Now that your team has made the decision to become more competitive, it is important to begin some type of testing in order to track the progress of paddlers and to determine the stronger paddlers who are able to compete at this new level. The former method of allowing all paddlers to participate on the race boat regardless of experience or ability will no longer work. You cannot place inexperienced or lower-level paddlers on a competitive race boat and expect to compete with the big dogs. So, how do you determine who is ready?
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
Have you ever wondered what role attitude plays on a dragon boat? How a paddler’s attitude can contribute to or impede the success of a team? When the team is in a stressful situation, such as heading into the final heat of a race, paddlers need to have their wits about them. One bad attitude can seriously disrupt that focus. A paddler could be the most amazing athlete in the entire world, yet with a bad attitude, he or she becomes one of the most toxic parts of the team. Tweet it! Attitude is
Whether you plan to try out for your country’s national team, or you simply want to feel stronger on the boat, training sessions are essential for your paddling development. I recently had a paddler tell me, “I feel like I’m not getting any better.” I asked, “Well, how often do you practice?” She sheepishly smiled and said, “Not that often.” I see the problem. Don’t neglect the training time off the water There is a reason we have the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” Paddling, like most things in life, doesn’t improve without
Whether you have been a lifelong athlete, or have recently found yourself getting sporty, you have likely discovered that paddling has helped improve your life in countless ways. The most obvious improvements focus on the health benefits. Paddling is great cardio, makes you stronger and more fit and can even help you lose weight. But what about the other benefits? The focus, drive and determination that it requires to advance your paddling skills don’t simply stop when you get off the boat. Being an athlete develops a discipline that transfers to all aspects of your
Next survey: Why do you dragon boat? I’d love to hear what brought you to dragon boating and what keeps you paddling year after year. Please take a minute to fill out this short, five-question survey: Why Do You Dragon Boat? I look forward to reading your answers! Thank you in advance for taking the time to participate.
People are always asking me about what I eat and what kind of food I encourage my teams to eat on race days. So, I thought I’d write a post about it. First off, let me say that I am not a nutritionist. I use information gathered from other reliable sources and make decisions based on how various foods make me feel after I eat them. For example, a bowl of Heath Bar Crunch ice cream (my favorite!) makes me feel tired and weak. A piece of chicken, brown rice, and
As a former teacher and a current coach, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the learning process of individuals. Whether it is academic material or athletic movements, learning new things is a difficult endeavor which can be frustrating. When newbies come out to paddle for the first time, it is important for coaches and teammates to remember that for most people paddling involves completely new body movements. We grow up kicking or throwing a ball, running, jumping, etc. Not many of us were lucky enough to grow up with a paddle in
A Rookie’s Guide to The Dragon Boat World Championships in Welland: Wise Words from Veteran Paddlers
If you are a rookie to Team USA, or your own country’s national team, this guide is for you. After all of the preparation, Welland is just about in sight, which means at this point everything you’ve been doing for the last two years will soon come down to a few minutes of racing on dragon boat’s biggest stage. The physical training is tough, but practices have taken care of preparing the body. What about the other parts of World Championships – the parts that nobody tells you about? That’s
No one likes to sit on the bench while the rest of the team competes. Everyone wants to be in the race. So, should a racing team only consist of 20 paddlers in order to avoid having paddlers sit out? That doesn’t really make sense. Every team has some paddlers who sit out more often than they compete in races, but does this make them any less of a teammate than the race crew? Definitely not. The role of the reserve paddlers (often called subs or spares) is simply different from the
