Organizing a practice session

[josko]

I'm trying to firm up my fundamentals: rolls, edfing, sculling, hydraulcs, etc. so I'm making muyself do a half dozen current practice sessions. Trouble is, they kind of degrade as the session goes on: a couple flat water rolls, riding hydraulics, edging one way, then another, then a roll in a hydraulic, then...  and then I kind of feel like going home without really accomplishing much.  I feel I should get together some kind of a session plan and stick to it, but what exactly?

So, if you were going to do a couple-hour practice session, how do you organize it? Let's say you wanted to work on edging and rolling in current.  Any hints welcome.

BTW, I see this in pool sessions a lot: people show up, do a couple rolls, couple skulls, and then wait around, trying things randomly until time is up.

Edited September 27, 2016 by josko

[Paul Sylvester]

How about working through all the strokes for the BCU or ACA syllabus for your appropriate  level? Just don't perfect mistakes...If unsure get your technique right.

[josko]

Yeah, that was easy back in the 2* days. But, a week or so back, I missed a roll when I shouldn't have, so I told myself I need to get in some practice time.  On one hand, it's easy to ennumerate: 6 good side rolls, 6 off side rolls, so many sculling rolls, so many times hanging in a hydraulic with just edging, so many rolls on a currnet seam, and so on... It just doesn't seem to converge to where I want to be headed.

[mattdrayer]

 

3 hours ago, josko said:

It just doesn't seem to converge to where I want to be headed.

Where are you trying to go?  Have you considered hiring a coach that will work with you on a custom program tailored to your goal(s) and hold you accountable for following it?  Proponents of Deliberate Practice believe that yes, you should intentionally perform those 6 rolls (even better, do 60), but without a coach/expert providing feedback after each roll you won't reap the proper benefit of your deliberation.  You will just get better at performing 6 (or 60) suboptimal rolls in a row...

[Phil Allen]

Josko

Matt's idea for using a coach is great if the time commitment, money and organizational overhead works.  But something as simple as someone videotaping you while you're doing some skills and drills might be enough for you to troubleshoot what ever problems you might have.  Other options might be just to mount a go-pro on your foredeck aiming back at you while you practice. For this approach you need to connect your thoughts on each activity with what you see later on film, so taking notes through out the session is important.  As for blowing a roll, we're all in between swims.

best

Phil

 

[John Martinsen]

Get a surf kayak, either an IC boat or all around longer hybrid hp boat, you're down the Cape anyways, pretty consistent surf down there. Get out a day or two a week, and you'll build up all those skills very quickly, although the first season or two might be tough. You're welcome to borrow my beater surf kayak for a few days if you want to try it out.

And we are all in between swims...

[John Martinsen]

Also if it's a venue that is tide dependent, you only have so much time where the current cranks, and it's tricky to do straight forward eddy peels and s-turns, or work on ferrying. For when it's not cranking try doing things backwards, like reverse eddy peels or ferrying, and then try a normal eddy peel but with your eyes closed, then backwards and eyes closed. Also a good time to work on re-enter and rolls. 

[Pintail]

Josko, I could never survive a two-hour practice session!  However, I <do> practise  every single time I am on the water and wonder why you do not try the same thing?  I have always practised strokes, ever since I first became interested in the BCU syllabus -- and likely always shall.  Ditto for my rolling.

You could make a game to incorporate your strokes, like playing along the shoreline and making yourself only employ, say, bow rudders and draw strokes, to stay as close as possible to the hard shore without allowing yourself to stray further than a foot from the rock(face) -- something like that.

Otherwise, I think you should make sure you are practising with someone else, so that you may critique each other?  BTW, I think Paul is right: tape the BCU syllabus to your foredeck and work your way through it.

[mattdrayer]

Timely!  

http://tcsurfski.com/2016/09/29/tips-tricks-pros/

Also I highly recommend listening to the TC podcasts -- they are packed with great info for any paddler.

[josko]

Thanks all - some great comments and advice here...

I got into this mode looking to do something between long time-trial days. I just dodn't have it in me to do 20+ miles daily against a clock. So the idea was to take an 'in-between' day and work on technique for a couple hours, without racking up more than 3-4 miles.  I quickly found that without help, I was repeating the same mistake over and over again, just solidifying bad habits. Realizing this, i tried to not just repeat the same move again, but consciously do something different. And it didn't really work.

So I got to thinking about just how I would structure a practice session. Left to my own, in say a strong hydraulic, I revert to a set of comfortable moves, and don't really push the rest of the repertoire. If I consciously try to push it, it somehow still feels counterproductive.

I agree with the comment I need to work with a coach, but can't afford a coach EVERY time, but that brings me back to the original problem.

The short version is, I never expected that organizing a productive coupole-hour solo practice session would be so difficult.