Working out what to work on.
Quite often we finish a session or there is a decent break between races and we wonder what we should work on? We could work on upstreams? We could get better at downs in eddys? All this is probably true. No matter how good you are your upstream technique could always be improved, your downs in eddys could be crisper. However what can we work on to find the most gain, and the most important things to work on?
Penalty Count
One thing I did after ever season or post selection every year, would be to go back and look at penalties. These are easy to see, easy to categorise, and see it any patterns emerged.
To start I would create a spreadsheet with the following titles.
Date
Race type (Prem, Selection,World Cup etc)
Class (C1, C2, K1)
Run (1, 2, Qualification, Semi Final, Final etc)
Gate number
Gate direction (Upstream, Downstream)
Which pole (inside, outside or top/bottom pole on a split gate)
What with
Why
Another good reason for this is, its a good way of watching your past performances and seeing any common mistakes too.
Myself and Will Smith did this after the recent race at Nottingham to find some areas to work on, between now and the Junior European Championships in Krakow this autumn.
I also asked Will if we could add a Spin column. As a coach I knew his spins were an area for gain, but putting them in this table should reinforce my feelings.
This is what we found (click on image to view larger image in new tab/window)
Quite often we finish a session or there is a decent break between races and we wonder what we should work on? We could work on upstreams? We could get better at downs in eddys? All this is probably true. No matter how good you are your upstream technique could always be improved, your downs in eddys could be crisper. However what can we work on to find the most gain, and the most important things to work on?
Penalty Count
One thing I did after ever season or post selection every year, would be to go back and look at penalties. These are easy to see, easy to categorise, and see it any patterns emerged.
To start I would create a spreadsheet with the following titles.
Date
Race type (Prem, Selection,World Cup etc)
Class (C1, C2, K1)
Run (1, 2, Qualification, Semi Final, Final etc)
Gate number
Gate direction (Upstream, Downstream)
Which pole (inside, outside or top/bottom pole on a split gate)
What with
Why
Another good reason for this is, its a good way of watching your past performances and seeing any common mistakes too.
Myself and Will Smith did this after the recent race at Nottingham to find some areas to work on, between now and the Junior European Championships in Krakow this autumn.
I also asked Will if we could add a Spin column. As a coach I knew his spins were an area for gain, but putting them in this table should reinforce my feelings.
This is what we found (click on image to view larger image in new tab/window)
So the Stats
- 6/21 touches were in spins or due to spins (35%)
- Out of the 17 touches we have on video for 14 are on gates 10 onwards (82%)
- Average number of touches per run is – 1.9 ( 21 touches out of 11 runs = 1.9)
- Struggled in and after spins. Lost height – often due to being too on inside pole and spinning too early.
- 14/17 touches on inside poles (82%) showing very little overshooting, but sometimes not enough room, or being late.
- Out of the 17 touches we have on video
9 were due to being late (53%)
2 were due to being too early back
2 were due to loss of concentration near very bottom of course
1 was due to hitting the bottom with paddle
1 was due bows bob up
1 was due bows outside pole
1 was surfing related
Some positives too!
Good point – Very few touches with the bows on ups on drops - good esp for Lee Valley.
Good point – Very few touches with the bow on outside pole of upstreams – showing either good preturn or good awareness of outside pole
Watching the runs as a whole, some good paddling on the top sections, a nice rhythm, and some funky stuff going down. (keeping a good rhythm, and being funky were winter goals)
Summery
- 6/21 touches were in spins or due to spins (35%)
- Out of the 17 touches we have on video for 14 are on gates 10 onwards (82%)
- Average number of touches per run is – 1.9 ( 21 touches out of 11 runs = 1.9)
- Struggled in and after spins. Lost height – often due to being too on inside pole and spinning too early.
- 14/17 touches on inside poles (82%) showing very little overshooting, but sometimes not enough room, or being late.
- Out of the 17 touches we have on video
9 were due to being late (53%)
2 were due to being too early back
2 were due to loss of concentration near very bottom of course
1 was due to hitting the bottom with paddle
1 was due bows bob up
1 was due bows outside pole
1 was surfing related
Some positives too!
Good point – Very few touches with the bows on ups on drops - good esp for Lee Valley.
Good point – Very few touches with the bow on outside pole of upstreams – showing either good preturn or good awareness of outside pole
Watching the runs as a whole, some good paddling on the top sections, a nice rhythm, and some funky stuff going down. (keeping a good rhythm, and being funky were winter goals)
Summery
Area for gain 1
Lost height on spins. Often due to being too on inside pole and spinning too early - often losing sight of where the inside pole is.
Solution
Spin deeper into the gate, keep sight of outside pole then switch the head to focus on the inside pole. Have logo on deck dropping under inside pole.
Area for gain 2
Lots of touches from gate 10 onwards (bottom half of the run)
Why?
Thinking “on a good run, had a good top section", then getting nervous, and losing concentration. Feeling tired at the bottom of the course and again losing concentration.
Solutions
More physical and speed endurance work to be in stronger shape at the bottom of the run.
Looking into keeping focus at the end of runs. Maybe more Full runs, and to see psychologist for gains in this area.
Area for gain 3
Being late, esp in staggers.
Solutions
More stagger work, focusing on being well set up for the start of the sequence, and having room to be able to attack though each gate. (talk with coach to make sure set up for each stagger is well planned)
Final Words
Have a go yourself, do you find any patterns, or common touches?
A big thank you to Will Smith for sharing this information! I hope it is useful people can do more to improve and raise everyone's standard of paddling as a result.
The more competition we have, the higher the standard, the more exciting the racing, and individually the better your performance because of it.