Dragon-boats.net
Training recommendations
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Dragon-boats.netTraining recommendations |
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Exercises to strengthen the muscles of the rotator cuff
Rib
Stress Fractures: Prevention Exercises
(Wish I had been doing these exercises at the beginning of the summer )
SPORTS
COACHING including heart Rate guide line Calculator and much more
!!!
IMPORTANT REFERENCE FOR ALL DRAGON BOATING PARTICIPANTS
Fartlek,
‘speed play’ in Swedish, is a form of conditioning which puts stress mainly on
the aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of this exercise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek
Some teams only practice a few times before the race day. Some teams train throughout the whole year. It just depends how involved your teams wants to get. That’s the great thing about this sport...you can just do your community race or you can do more and venture out to other communities and participate in more distant race events. Or if you are really keen, there are possibilities to paddle internationally.
TECHNIQUE
1/ OFF-SEASON TRAINING
Off-season training typically runs from October to
January. Pool Practice could start in January.
Weight training and Cardio should be done in
addition to Dragon boat practice.
The focus of the pool paddling sessions is
technique and conditioning. Pool paddling consists of
having the paddlers sit along side the pool with
slimmed down paddles.
The practice starts with stretching and a three
to five minute paddling warm-up. For the first half of the
practice, the paddlers work on specific drills to
improve on various parts of the stroke technique. The second
half of the practice is the work-out portion where
the team will paddle as group for 20-30 minutes. Each
paddler is video taped once per month and an
analysis is done by the coach. The video is slowed down to
check the various positions like 1/ paddle angle
of entry, 2/ setup position and body rotation, 4/ catch, 4/ exit
paddle position. As well, the three motions or
phases are analyzed: 1/ entry, 2/ pull, 3/ recovery.
SIT UP - Part of what is important here is that all paddlers in the boat are sitting up in the same position with their paddles held in the same position. This gives a comment start point for all team members in the boat. When the next command is given all paddlers are making the same coordinated movements. This gives the team a faster response time, organized with no confusing movements and almost as important you look good as a team, when you look good you feel good, this is empowering.
Common sit up positions are Paddles in the relaxed position, parallel over the water pointed at 90 degrees to the side of the boat. Our team sits with our paddles pointing forward to the front of the boat at about a 45 degree angle like a chevron. The water side hand resting on the paddle shaft which is on the gunnel rail. This puts the paddle closer to the paddles up position reducing response time and simplifying the movement from sit up to paddles up.
PADDLES UP - paddles above the water ready to
take a stroke. Commonly used for starting the movement of
the boat in a non-race situation.
TAKE IT AWAY - command to start paddling.
LET IT RUN - paddling stops and boat coasts to a stop on its own.
HOLD THE BOAT - bringing the boat to a full stop with the use of the paddles.
READY, READY - race command in a start
situation for paddles to be placed in position for the first stroke
(submerged or out of water).
SERIES - a combination of strokes during a race, often a set of 10 or 20 strokes that are quicker and more forceful.
ROWING - rowers use oars, therefore they are rowers. Dragon boaters use paddles therefore they are paddlers. You do not row a dragon boat!
COXSWAIN (koksn) - steersperson of the boat, often incorrectly referred to a Cox man. In this area commonly called the "Cox".
The technique that will be discussed is based
on flat water sprint canoe style used by the two time
International Dragon Boat Champions - The Canadian
Men's Dragon Boat Team. There are six key parts to
the dragon boat stroke. When done properly, a boat
flies; executed improperly, the boat will feel sluggish and
heavy. The first three components set up the
stroke, while the last three are considered to be the work-phase
part of the stroke. The six components are called:
rotation, reach/extension, catch, pull, exit, and recovery.
Rotation
The image some coaches use to help paddlers
picture rotation is that a pole is inserted through the head,
along the spine, and then anchored to the dragon
boat seat. Another way of achieving full rotation is to
present your back to the shore or have your chest
facing your partner. Full rotation, or twist as it is sometimes
called, allows for maximum reach/extension.
Reach/Extension
This position in the stroke is crucial in
maximizing the length of the stroke. The position of the outside paddling arm is equivalent to pulling a bow and
arrow. The outside shoulder should be dropped slightly and also extended forward. The torso leans forward for
additional extension.
A proper reach position is the foundation of a proper dragon boat stroke. The reach position is the extended position with the paddle a few inches above the water before the driving it into the water. This reach position determines the length of a stroke and a long stroke means more water is pulled. The reach position is the end point of the Recovery phase, but is the beginning of a new stroke cycle.
The reach position determines the rotation of the torso. If the torso is "rotated" forward upon the paddle entering the water, the torso will naturally want to "de-rotate" back to the normal seated upright seated position.
As mentioned previously, the lower arm position is similar to drawing a bow and arrow. The bottom arm is extended straight forward parallel to the water. The lower shoulder is dropped and is extended forward and therefore the shoulder on the top hand side comes back and up. In the Reach position, these four points on the body should be lined up in a vertical plane: (a) top hand , (b) head, (c) lower shoulder and (d) lower hand.
From the side view there should a straight line from the top hand, head and hip. The torso rotation, extension of both arms and the forward lean are important aspects of the stroke. The upper arm coming over the head. The lower arm is fully extended and is almost locked at the elbow. The lower hand grip should be relaxed and not grip the paddle too hard. The paddle flips forward into the reach position where it is at its highest potential energy level. From this position, the potential energy will be used to submerge the paddles as the stroke progress.
Catch
The catch phase is the most critical to the speed
of the boat. The catch is the moment the paddle blade first
bites into the water. The top hand is held over
the water, then drives down on the paddle with the outside arm
relaxed and fully extended.
Pull
Once the paddle is fully submerged or
"buried", the next component of the stroke is the pull phase. The
paddles should pull back directly parallel with
the boat. The top hand stabilizes the paddle as the bottom arm
and back muscles pull back. To use the back
muscles effectively, the paddler sits up while pulling and
continues to drive the paddle downward with the
top hand. Maximum power and endurance will come from
using the larger muscles of the back, shoulder and
trunk rather than relying on the smaller arm muscles.
Exit
At the end of the stroke the paddle should exit
the water at the hip. Allowing the stroke to go past the hip
results in the paddling blade being at an angle
that would slow down the boat. The phrase "out at the hip" is
often used to correct a stroke that is too long.
The outside arm blends slightly to allow the paddler to clear the
water and then it is pushed or snapped forward.
Recovery
This part of the stroke is the rest phase when the
muscles are not working as hard; recovery speed plays a
large role in determining the stroke rate. During
recovery, the torso starts rotating and leaning forward to setup for another
cycle of the stroke.
The boat crew is broken into three sections,
the front which is the first six paddlers, the engine room which is
the middle eight paddlers and the back which is
last six paddlers. Weight of the paddlers must be taken into
consideration when setting up the boat. Any
serious weight distribution problems will adversely affect how
the boat tracks for steering. The biggest paddlers
are placed in the middle or engine room and lighter
paddlers at the front and back sections.
The front six paddlers set the pace and should be
reserved for paddlers with good long paddling strokes.
The rest of the boat needs something visual
to follow. The rest of the boat will have short choppy stroke if the
front has short choppy strokes.
The middle eight or the "engine room"
is usually reserved for the heavier, stronger paddlers. During the
middle of the race the engine room dictates the
pace. The stroke rate of the crew is usually determine by the
engine room. The stroke rate is not too fast as
long as the big engine room paddlers can twist and reach.
Once the engine room paddlers start shortening up
on their stroke, you know the pace is getting too fast.
The back six paddlers of the boat should have
the strongest people in the boat. It is not uncommon for a
novice crew to setup the boat with weaker paddlers
who get out of stroke. For an intermediate crew or an
advanced crew this would be a missed opportunity.
A series which is a sequence of more powerful strokes
meant to advance the boat and is initiated by the
back six paddlers and ripples to the front of the boat.
Side to side and front to back weight
distribution must be taken into consideration when setting up the boat.
The steersperson must have the knowledge of how to
move paddlers around to improve the balance of the
boat. Having the boat off balance can seriously
affect how the boat tracks. The steersperson is 100%
responsible for the safety of the crew. The
steersperson has the best view of any obstructions on the
water and must make the required commands to the
crew to maneuver the boat. In race situations the
steersperson must also be able to read wind and be
knowledgeable of how the boat reacts in certain
conditions. It is not good enough that the
steersperson can just keep the boat straight, he or she must be
able to bring the boat to the line in whatever
wind conditions and make the maneuvers or commands to
hold the boat on the line.
Racing can be broken down in to smaller elements: pre-race, start, middle, finish, post-race.
Pre-Race- Includes on-land stretches,
positioning of paddlers in boat, warm-up to the start line that should
include one practice start.
Start Sequence - The start that is taught to
novice teams is "5 and 10" meaning five deep long strokes to get
the boat moving from a stationary position
followed by 10 sprint strokes that accelerate the boat to top speed.
A series of transition strokes follow to bring the
stroke rate down to allow the stronger and longer "power
strokes".
Middle - For the purpose of advancing race
positions, teams often include one or more "series". A series is a
set 10 or more strokes that are harder and
sometimes faster to help the boat speed up. Please note that the
paddlers must still hit in-stroke, must not
shorten up on the stroke reach for a series to be effective.
Finish - The last 20-30 strokes on a race has
its own elements. At this point in the race the objective is to
bring the boat up in speed for that last finishing
kick. It is similar to the "10" strokes of the start. The paddlers
are leaning forward and using their arms only to
accelerate the boat. Paddling with arms is quicker than
paddling using your back although paddling with
the back is much more powerful.
Post-Race - Analyze what went right, what went wrong. Make the adjustments for the next race.
KEEP A TRAINING LOG: Many competitive paddlers
have a detailed training log which records their training
activities: on-water, weight training, pool etc.
Usually a little booklet showing the date, work-out (ex: 3 sets x
1.5 km paddling @ 60%, 2 min rest between), how
they felt about it. Body weight and basal or morning heart
rate is also sometimes included. Training logs
will help you in the long term. If you have a bad racing year,
you can look back at previous years logs and find
out how hard you trained and felt in previous years. Good
paddling years are usually a result of how well
you have trained.
Coaches should also keep a log the team
training from year to year. You can draw from this data base of
work-outs each year and adjust accordingly. As a
former paddler as well as a coach, I know how hard I can
push the training by looking at my previous
training logs. If I have done the work-outs myself I know other
people can also do the work-out. The amount of
training a team does will determine how well a team will
perform in races. Remember, practice makes
perfect.
Overtraining can result in sudden loss in body
weight and increase in morning heart rate.
Training becomes flat. Body becomes susceptible to
injury and illness. Good habit of getting into is checking
your heart rate before getting out of bed in the
morning. If the heart rate suddenly goes up more than six
beats over the usual rate, over training has
probably taken place. The body has been overloaded and the
heart is working extra hard to compensate.
Reduction in overall activities and more recovery time may be
necessary.
HOW TO STAY SAFE WHILE ON THE WATER. follow the warm up and practice advice listed above. Be smart, think about your capabilities, the water temperature - Hypothermia, how long you may be in the water if you capsize, how far you can swim. Review the Participation Package information, The training information and the Canadian Coast Guard Safe boating information. We want you to be safe and enjoy.
Participation Package page.
Canadian Coast Guard Office
of Boating Safety
View the sites listed below. Read the Stories!
Accident prevention is in everyone best interest. Wear a PFD at all time
while on the water. Please!!!
Hypothermia References
