Welcome Onboard Fellow Storm Paddlers From Sweden!

Today we would like to welcome onboard our fellow Storm Paddlers who will be joining us from Sweden this March for Storm Gathering USA 2017 in Trinidad, California.

For more details about the event, visit the Storm Gathering USA website today!

To register, go to this page on the symposium website.

For more information, e-mail, info@greenlandorbust.org.

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Sea Kayak Essentials

Sea Kayak Essentials from Kayak Essentials on Vimeo.

Sea Kayak Essentials is a new instructional DVD that focuses on solid foundation skills for advanced performance with structured chapters covering the essentials of boat speed; angle and trim; body position; and stroke linking. Sea Kayak Essentials addresses the fundamentals of posture, connectivity, feel and power transfer as well as the core skills of forward paddling, balancing and turning, use of the skeg and boat awareness exercises.

Sea Kayak Essentials is presented and performed by Nick Cunliffe, an active and experienced BCU level 5 sea kayak coach. Technical analysis and coaching progressions are provided by Nick throughout the DVD.

The DVD is currently available for pre-order at £19.95, including free postage within the United Kingdom. Comprehensive technical notes that accompany Sea Kayak Essentials can be downloaded here as a PDF file.

Spring Rolling

Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson of Kayak Ways will be coming to Wales and offering 2 days of coaching on 7th and 8th May 2011. The classes will be on Llyn Padarn, Llanberis and are a fantastic opportunity for anyone wanting to learn to roll. Click on the above image to enlarge it for more information.

They use ‘skinny sticks’ (Greenland paddles), but you don’t have to use a Greenland paddle to benefit from the teaching. I’ve had a bit of coaching from Cheri & Turner and they are excellent teachers. This is what they do all the time and it shows. They are quick to spot what people are doing wrong and have lots of tips for correcting it. They are also lovely people with plenty of interesting stories about competing in the rolling competition in Greenland, making their own kayaks and paddles, and getting out on the water all over the world. 

Places are limited to 8 people per day, so contact Cheri and Turner if you have any questions, or to book your place e-mail them at: info @ kayakways.net

Acknowledgements: text and main image courtesy of Justine Curgenven

Abseiling

Belaying

Cycle for Reflection

Graham Gibbs’ (1988) model of reflection provides a structured way of carrying out reflective practice for those who may require guidance on techniques. This model originated from the teaching profession but can be easily transferred for use within of coaching and leadership settings. Gibbs' model incorporates all the core skills of reflection. Arguably it is focused on 'reflection-on-action', but with practice it could be used to focus on reflection in and before action.

Stage 1: Description of the event

Describe in detail the event you are reflecting on.

Include e.g. where were you; who else was there; why were you there; what were you doing; what were other people doing; what was the context of the event; what happened; what was your part in this; what parts did the other people play; what was the result.

Stage 2: Feelings and Thoughts (Self awareness)


At this stage, try to recall and explore those things that were going on inside your head. Include:

How you were feeling when the event started?
What you were thinking about at the time?
How did it make you feel?
How did other people make you feel?
How did you feel about the outcome of the event?
What do you think about it now?

Stage 3: Evaluation


Try to evaluate or make a judgement about what has happened. Consider what was good about the experience and what was bad about the experience or what did or didn’t go so well

Stage 4: Analysis

Break the event down into its component parts so they can be explored separately. You may need to ask more detailed questions about the answers to the last stage. Include:

What went well?

What did you do well?

What did others do well?

What went wrong or did not turn out how it should have done?

In what way did you or others contribute to this?

Stage 5: Conclusion (Synthesis)

This differs from the evaluation stage in that now you have explored the issue from different angles and have a lot of information to base your judgement. It is here that you are likely to develop insight into you own and other people’s behaviour in terms of how they contributed to the outcome of the event. Remember the purpose of reflection is to learn from an experience. Without detailed analysis and honest exploration that occurs during all the previous stages, it is unlikely that all aspects of the event will be taken into account and therefore valuable opportunities for learning can be missed. During this stage you should ask yourself what you could have done differently.

Stage 6: Action Plan 

During this stage you should think yourself forward into encountering the event again and to plan what you would do – would you act differently or would you be likely to do the same?

Here the cycle is tentatively completed and suggests that should the event occur again it will be the focus of another reflective cycle.

Frameworks for Reflection

John Dewey identified three characteristics or attitudes of people who are reflective  - open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness. At a basic level models of reflection exist to provide guidance to help us look back over events that have happened and to turn them into learning experiences for the future. In essence models of reflection help us to:

Look at an event - Understand it - Learn from it

There are a variety of strategies to implement reflective practice. Donald Schon refers to ‘reflection-in-action’ as analysis in the present tense (during the performance of a task) and 'reflection-on-action' as  retrospective analysis (after the performance of a task). Killion and Todnem (1991) categorize reflection in three directions:

Firstly, reflection-on-action requires looking back on what one has accomplished and reviewing the actions, thoughts, and product.

Secondly, reflection-in-action. In this activity, the individual is responsible for reflecting while in the act of carrying out the task. If, for example, the student is writing a story and has left out the setting, reflection-in-action could guide the correction of a major component of the story writing.

The final reflective form centres on reflection-for-action. This reflection form expects the participant to review what has been accomplished and identify constructive guidelines to follow to succeed in the given task in the future.

Reflection for action - Before
Forethought

Strategic Planning
Influential processes which precede efforts to act and set the stage for action
Goal setting increases self-efficacy and intrinsic interest
Self-motivation beliefs increase:

• Commitment

• Self-efficacy
• Outcome expectations
• Intrinsic interest/value
• Goal Orientation

Reflection in action - During
Performance or Volitional Control
Processes that occur action and affect attention and action

Self-observation, self-recording, self-experimentation allows learners to vary aspects of their performance

Self-control processes help learners to focus on tasks and optimize efforts including:

• Self-instruction
• Imagery
• Attention focusing
• Task Strategies

Reflection on action - After
Self-reflection

Self-judgment- Self-evaluation & Casual attribution

Self-reaction - Self-satisfaction/affect &Adaptive-defensive response

Processes which occur after performance efforts and influence a person’s response to that experience
Planning and implementing a strategy provides an evaluation metric for learners to attribute successes or failures to, rather than low ability

Discussing Reflective Practice

“Reflection is an activity by which experience is recaptured, thought about and evaluated.. reflection as a learning activity is said to be intentional and purposeful with the aim of changing behaviour.” (Boud et. al, 1985)

Donald Schon, an influential writer on reflection, described reflection in two main ways: reflection in action and reflection on action. Reflection on action is looking back after the event whilst reflection in action is happening during the event. To complicate matters there are different interpretations of reflection on action. Let’s now explore these terms.

Reflection in action means

“To think about what one is doing whilst one is doing it; it is typically stimulated by surprise, by something which puzzled the practitioner concerned.” (Greenwood, 1993)

Reflection in action allows the practitioner to redesign what he/ she is doing whilst he/she is doing it. This is commonly associated with experienced practitioners. However, it is much neglected.

Reflection on action is defined as:

“The retrospective contemplation of practice undertaken in order to uncover the knowledge used in practical situations, by analysing and interpreting the information recalled.” (Fitzgerald, 1994: 67)

We can see here that reflection on action involves turning information into knowledge, by conducting a cognitive post mortem.

Alternatively Boyd & Fales suggest reflection on action is:

“The process of creating and clarifying the meanings of experiences in terms of self in relation to both self and world. The outcome of this process is changed conceptual perspectives” (Boyd & Fales, 1983: 101)

We see here that Boyd and Fales focus more on self development. Here refection does not only add to our knowledge but challenges the concepts and theories we hold. Furthermore as a result we don’t see more, we see differently.

Atkins and Murphy (1994) take this idea one step further and suggest that for reflection to make a real difference to practice we follow this with a commitment to action as a result.

The problems with these views of reflection on action are that they do not take account of the importance of reflection before action (Killion and Todnem (1991).

Discovering Reflective Practice

It seems to me that the notion of "reflective practice" offers a highly challenging paradigm for learning and a means of enhancing the coaching process. Central to any learning episode needs to be a specific practice event, experienced uniquely and differentially, often by a small number of people. The outcome of which is to likely derive a number of more abstract generalisations that can be applied to future situations.

The acquisition of knowledge through the medium of reflection is not a new concept; Plato argued that to know something required recollection and is therefore a reflective and introspective process. Some consider it a transformation process whereby experience and theory become knowledge. Others take the view that whilst reflection enhances our knowledge it may also confront our ideas and underpinning theories. Reflecting on a situation allows us to develop and view things differently. Bill Taylor, BCU Level 5 Inland Coach, regards reflection to be a potent process in gaining a deeper understanding of the reasoning behind why things do or don’t work. Leberman and Martin state that “reflection is fundamentally important, provides a major contribution to personal growth and therefore affects the transfer of learning” (2004: 174).

Cultivating the capacity to reflect in action (while doing something) and on action (after you have done it) is becoming an important feature of training programmes in many disciplines. Another aspect that is also emerging is recognising how the assistance a mentor can be beneficial in gaining the most from an experience. Indeed, it can be argued that 'real' reflective practice needs another person as mentor or supervisor, who can ask appropriate questions to ensure that the reflection goes somewhere, and does not get bogged down in self-justification, self-indulgence or even self-pity!

Reflective learners are likely to be: more self-aware and self-critical; honest about themselves, and open to criticism and feedback; objective in weighing up evidence; open to, and prepared to try, different approaches; curious to discover other approaches, motivated to improve, and more able to carry through independent learning.

Kayak Essentials

Kayaking Essentials - Core Fundamentals for Advanced Performance has been produced by Nick Cunliffe and Matt Giblin, both established and seasoned BCU coaches. It was filmed in a variety of locations throughout North Wales

Within the DVD Nick and Matt focus on the core fundamentals of effective paddling – the principles of power transfer, connection, posture and feel that underpin advanced performance

They begin by building solid foundations on flat water before moving towards the application of these fundamental skills on white water, sea and surf thus demonstrating the basis of effective performance

Key skills include:

• Core fundamentals

• Forward paddling technique

• Turning and steering skills

• Balancing and bracing

Kayak Essentials is destined to become a 'must have' resource for coaches as well paddlers of all abilities and will be released in 2010

Visit www.kayakessentials.co.uk for more details

Advanced Entry Skills

Pre-Launch
Spin
Contact

In!

Photographer: Ian Vaile

Cathy Miller demonstrates the new, perhaps controversial, gymnastic way to get into your sea kayak with the spraydeck already in situ, as discussed by the New South Wales Sea Kayak Club's Training Group

Top Tips - Turning In The Wind

Now there about 100 caveats and quid-pro-quos to this subject. Boat design, paddle length, wind strengh, wave conditions. . . the idea is to introduce some concepts for exploration. Don't go out to practice this is a screaming gale! Find a day when you have just enough wind to be challenging, and see if you can't get the upper hand. When practicing, pay attention to wind direction and speed as neither is completely constant and even minor changes may effect your performance.

Before going out on the water consider your boat's 'trim' which is essentially concerned how weight is distributed from front to back. If the boat is out of balance, for instance if all your gear in the front hatch and the back is empty, your kayak could be wildly 'out of trim. All that extra weight in the front will act as an anchor and the boat is likely to do unusual things in wind and waves - one such phenomena is weathercocking (diagram 1) as the wind is be able to 'push round' the lighter end (in this case the stern of the boat). So remember to think about that when you load your boat. Not a mistake to discover whilst out in the middle of a crossing struggling in rough conditions.

Diagram 1 - Weathercocking (Doug Alderson).

Its also worth noting that trim can also be effected by the position of your seat within the boat. To far back and the boat will leecock (turn down wind) so weight the front. Too far forward and it will weathercock (turn into wind) so weight the back or use the skeg (if fitted).

Turning from a headwind to a crosswind can be accomplished through maintaining good speed, wide sweeping forward strokes and edge control. Adjusting your posture in the boat can help unlock the hull and combined with tilting the boat into wind will bring about an affective turn.

Going from crosswind to downwind can be achieved by adopting an active posture (leaning slightly back) and a positive outside edge. Along with this good boat momentum will assist a stern rudder that moves into a broad reverse sweep and then forward stroke (diagram 2) to shape a downwind course.

Diagram 2 - Downwind Turn (Doug Alderson)

When moving from a following sea to a beam sea or cross wind there are some similarities with the above, good boat speed being one and stern rudder into a supporting sweep being another. However, the difference here is that you might lean into the wave, apply an inside edge and rotate the body to look where you are going.

Lastly, an option to consider when moving from a beam sea back upwind is the use of a bow rudder (diagram 3). The essentials still apply, good boat speed and an active posture (leaning slightly forward). The rudder provides a dynamic pivot point around which you might try an outside edge. Though if swell is present these conditions maybe enough to release the boat hull thus bringing about a quick turn.

Diagram 3 - Upwind Turn (Doug Alderson)

As you know we all have our own little methods. Personally when I'm in any kind of rougher conditions I pay attention to getting my paddle as low with the blades locked in the water. This will keep the wind from grabbing my paddle and forces a wider sweep. Occasionally I'll brake a cardinal rule and slide my hands along the shaft and extend the paddle out much further which gives me a stronger sweep thus requiring less strokes to turn the kayak. Remember, you need to do what works for you and everything I said here can be counter argued by others!

Flexibility

Photographer: Sascha Hüttenhain

Flexibility refers to the absolute range of movement in a joint or series of joints that is attainable in a momentary effort with the help of a partner or a piece of equipment. Flexibility in some joints can be increased to a certain degree by stretching.

Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific skeletal muscle (or muscle group) is deliberately elongated to its fullest length (often by abduction from the torso) in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and reaffirm comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and range of motion. Stretching is also used therapeutically to alleviate cramps.

Stretching, in its most basic form, is a natural and instinctive activity; it is performed by many animals including humans. It can be accompanied by yawning. Stretching often occurs instinctively after waking from sleep, after long periods of inactivity, or after exiting confined spaces.

Many athletes stretch deliberately before or after exercise in order to increase performance and reduce injury. Whether it is helpful, has no effect, or even has detrimental effects is in dispute. While common, it may not be beneficial for all athletic activities.

Photograher: Bob Greenfield

Euro Style Rolling

A useful perspective on rolling for a coach or performer


This video demonstrates the principles of the C-to-C kayak Roll


This video demonstrates the principles the Twist and Slice Roll

Learning to roll has many different dimensions. Not only in the style of roll we may learn but the personal benefits that can be gained from mastering a technique. I feel that learning to roll should be fun and create confidence in the performer. The topic of technique is often over debated, though I agree some methods are more appropriate than others. What is important is how the student discovers the principles of movement involved in bringing the boat into an upright postion. That is the movement of the body, the blade and the boat.

Relaxation

Photographer: Sascha Hüttenhain

Have you noticed how athletes often take a moment just before they act? Picture a track runner at the starting blocks, the golfer checking the fairway when teeing up, the figure skater just before starting her routine. These highly trained individuals are recalling that sensation brought about from engaging in an active process of relaxation. Knowing how to relax your body and muscles enables you to stay in control at times of impending stress. When we are nervous and unsure of our situation, when the wind is up and waves are churning, our bodies can go on high alert which may then generate excess muscle tension, amongst other things. This in turn can create stiffness and loss of flexibility, consequently making us feel a whole lot worse.

Photographer: Sascha Hüttenhain

When paddling, as with any sport, relaxation is the turnkey to an enjoyable and rewarding performance. When you watch athletes, gymnasts or dancers, you can see that their skill is a balance between knowing how to utilise their bodies and knowing when to relax it. In sea kayaking, active relaxation can afford you physical flexibility of movement and the ability to respond to the change in the water's surface under you. It can also give you the mental agility to focus on pending goals, regardless of the conditions. That graceful balance of action and relaxation can bring about enhanced confidence and sheer enjoyment.

Photographer: Sascha Hüttenhain

How to achieve active relaxation? Whilst volumes have been written on this subject, here are some pointers. To begin with, be sure to warm up and loosen your muscles. Sense the tension in your body from toes and fingertips to the trunk, neck, and face. As you focus on it, let it go. Notice your breathing, control it through steady intakes of air and exhail slowly. Your aiming for slow and steady. The more you actively relax, the quicker you'll be able to recreate it when you need it. Later, some day when the wind picks up and the chop rocks your boat, you'll be able to shed that tension and paddle with flexibility, and a degree of serenity which in itself is a beautiful thing!

Photographer: Sascha Hüttenhain

Greenland Style Rolling

Andrew Elizaga performs a range of traditional Greenland kayak rolls in his skin-on-frame East Greenland replica qajaq, demonstrating the grace and beauty of these magnificent seagoing arctic hunting craft. This movie features the name of each sea kayak roll in English, an original musical score and guest appearance by Baby Seal.