on top of the blade, removing weight from within the boat. You have so much weight on your blade that if it weren't there you might fall over out of the boat.
-- Hinge and derotate back to use your body, not your arms, to pull the blade back.
-- Sequencing: Site back from 15 degrees to 14 degrees (unhinge just a bit from where you were) with NO derotation.
- Then derotate in the same sequence you rotated -- hip, lower back, mid back, upper back. As soon as your shoulders start to derotate, your blade will go from vertical to a negative angle. This means the stroke is basically done, finish the derotation with your shoulders.
- Finish position: You're back at your 5 degree power position. Your shoulders will be a little past square. Your bottom hand will be around mid thigh. Your top hand will be between your shoulder and the gunnel. Follow through the stroke with your top hand. Be careful not to over- derotate (new word!)

V. Recovery
-- Take the blade out of the water. The goal is to do so cleanly, don't steer the boat, minimize your impact on the boat, and don't weight shift.
-- Lift your top hand up and forward at a 45 degree angle, blade still in the water. Let your elbow break slightly outwards. You should be able to run your thumb along the gunnel as you recover.
-- Keep that 70 / 30 weight distribtion. Begin the rotation sequence forward.