Coaches are a vital part of every team. The team’s trainer, teacher, mentor, negotiator, problem solver, motivation provider, facilitator, and organizer; a coach is a vital part of the team. Sometimes coaches can be a bit intimidating, especially when you are new to the team. We look up to our coaches, not only because they are selecting the race crew, but also because they hold such in-depth knowledge of the sport. Having a conversation with the coach might not always be easy, but open communication with your coach is essential to your
What’s With the OC1 Time Trials for Dragon Boat Crews? So much time and energy goes into debating the question: “How will we select the best paddlers for the race crew?” I can assure you, your coaches and/or captains lose sleep on this question and realize that you are also losing sleep over this question! That’s partly why there is so much variation in how crews conduct their selection exercises. Some crews run trials where a pair of paddlers must move the whole dragon boat together over a distance; some crews introduce
Think back to your first day on the dragon boat. Chances are, you were given a paddle, a life vest, and a whole boatload of directions. Do you remember much of what was said to you? Probably not. If you were anything like me, your whole focus was on NOT clanking paddles with the people around you. It’s a wonder I even came back for more. Forget about technique. Just getting my timing down was a bonus. How can you help a new paddler through those times when the pain and desperation of paddling make a person want to
Face it, being an active part of a dragon boat team requires a certain amount of commitment. Practices, gym time, races, committees, recruiting, fund raising. All of these things take time out of our regular lives. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love the sport so much. But at what point did you take vows to love, honor and cherish your team? We might not remember exactly when we got married to our team, but for the love of the sport most of us have said “I do” at one point or
Looking to improve your paddling skills this season? Here is a list of the top ten things that successful paddlers do on a regular basis which make them so outstanding. 1) Set goals Successful paddlers have a path of progress in mind. They set goals in order to determine the best route to achieving those objectives. Goals can be performance- or habit-based. Examples of performance-based goals might be aiming to make your team’s mixed boat, or shaving two seconds off your time trial. Examples of habit-based goals might be going
As many of us know, dragon boat paddling is an amazing sport. If you have been lucky enough to see a Breast Cancer Survivors’ team, you know how impressive the paddlers are. In 2014, I had the opportunity to volunteer for four days at the IBCPC International Breast Cancer Festival in Sarasota, Florida. I met teams from all over the world as I worked on the docks helping load and unload the boats. I even got to steer a practice for an Italian team. The next IBCPC international event will be
A Few of My Favorite Things If your family exchanges gifts for the holidays, your loved ones may be struggling with finding great paddling-oriented gifts. With the help of some paddling friends, I compiled a list of favorite gifts for dragon boaters. Hint: share this list with your family so they know exactly what you’d like this season. Happy Holidays! 1) A lightweight, carbon fiber paddle with tons of designs to choose from, Hornet Paddle designs are printed directly on the carbon fiber and you can even create your own design! 2) The Dragon Saddle is not
Are you faking it on the dragon boat? Does your reach look amazing in terms of distance, but ends up being ineffective? Recently, I noticed some of the paddlers on my team “faking it” when I asked them to reach or “give me two more inches.” I realized that I was the one causing them to “fake it.” I would ask them to give me two more inches up front, and instead of reaching more with their outside arm, torso hinge, and rotation, they just focused on where the blade tip would
As it is Thanksgiving in the United States, I can’t help but think about all the reasons I’m thankful for dragon boating. Like most people, when I first picked up a paddle years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had never paddled anything more than a kayak, bodyboard or surfboard. I had never even heard of dragon boating before! I thought to myself, “People do this for FUN?!?” I still tell newbies the story of how on my first day of practice we paddled
A new dragon boat paddler doesn’t get many weeks in a boat until they’re asked, “But, have you ever tried outrigger?” An astute new paddler will note that dragon boating is but one fast, sprinty, splashy, corner of a very large and comprehensive paddling universe. Becoming a part of the broader universe of single-bladed paddling should be a goal of any dedicated dragon boat paddler. For many people, dragon boating is like a “gateway drug” to the paddling universe. Tweet it! A new paddler is likely to wonder, “What do I gain
