welshkate

So I’ve been to Spencer’s or 24/7 about 12 times over the last 4 or 5 weeks. The sessions have taught me a lot about my boating. I would say that improvements in play boating come in baby steps (with the occasional giant leap)- its takes time, dedication and patience to improve (for me at least). I have days out there I feel great about my boating but these are interspersed with days when I feel frustrated with my performance and of lack of progress. Yesterday was one of those frustrating days. Spins were fine, but i had difficulty setting up for the loop, until the last 10 minutes of our session, then wham bam, there’s the sweet spot. It seems minute changes in river level can alter the features at Spencer’s, so it takes awhile to get accustomed to where the spots to spin, cartwheel and loop are- and there are specific spots. James had set up his video camera so we could do some video analyses of what I was doing wrong. Sure enough, I wasn’t waiting long enough to ‘pop’ out vertically and was throwing my weight forward too soon. Arghh, its all a learning experience. I must say, even after the frustrating days, I’m still so happy to have been on the river. If nothing else, I’ve learned what doesn’t work, built core muscle strength and spent some quality time with quality friends, and that is surely a positive thing. To me, paddling without friends is like coffee without caffeine- it just seems wrong.