Part - 0 - What do I want from an up? Breaking it down.
So in this first article we will run though what we want to achieve in an upstream gate and importantly why we want to do this.
Lets have a look though a short video below showing a few upstream gates, then we can look in more detail what we are looking for/at.
So in this first article we will run though what we want to achieve in an upstream gate and importantly why we want to do this.
Lets have a look though a short video below showing a few upstream gates, then we can look in more detail what we are looking for/at.
So looking at these ups I look at five things.
1 - How much turn done do I have by the time I pass the inside pole?
2 - As I pass the inside pole what momentum do I have and its direction?
3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
5 - How Efficient have I been?
Now we will look at each of these points in more detail.
I want to spend as little time in the upstreams as possible. This normally means spending as much time in the current and as little time in the eddy as possible. The reason for this - In canoe slalom we want to get from the top of the course to the bottom in the shortest amount of time. The water in the current is moving towards the finish line, and the water in the eddy is moving away from the finish line, so with this, it is logical that we spend as much time in the current as possible, and reduce out time around the upstream gate which is in a piece of water moving upstream and away from the finish.
Lets quickly just watch a few more ups. Look at these and think about the 5 things we are looking for, and to try and understand the concept of spending as little time around the up as possible.
1 - How much turn done do I have by the time I pass the inside pole?
2 - As I pass the inside pole what momentum do I have and its direction?
3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
5 - How Efficient have I been?
Now we will look at each of these points in more detail.
I want to spend as little time in the upstreams as possible. This normally means spending as much time in the current and as little time in the eddy as possible. The reason for this - In canoe slalom we want to get from the top of the course to the bottom in the shortest amount of time. The water in the current is moving towards the finish line, and the water in the eddy is moving away from the finish line, so with this, it is logical that we spend as much time in the current as possible, and reduce out time around the upstream gate which is in a piece of water moving upstream and away from the finish.
Lets quickly just watch a few more ups. Look at these and think about the 5 things we are looking for, and to try and understand the concept of spending as little time around the up as possible.
Point 1 - How much turn done do I have by the time I pass the inside pole?
As we can see in the footage as I pass the inside pole, my bows are under or upstream of the far pole. This I use as a marker.
Firstly if we have our bows under or upstream of the far pole there is no chance of hitting the far pole with out bows as we turn. This amount of turn also shows that we have done a lot of turn in the current (which is following the concept we looked at above.)
Point 2 - As I pass the inside pole what momentum do I have and its direction?
If we now look at the portion of the up as we pass the inside pole in slow motion we want to be looking at the boats momentum and direction. As I pass the inside pole my boat has moved up thought the gateline. (the gateline generally being the line between the poles of a gate) I tend to use my hips as a point of reference here. We can see as I enter the eddy and before I cross the inside pole of the up by hips are below the gate. Now as I cross the inside pole I want to see my boat and therefore my hips to more upstream and though the gateline.
Point 2 - As I pass the inside pole what momentum do I have and its direction?
If we now look at the portion of the up as we pass the inside pole in slow motion we want to be looking at the boats momentum and direction. As I pass the inside pole my boat has moved up thought the gateline. (the gateline generally being the line between the poles of a gate) I tend to use my hips as a point of reference here. We can see as I enter the eddy and before I cross the inside pole of the up by hips are below the gate. Now as I cross the inside pole I want to see my boat and therefore my hips to more upstream and though the gateline.
This movement is vital! This is the key to a good upstream and is fundamental to the concept of spending as little time around the up as possible. Once the hips have moved upstream and though the gateline we know that we can exit the gate cleanly.
So to points 3, 4, and 5
Point - 3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
Point - 4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
Point - 5 - How Efficient have I been?
If we have executed points 1 and 2 well then we should have not had to do any forward paddling around the up. The boat should move upstream of its own accord, and we have not spent long in the eddy. Again this comes back to spending as little time around the up as possible and for me being as efficient as possible.
Lets look at some split screen footage, then run though footage point by point again.
So to points 3, 4, and 5
Point - 3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
Point - 4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
Point - 5 - How Efficient have I been?
If we have executed points 1 and 2 well then we should have not had to do any forward paddling around the up. The boat should move upstream of its own accord, and we have not spent long in the eddy. Again this comes back to spending as little time around the up as possible and for me being as efficient as possible.
Lets look at some split screen footage, then run though footage point by point again.
In this video we can see two paddlers and compare footage side by side to see the differences in angles, movement, and most importantly time spend around the up. Both paddlers start at the same place, but as we can see one up is quicker than the other. Again lets look at why?
Point 1 - How much turn done do I have by the time I pass the inside pole?
Top screen has more turn - Spent more time in the current creating turn. Bottom screen had more turn to do while in the up.
Point 2 - As I pass the inside more what momentum do I have and its direction?
Top screens hip movement as he passes the inside pole is up though the gateline straight away vs in the bottom screen, we can see the hips drop downstream first, then move upstream.
Point - 3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
In the top screen we can see the paddler, needs no forward stokes to travel up thought the gate line vs. the bottom screen where the paddler need a definite forward stroke to pull his hips above the gateline in order to exit the up.
Point - 4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
Both screens enter the up at the same time, top screen exits first and with better movement away to the finish line.
Point - 5 - How Efficient have I been?
I base efficiency a few factors. How long I have taken to do the up and how physically hard the up has been. In the top screen the time around the up is lower than the bottom screen. Physical effort is a hard thing to measure, but for this I look at momentum and stokes taken, The top screen the boat moves in one continuous motion and always moving in a positive direction. In the bottom screen a forward stroke is need to pull the paddler up through the gateline rather than the line in and water doing the work. This shows more effort is needed around the up.
Have another look at this montage of ups and look at the 5 points raised above.
Point 1 - How much turn done do I have by the time I pass the inside pole?
Top screen has more turn - Spent more time in the current creating turn. Bottom screen had more turn to do while in the up.
Point 2 - As I pass the inside more what momentum do I have and its direction?
Top screens hip movement as he passes the inside pole is up though the gateline straight away vs in the bottom screen, we can see the hips drop downstream first, then move upstream.
Point - 3 - How many and what stokes do I need?
In the top screen we can see the paddler, needs no forward stokes to travel up thought the gate line vs. the bottom screen where the paddler need a definite forward stroke to pull his hips above the gateline in order to exit the up.
Point - 4 - How long to I spend in the eddy.
Both screens enter the up at the same time, top screen exits first and with better movement away to the finish line.
Point - 5 - How Efficient have I been?
I base efficiency a few factors. How long I have taken to do the up and how physically hard the up has been. In the top screen the time around the up is lower than the bottom screen. Physical effort is a hard thing to measure, but for this I look at momentum and stokes taken, The top screen the boat moves in one continuous motion and always moving in a positive direction. In the bottom screen a forward stroke is need to pull the paddler up through the gateline rather than the line in and water doing the work. This shows more effort is needed around the up.
Have another look at this montage of ups and look at the 5 points raised above.
Back again, hopefully only briefly. In this article we have only really reviewed a few ups. All ups are different however I feel often the concepts are the same. We want to spend as little time around the up as possible and normally conserve momentum and do the fastest up we can. I would recommend re-reading this article, then think about the points raised before you next go paddling. Then after paddling comeing back and comparing what you do compared to the points we have been looking at. Canoeing is an evolving process and the things I have found in this article may change over the years, but at the moment these are the things I look for. There are millions more, head positioning, stroke sequences etc. Experiment, review, evaluate. That’s how we learn.
In this article we have looked at what we are looking for in an up and why we do this. In the next article we shall look more into the how. This will mostly be focusing on the line into the up in order to achieve good turn before we get to the inside pole, and momentum up thought the gate in order to spend as little time around the up and be as efficient as possible.