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
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
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
We’ve trained all season, we’ve worked hard, we’ve won (and sometimes lost) medals. Everyone sees the work that happens on the water or in the gym. We get rewarded for that work with the medals we earn at races. But what about all the other things that help make a good team the smooth, well-oiled machine that it is? It’s important to recognize those who make a positive difference in our sport! Tweet it! For many of us in the northern hemisphere our season has come to a close or is
We’ve all got teammates who aren’t even close to being on our list of “cool people we want to hang out with.” Some drive us crazy, some we can’t stand, and some we just wish would quit the team. What do you do about these teammates? I’m sure you are wishing that I would say to kick them out of the club, right? Sorry. You aren’t going to hear that. A team, like a family, involves all kinds of members with various personalities. And as much as these people might drive
The decision to transition a team from a recreational, social one to a more competitive team is often a difficult one which might be met with some resistance. Paddlers who are accustomed to showing up to an occasional practice and yet still racing with the team will perhaps struggle with the idea of being asked participate in fitness testing and to commit to a more rigorous training schedule. However, paddlers who are eager to take it up a notch will be happily challenged by the new rigors. So, how does a team go about
