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The importance of GOALS.

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:28:36 GMT

The importance of goals …

The first thing that you should do when setting out on your paddling adventure is come up with some achievable goals.

When I was very young my dad said two things to me that I will never forget. The first was “If you ever win an Australian surf GOLD medal they put your photo up on the wall for life” and the second thing was “if you train very hard you can go to the Olympics.”

A lot for a young boy at the age of 12 to take in, just an off the cuff comment from my dad I guess. Then 10 years later I won an Australian Surf Gold medal, then the next year I competed in an Olympic final.

These are what are called long term goals.

I first started paddling at age 14, just floating around in the flat not knowing what I wanted to do. Then at 17 I took up surf ski paddling full on, training harder then I could imagine. In that year I came second to Clint Robinson, the Olympic K1 1000m champion. So a paddling career was now the chosen path for where my life would head.

The first thing I needed to do was set some goals, real ones, not dreams like when I was a kid, short term, medium, long term and ultimate goals.

Short term
My short term goal was to win my local races over all distances in the off-season anything from 5 to 15km. These races were on every weekend so I could always have something to focus on throughout my weeks training. Never with a short-term goal would you freshen up or rest.

Medium term
This is a specific goal that my training program would focus around, it was a race that would be say three months out from my racing season. Say a major surf carnival or kayak regatta. This race should hold a lot of importance to your season but by no means should it be the be all and end all of your season. A race that you have always wanted to do well in and one that everyone talks about.

Long term
This is a funny one in terms of how long should this long-term goal be! I used to like it to be adjustable, for me it could have been making the Australian kayak team and when I did that I would then add in winning medals in Europe.
This is the goal your whole training program for the year should centre around.

Ultimate goal
This is the goal that you should aim as high as possible and allow lots of time to achieve it. Have this in the back of your mind 24/7. Your life is about watching this race as you build up to it, the thing you dream about at night. The one that brings you the most joy if you achieve it.
For me it was competing in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. This goal was six years in the making, the day they called my name out to represent Australia is a day I will never forget. The day I would do all the training again, the cold, wet and hot days when I was just exhausted made this goal so rewarding.

These were my goals, yours can be the same or different. Mine were never to easy nor were they unachievable, they just required plain old hard work. Hard work that I loved doing and would do all over again.

With all these goals it is easy to get caught up in your dreams of what you want to be. But at the end of the day with any goals you have to be consistent and work hard.

THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS.

It is about sticking to your program and believing in that program.
Take the two examples of consecutive Olympic champions 1992 and 1996.
one Clint Robinson comes from the Sunshine Coast Queensland in Australia. An environment with hot, warm paddling conditions all year round.

Knut Holman from Norway trains in a country that freezes over for nearly six months of the year. What are the common traits??? They both believed in their programs and both trained very hard.

Training programs and lessons on how to paddle are the answer. You need good technique and good structure in your training to know where you are headed. To find about more about these programs and structures check out www.mykayakcoach.com and www.youtube.com/user/jimsquad - these will help get you on your way.

What I did when I had my structure in place was to go and find people to train with, good people for the hard sessions and company for the long slow recovery paddles. I believe training in groups is the way to go; you can feed off each other and at the same time enjoy having a laugh at training.

The thing I have found of late with people learning to paddle no matter what form of paddling is they tend to make it to complicated. Paddling is a simple sport and has three parts to the stroke that will help you get you to your desired spot.

A. The catch part of the stroke is so important this is the area that sets your whole stroke up. This is the part you should feel the most in your trunk. Your trunk should be used heavily in this part of the stroke.

B. Accelerating the stroke. This is the middle part of the stroke that has the most room to alter; if you were paddling in the flat the acceleration part would be slightly longer then in the surf. In the surf you are catching swells so the boat will be moving already, so if you keep the blade in the water to long you will slow the boat down.

C. The exit, this should be the cleanest part of the stroke. If it’s not the cleanest you will bucket water up at the back of the stroke and cause injury to the shoulder plus lift the tail in the air, causing you to paddle like a dolphin. Nose up tail down.

So the best advice you can be given is to keep it simple and be true with your goals and most importantly of all enjoy it.

Yours in Paddling,

Coach

Developing a positive attitude towards pressure will improve performance

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:34:42 GMT

Sports psychology: developing a positive attitude towards pressure will improve performance

On a recent trip to Europe, I went to some of the nicest padding spots in the world.

One very important thing I experienced was being able to watch athletes race and perform at the highest level. For example in Hungary there selection titles are not like other countries, they are full of Olympic and World Champions. They have a one chance to perform policy that is harder then nowhere else in the paddling world.

I started thinking how they handle the pressure of racing in this type of environment.

I found out they race up to 10-12 times a year, never fearing racing.

I often see athletes come up through the ranks and then become frightened to race for fear of failure. Racing gives you confidence and the Hungarians know this better then anyone else. Throughout the season when you compete you can try different things in your races, this way when you come to the big one you know what works.

Don't get to your big RACE and think what am I going to do. That adds pressure.

Having a plan and structure will always help you deal with pressure as you can experiment in training and at those smaller races throughout the year.

Have a read on at how to help deal with pressure.

Oscar Wilde once said that ‘consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative’! However, it’s an irrefutable fact that consistency in sport is essential for long-term success. Andy Lane explains how you can increase your consistency for better sport performance
Imagine the scene; it’s the World Cup final and England will win if Steven Gerrard scores the final penalty in the shootout. If Gerrard performs consistently, past form indicates it’s highly likely he will score. However, if he does, it bucks the trend; the English football team has lost their last three penalty shoot-outs in major competitions.

Public uproar followed exit from the 2006 World Cup on penalties after defeat by Portugal and questions such as: ‘Why can’t the England players take penalties in major competitions?’ and ‘Do English penalty takers have the nerve for major competition?’ followed. Successful penalty taking for professional players is about maintaining consistency. Penalties are missed when performance dips, and dips to catastrophic levels.

Variable performance
Addressing the issue of why performance varies is a common reason for athletes seeking support from a sport psychologist. If we begin asking: ‘To what extent does your performance in training vary?’ athletes tend to say ‘Not by much’ and if performance improves or deteriorates, they can often provide a good reason why.

For example, if an athlete can bench press five sets of 10 repetitions at 70kg, and performs this session three times per week, its possible he/she can repeat this performance. He or she might perform worse if they have had trained hard already that day, or is stressed from the pressures of work, but in general, athletes confidently estimate that they produce non-maximal performance repeatedly, and this relates strongly with actual performance. The key point is that athletes are highly confident about being capable of delivering a sub-maximal performance. However, this level of consistency changes when athletes want to produce peak performance at key times.

Of the variables susceptible to change, a plethora of studies provide convincing evidence of the transient nature of emotions (1). Emotions can come on rapidly, invading our consciousness and disturbing the normal flow of thoughts and actions during competition (2). Emotion can usurp performance routines of even the most able athletes.

The effects of emotion on performance are most apparent when people are asked to perform a routine skill under pressure, such as walking a rope ladder 20 metres above ground(3). It’s the same skill as walking on the ground, but once the person becomes nervous and starts thinking about performance, they inhibit performance. Extending this logic to sport, it is not surprising that intense emotions represent the most plausible explanation on why soccer players miss penalties in competition, but rarely miss in practice (to the extent that many argue that practising penalties is not a productive strategy).

A great deal of research has demonstrated links between emotions and performance (2). Research indicates that athletes develop beliefs on which emotions help performance and which emotions hinder performance. Research has indicated that emotional intelligence, defined as the ability as to identify, regulate and utilise emotional states to bring about peak performance is an important variable for sport psychologists to work with(4). Furthermore, it has been proposed that consistent performance is brought about by frequent usage of psychological skills such as imagery, self-talk, goal-setting and relaxation training to manage the stresses and strains of competition(5).

Practising performance under pressure
Athletes spend relatively little time performing under pressure. When the critical moment arrives therefore, they have had relatively little exposure to the pressures involved so perhaps it’s not so surprising that performance can vary. In short, skills learned in non-pressure situations will not necessarily transfer to pressure situations.

One useful strategy for learning to perform under pressure is to simulate the demands of competition using imagery. A recent development in imagery research is the PETTLEP (Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion and Perspective) model – see table 1(6). PETTLEP aims to closely replicate the sporting situation through imagery, including physical and emotional sensations associated with performance. Research demonstrates that imagery is associated with enhanced performance in pressure situations (7).

Table 1: The PETTLEP model of conducting imagery
PETTLEP model Applied to sport
Physical – the athlete’s physical responses in the sporting situation Examples include holding the correct stance, holding any implements that would usually be held, and wearing the correct clothing.
Environment – replicate the actual performing environment Imagining the performance should be as similar as possible to the actual performing environment. If a similar environment is not possible, photographs of the venue or audio tapes of crowd noise can be used.
Task – replicate the skill or set of moves performed in competition Examples include; taking a penalty, running up a hill, a particularly phase of play.
Timing – the pace at which the imagery is completed Use a stopwatch to record the actual time it takes to complete the task, and then perform the imagery at the same speed.
Learning – the adaptation of the imagery content in relation to the rate of learning. For example, a soccer player who learns that effective penalty taking involves placing the ball down, taking seven steps backwards, and then focusing on kicking through the centre of the ball so that it is directed to the chosen spot in the goal.
Emotion – simulate those emotions experienced in competition For example, if the athlete felt nervous at the start of competition, then up-regulate emotions to feel nervous before starting imaging a task from the competition.
Perspective – imagery can be internal (first person) or external (third person). Internal perspective refers to the view that an athlete would have when he was actually performing, whereas external perspective would be like watching yourself performing on a video tape. Internal imagery is preferable as it more closely approximates the athlete’s view when performing. Eg, watch performance as though you are the camera.

Athletes should learn to see themselves performing successfully in pressure situations, but should not underestimate the demands of the task. It’s important to perform well and condition positive emotions, but it’s also important not to create a false scenario that under-represents how difficult the task will be. The greater the clarity of the imagery and the extent to which this accurately replicates the demands of peak performance, the greater its potential benefits will be. Once these images have been developed, the athlete should incorporate imagery into his or her training programme and not just save it for use in competition The more often the athlete performs imagery, the greater will be the simulated exposure to the stresses of competition (7).

Manage your mind habits
Emotional conditioning or reprogramming your mind habits involves challenging the habits associated with negative thinking. The performance sapping effects of unpleasant emotions are often built on a habit negative thinking (8). People have conditioned themselves to be susceptible to experiencing such emotions through negative thinking habits, and as such, these habits need breaking. The key is to reprogramme your mind to replace these negative habits with positive thoughts and images. Eventually these new positive thoughts will become habitual and performance will become more consistent.
‘If-then’ plans have been found to be an effective method of changing thought processes (see table 2)(9). If-then plans work by putting the barrier to poor performance alongside the solution. By putting barriers and solutions side by side, the process of implementing the solution can become automated. During the learning stages, people repeat the if-then plan daily until it becomes ingrained. If-then plans can re-structure negative thoughts and turn them into positive thoughts by having pre-prepared structured statements.

With practice, you can become more aware of your emotions and able to use psychological strategies to manage performance. You also need to know what each emotion means and the appropriate response to deal with it. Practising sport skills using competition imagery and if-then strategies combined with PETTLEP can help you deal with these emotions. With practice, you can learn to manage your negative emotions until it becomes a habit!

References

1. Psych of Sport & Exerc, 8(1): p. 47-72 2007
2. Mood and human performance: Conceptual, measurement, and applied issues, Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science 2007
3. Cyber Psych & Behavior, 4(3): p. 335-339 2001
4. Emotional intelligence in sport: conceptual, methodological, and applied issues. In A.M. Lane, Editor. 2007, Nova Science: Hauppauge, NY.
p. 131-154
5. Social Behav and Persony: An International Journal, 37: p. 195-202 2009
6. J Applied Sport Psych, 13(1): p. 60-83 2001
7. Sport and Exercise Psychology: Topics in Applied Psychology, A.M. Lane, Editor. 2008, Hodder-Stoughton, UK. p. 139-150
8. Person and Social Psych Review, 11(2):
p. 167-203 2007
9. J Person and Social Psych. 96(1):
p. 11-31. 2009On a recent trip of Europe I was lucky enough to go to some of the finest places on earth to paddle. It was when the trip took me to Hungary for there selection trails I learn't what is needed to handle pressure. This is a country that worships it's paddlers, performing well is not something you do,it's a must if you want to survive.

So how do they handle the pressure of racing Olympic Gold Medalists for qulifing positions to the world champs. They don't give people second chances like in Australia. It's one time and one time only.

I asked around to find out what do they do. The thing that they do is RACE and they are not scared of racing.

What I find is people train hard then get to a level and then get frigthened to race for fear of failure. If you don't fail you don't achieve, failing is all about the learning process.

So the Hungarians race up to 10-12 times a year then come to their peak at the times that count. They practice their race secenarios in the smaller races to see if they work. You do that lots of times it becomes easy to handle it in the big one,cause you have been there.

I believe that pressure comes from lack of confidence.

If you have done the work get beaten only by someone better then you.

Read on for some more ideas.

References

Suffering: Preparing to Push Yourself through a Hard Effort

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:07:55 GMT

I remember back to when I was paddling full time and I think about all the things that had been said about pushing yourself. I had no Idea what that meant or even how to do it.

It wasn't until I paddled to the start line of a K1 1000m semi final, a race I had to make the final in to make the Australian Kayak Team for the World Championships. As I paddled to the start line I watched the first semi, I was in the 3rd semi. As the race came to me at the 750 mark [ the part that makes or breaks you ] I thought what is it about these champions. Is it the music they listen to, the food they eat, the boats they paddle or their body shape. The answer was none of those, the answer was they NEVER GIVE UP.

I wanted to be one of those people, I was in a semi that had three people I had never beaten before. I was never meant to get through that semi.

I hit the 750m mark and those words came to mind NEVER GIVE UP, I came 2nd and made the Australian Kayak team to compete at the world champs as a result.

From then on I change some of my training methods. I would train with this friend of mind, I was lucky he was one of the best. What I would do was practice in the hard efforts to beat him by as much as I could. Sometimes this was by just millimeters but I just kept practicing so that if I was caught in this position in a race I wouldn't panic. I would of already been there, so I new I could win it already.

Another thing I used to do when paddling on my own, I would paddle the last 1km of my training commentating a race with me in it, I would hear the crowd scream my name and I would lift to the occasion. [ I know I am mad ] I believe if you have been in a situation before it happens in a race then you will not panic if it happens in a race.

Most of the time when things go wrong in a race it's because people panic, they have not been there before.

Never stop trying different things.

Read on to get some more ideas.

Suffering: Preparing to Push Yourself through a Hard Effort

by Carrie Cheadle, M.A., CC-AASP

Your heart is pumping, your legs are burning, and you’re dripping enough sweat to put out a small forest fire… you are suffering. When you’ve taken care of the elements that can contribute to pain – hydration, nutrition, fitness, training… what’s left?

Your mindset plays a huge part in your ability to tolerate pain. If you want to be a competitive paddler, you have to know how to go deep into the pain cave. A paddler’s ability to suffer often determines who steps onto the podium and who is standing off to the side. Whether you’re climbing a 10% grade, bridging a gap, or sprinting for the finish, there will be times when you need to dig deep and go harder than you ever thought possible – so how do you it?
“I’ll tell you what racing’s about. It’s about suffering. It’s about pain – racing hurts.” Andrew Juskaitis

For example, if you are on a climb and you get to what you thought was the top of the climb, but the climb keeps going – the effort you will need is more than what you expected and your brain automatically sends a message to your body to slow down. One of the reasons paddlers paddle the course before a race is so they will know exactly what to expect and have a good idea of the amount of effort that will be involved. If you expect that the pain you will experience during your competition will be more than you can handle, then it will be. You need to mentally prepare for the physical pain you will endure. At what times during the race are you likely to feel extreme discomfort due to the physical effort you are putting out? Knowing ahead of time when you will be suffering means there won’t be any surprises. You need to go into your race knowing that there are going to be some tough spots, but that you can handle it.

Controlling Your Focus

When you are paddling along in the pack at a moderate pace, the level of effort being exerted still allows you to look around, see who’s up front, figure out which paddlers are looking strong, make sure you’re hydrating, etc. At high levels of physical intensity, it’s virtually impossible to distract yourself from the pain you are feeling. However, you can control your focus so that it doesn’t intensify the pain you feel. Your focus has to be related to the immediate task you are doing. When you are paddling you can count your paddle strokes. Some people count continually until they reach the end of the effort and others will pick a number to count to and keep repeating that cycle (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.) Another technique is to focus on good form. Focus on creating a smooth paddle stroke or relaxing your shoulders. The key is to know ahead of time where you want your focus to be so that it immediately goes there.

Controlling Your Thoughts

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start to think about how much pain you are in, the pain gets even worse? Controlling the messages you send to yourself is the key to sustaining intense effort. Your perception of the pain you are experiencing has an impact on your ability to tolerate it. Instead of focusing on feeling miserable, connect the feeling of pain to getting stronger. Connect the feeling of pain to accomplishing your goals. Associate the pain with something positive versus something negative. Fighting against the pain only makes it worse. Learn to accept the pain and appreciate it as part of the experience. Here are some powerful thoughts to try out when you are deep in the pain cave and want to run out!

* “Everybody is suffering.” Repeat this phrase to yourself. You are not the only one out there in pain. Your competitors might have their game face on, but they are hurting just as much as you are.

* “The pain will be over soon. I can do anything for ____ minutes.” Knowing that there is a finite end to the suffering you are currently enduring can help you hold out just a little longer.

* “Suffering gets me closer to my goal.” This is a powerful message to send to yourself. You are basically changing your perception of the physical feeling of pain from something negative to something positive. Connect the feeling of pain to getting stronger and accomplishing your goals.

* Power Cue Words: Sometimes you need a power word – something you go to when you need to make that extra push. Everyone’s word might be different, but it is usually one word that you can repeat over and over to yourself that makes you feel strong and ready to put out a big effort. Repeating words like go, attack, power, smooth, will influence how you feel and how you perform. Practice using your power cue word the next time you have intervals during a training ride. Try out a couple words and see what works best for you. If you really want to see the impact your thoughts have on your performance, during one of your intervals try repeating the word slow or I hate climbing over and over and you will quickly be convinced of the power your thoughts have on your performance.

* Practice controlling your thoughts so that they work for you instead of against you!

“You can say that climbers suffer the same as the other riders, but they suffer in a different way. You feel the pain, but you’re glad to be there.” Richard Virenque

Relaxing Your Body

If you have a negative reaction to the feeling of physical pain that comes with an intense effort, your muscles will tense in response. An increase in muscular tension will burn more energy, which slows you down and can burn you out before the end of your race. An increase in muscular tension can also increase the intensity of pain that you feel. The best thing you can do for your performance is relax, relax, relax! Make sure you aren’t adding any extra physical tension as you compete. Paddlers often contract muscles in their lower body that aren’t necessary for optimal performance. Too much muscular tension will interfere with the execution of a motor skill. Too much tension = poor performance.

The greatest tools you have for helping your body relax are your brain and your breathing. Use your brain to tell your body to relax. Practice this during your next training paddle. E very kilometre or so, remind yourself to relax your hands and relax your face. Usually the next thing that happens is that you drop your shoulders (another area that holds too much muscle tension). Try it right now and see what happens! You are basically sending yourself a message to chill out. The next piece is to control your breathing. Your brain and your muscles require oxygen for optimal functioning. T aking full and complete breaths helps relax the body and calm the mind. Shallow breathing delivers less air per breath than full and complete breaths, which causes an imbalance between the oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body. Taking full and complete breaths can help slow the heart rate down and delivers adequate oxygen to your brain and muscles. Your muscles won’t work without oxygen and you can increase the amount of oxygen that gets to your muscles by increasing the quality of your breathing.

If the ability to suffer plays a part in being a competitive paddler, then it makes sense to work on your ability to suffer. Without the physical conditioning, working on the mental skills involved with the psychology of suffering won’t do much for you. Mental skills don’t make up for a lack of physical ability. You need to prepare for putting out big efforts both physically and mentally. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be. If you feel like your tolerance for suffering pales in comparison to your competitors, mental preparation has to be added into your training plan. Prepare ahead of time for what is to come and take control of your performance.

Carrie Cheadle is a Mental Skills Coach and specializes in working with cyclists and endurance athletes. She provides mental skills training workshops and coaches individual athletes across the country. Carrie also publishes a free quarterly e-newsletter called “Game ON!” with articles and insights on the mental side of sport performance. Sign up for the e-newsletter on her website at www.carriecheadle.com and find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MentalSkillsTrainingforAthletes.com

For another Mental Skills approach watch this video.

Australian U23 Kayak Team Italy

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:07:38 GMT

After years and years of training, dreaming and pushing themselves to the limit, the greatest honour has arrived for our emerging athletes, the members of the Australian kayak Team.

Many have come from other sporting backgrounds before making the switch to kayaking. Mitch Thompson was a swimmer as were Glen Wilkinson and Mitch Crow, whilst Dean Blanche and Michael Knauer are straight from kayaking. Daniel Bowker took up the sport after paddling surf skis for only 12mths having found the 'bug' for paddling. Nick Dawe and Zolt Dallos found their way to kayaking through a talent ID program. For Aolt it was inevitable (being born in Hungary).

All these journies have led to them wearing the GREEN and Gold (Australia's sporting colours), it is an honour to share this time away with them.

Over the next three weeks I’ll take you on a journey into to this National team's training, thinking, eating habits.

Their time has come:

The flight from Australia to our Hotel base in Versace Italy can only be described as torture. Arriving at the airport in Australia to putting the bags down in the room at Versace was a painful 30 hours. After arriving, settling in and adjusting to the 8 hour time delay it was time to go for a paddle. It is important to stay fresh with paddling, if you leave it for to long you lose your feel for the water.

On the water the boys did a 30-minute paddle at about 65%- 70%, getting a feel for the water again. Just enough pressure on the blade to help you get your muscle memory back but not too hard to hurt yourself. These boys were sitting in a cramp position for 30hrs so now was not the time to push the body too hard.

The morning session was a great surprise. The background of this beautiful lake were snow-capped mountains (not common in Australia). The glassy conditions provided conditions as good as any where in the world. Time to dig deeper and produce a hard session.

Most sessions in the morning are hard sessions; this leaves the rest of the day for recovery; early in the week the sessions are more intense then ease off as we lead into racing.

The food is protein carbohydrate meals to provide the fuel for the day’s training. Early in the week, paddling, weights and drills can be done in one day.

Most of the guys take a protein/carbohydrate drink as soon as they get off the water. This aids recovery. 30 mins quickly adds up before they arriving back for breakfast. An important tip is to consider how long between the early training session and refuelling the body. Also in the morning or afternoon and how long till you get home before you eat.

The rule of thumb is its best to get your protein/carbs within 20 mins on a session.

Training is a funny thing to master when you are racing and travelling. That is the case on this tour. We are racing every weekend and training to prepare each week. All the guys will do team boat work and singles. Just like in the business world, you only succeed when you work well in different environments and with different teams. How you adapt to these situations is what ultimately can determine your future. Everyone likes to work with people who want success and have goals. This group is no different.

Training: The training has been hard with tough sessions lasting anywhere between 1hr and 1hr 15mins, with 10mins bike riding to and from training. Throw in some weights training and you soon realise why these guys love their rest.

Early in the week the sessions are high intensity with shorter rest, as the week goes on we add some race plan work, then finish the week with high skills based with hard efforts and long rest. When planning your sessions over long periods you can also use the same methods, but use them in 2-3 month blocks.

When on tour the focus is obviously paddling. In Verasce we have a few options; the first being knuckling down and training extremely hard. It is great not to have distractions when you need to focus. The second option is going and seeing the sights of another country.

Considering both options we set a balanced plan between the two. We decided to go to Milan and forget about paddling just for a couple of hours, a good way to help refresh. If you think paddling 24/7 you will end up going backwards, becoming complacent and stale. The way to improve any sort of paddling is to lift your percentages, do more sessions of quality rather than just doing sessions for the sake of your diary.

The day in Milan added to team bonding and appreciating different cultures. Breaking up training is something that we all need to do and never feel guilty for it. A restful afternoon was had. Our racing will start in the morning.

Racing tired and sick is the biggest mistake you can make. Feeling fresh and jumping out of your skin is the way to go. If you have done the work, then one day out is not going to affect your fitness, strength or speed, so having a rest to feel good is the way to go.

Turning up to one of the most beautiful courses in the world in itself inspitres you race.

Unfortunately for Day 1 of racing we made a mistake that was a great lesson for future paddling, we didn’t respect our opposition and therefore paid the penalty. Rule number 1, have respect for anyone you race and then you are able to stick to your race plan because you are in control of your race and are not put off by others around you. Remember you can’t control what others do in a race, always stick to what you do best, Your own race plan.

On Day 2 had the team was in a different frame of mind and the results showed.

We won a gold medal, two silver and a bronze. The gold in the K4 1000m [Mitch, Mitch, Glen and Zolt] was a well earned Gold as only moments before Glen and Zolt had just picked up silver in the K2 1000m. They paddled a very controlled 1000m race, not that far behind the Italians and they see themselves improving in the coming regattas. In the same event Dean and Daniel came 3rd and also had good boat run throughout their 1000m. In the fast and furious race of the K4 500m the team of Michael, Daniel, Dean and Nick were touched out of a gold medal by the width of fly’s wing. The silver capped of a very good return to form.

The team moves onto Hungary for the next regatta which will be the hardest regatta the boys will compete in. Hungary is well known for it’s Olympic Kayaking champions and has depth in their development squads. It may not be a regatta where places and medals are counted, more a regatta of personal bests. The team is working extremely hard and they will get their just rewards.

Stay up to date will all quick messages and trip highlights at facebook/mykayakcoach fan page.

Yours in paddling.
Jimmy

All about Paddles - Part 1

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:20:23 GMT

In our latest Video Cast we discuss all features of choosing and using a paddle. We interview Greg Bennett from Bennett Surfboards who have been supplying great paddles in Australia for many years, also Chad Meek a producer of world-class paddles through Meek Australia. Finally we here from a variety of expert paddlers on what they use and choose.

As you will learn from the video choosing a paddle is very much a personal preference. There are many factors that affect your choice including your age, your ability, your size, the craft you would like to use, your budget and more. In the end your choice comes down to a personal decision and feel.

Shafts:

I prefer a flexible, softer shaft as, whilst you may loose a little on the start compared to a very stiff shaft the benefits will come in as you begin to tire and loose a little technique I believe, in my own opinion, that the soft shaft will assist in maintaining a good technique which in turn will make you faster and safer in terms of potential injury. It is more forgiving on the body.

Many flat-water paddlers prefer a longer paddle and stiffer shaft where ocean and surf paddlers, in general prefer shorter lengths with more flexibility. When I raced I used a stiff paddle for my short sprint races then changed to a more flexible paddle for the warm down ensuring that I kept injury free.

The length is again a personal choice with most flat-water paddlers tending to move a little longer and ocean paddlers a little shorter. Many of the better paddlers these days tend to choose something around 212 cm's or shorter, perhaps down as far as 208, for surf and ocean and up to around 218-219 for flat water.

Blades:

The shape of the modern blade makes quite a difference in speed and can change technique. The size of the blade can make quite a difference. The trick here is to find a size that suits what you are doing. If you choose a blade that is too large you may end up causing stress on your arms and this may lead to injury. A blade that is smaller will allow you to lift your stroke rate. This can help with balance in surf but may not generate the best power in the flat. Again it is a case of listening to all the advice available and making your own choice.

Sports nutrition: practical advice on carbohydrates, hydration and antioxidants

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:54:31 GMT

In the early 1990’s I made a conscious decision to go for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I thought about the training I was doing and the training I had to do.

I lifted my intensity, amount of training and most of all, concentrated on handling the pressure of top end training.

I thought that I was across everything, in terms of training and, importantly, my eating. I was wrong; I ate home cooked good quality meals. It just wasn’t enough I was missing something.

I came in to contact with one of Australia’s leading sports scientist Kenneth Graham. He let me know about protein carbohydrate drinks. All of a sudden I was training so much better. It was not noticeable at the start of the week, cause I was rested from my Sunday off, but as the week went on I felt I was able to give more effort after using these supplements.

If you add up all the extra sessions and efforts that I did, as a result of feeling great, then it made quite a difference in my ability to press on and give more. That is what got me to my maximum performance when I set a long term and medium term goals.

I believe that it was that little extra that gave me a chance to race at the Atlanta Olympics.

When I took up coaching of Jimsquad we had performed well at regattas and national championships.
Kenneth came up with a new plan to help us at our National championships that are raced over 5 days.
We needed help because we were tiring at the end of the regatta, this is when the finals are on, and you can’t tire at that point as it is 'the GOLD medal time'.

Straight after the race we would consume our carbohydrate/protein drink. Whatever reason we instantly saw improvement. That season we ended up with 2 x gold, 4 x silver and 2 x bronze, every person in Jimsquad medaled at the National champs.

This is what I have tried over the years, read on to the findings of another study and see what help you can get.
Jimmy

In the first decade of the century, there’s been an explosion in the sheer volume of sports nutrition research. But what are the key findings that athletes should seriously consider putting into practice? Andrew Hamilton investigates…

Carbohydrate drinks
If the 1980s and 1990s were the decades when we came to fully appreciate the importance of carbohydrate for performance, the noughties was the decade when we realised that not all carbohydrate drinks are created equal.
Unlike other fuels such as fat and protein, carbohydrate can be broken down very rapidly without oxygen to provide large amounts of extra ATP (the universal energy currency in the body) via a process known as glycolysis during intense (anaerobic) training. Unless you’re training at a very low intensity, this additional energy route provided by carbohydrate is absolutely vital for maximal performance.

The typical muscle concentration of glycogen in sedentary individuals is around 100-120mmols per kg of ‘wet weight’ muscle mass, which equates to around 300-400g in total. Endurance training such as long-distance paddling coupled with a high-carbohydrate diet can raise muscle glycogen concentrations by an additional 50-60%. This in turn can extend the duration of exercise before fatigue sets in by up to 20%(1); studies have shown that the onset of ‘fatigue’ coincides closely with the depletion of glycogen in exercising muscles(2,3).
However, valuable as your muscle glycogen stores are, and even though some extra carbohydrate (in the form of circulating blood glucose) can be made available to working muscles courtesy of glycogen stored in your liver, the level is often insufficient to supply the energy needed during longer events lasting 90 minutes or more.
Extending endurance

Consuming carbohydrate drinks during exercise can help offset the effects of glycogen depletion by providing working muscles with another source of carbohydrate. During the late 1980s and 1990s, a number of key studies showed that:

•carbohydrate taken during exercise can be oxidised at a rate of roughly 1g per minute(4-6), supplying approximately 250kcals per hour
this carbohydrate can be supplied and absorbed well by drinking 600-1200mls of a solution of 4-8% (40-80g per litre of water) carbohydrate solution per hour(7-10)
ingested carbohydrate becomes the predominant source of carbohydrate energy late in a bout of prolonged exercise(10), and can delay the onset of fatigue during prolonged cycling and running as well as improving power output(11,12).

The rub, however, is that at the concentrations and volumes used in those studies, traditional (glucose/glucose polymer) carbohydrate drinks only supply around 60g per hour (around 250kcals per hour), which provides no more than a modest replenishment of energy compared to that being expended during training or competition (elite athletes can burn well over 1000kcals per hour). Higher concentrations or volumes than this are not recommended because of gastric distress and the fact that the extra carbohydrate ingested is simply not absorbed or utilised. However, the good news is that recent research has clearly demonstrated that by tweaking the type of carbohydrate in a drink, it’s possible to increase the rate of carbohydrate replenishment.
In 2003, researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK began looking more closely at this issue in a study of eight cyclists pedalling at 63% of VO2max for two hours(13). In the study, the cyclists performed four exercise trials in random order while drinking a radio-labelled solution supplying one of the following:

1.2g/min of glucose (medium glucose);
1.8g/min of glucose (high glucose);
1.2g of glucose + 0.6g of fructose per minute (glucose/fructose blend);
water (control).

The key finding from the study was that the maximum rate of glucose absorption into the body was around 1.2g per minute because feeding more glucose produced no more glucose oxidation. However, giving extra fructose did increase overall carbohydrate oxidation rates, which indicates that fructose in the glucose/fructose drink was absorbed into the bloodstream from the intestine via a different mechanism.

More benefits
This study and others have shown that glucose/fructose mixtures do result in higher oxidation rates of ingested carbohydrate, especially in the later stages of exercise(14). Moreover, further studies by the Birmingham team showed that ingesting glucose/fructose drinks also provided the following benefits over conventional glucose-only drinks(15):

more energy produced from consumed carbohydrate (in drink) and less from stored muscle carbohydrate, thereby preserving muscle glycogen stores
better hydration due to increased amounts of water absorbed from the stomach
a reduced perception of stomach fullness after consuming the same volumes of drink
lower perceived rates of exertion in the later stages of exercise.

Even more importantly, the same team has carried out further research, which shows that the benefits outlined above of a glucose/fructose combination drink do translate into better performance(16). In the study on cyclists performing a one-hour time trial, the ingestion of the glucose/fructose drink resulted in an 8% quicker time to completion of the time trial compared with the glucose-only drink, and a 19% improvement compared with the water-placebo drink. Moreover, the glucose/fructose drink helped to spare the cyclists’ reserves of liver and muscle glycogen.

These research findings are very encouraging; higher rates of energy production from ingested carbohydrate and increased water uptake is very desirable for anyone who participates in endurance sports or activities. Even better, it seems that glucose/fructose drinks actually enhance endurance performance in real athletes under real race conditions. The icing on the cake is that these drinks are no more expensive than conventional glucose/glucose polymer drinks, so it seems that the future for glucose/fructose carbohydrate drinks looks bright indeed!

Hydration

Maintaining hydration in sport is relatively straightforward compared to other aspects of sports nutrition but research conducted during the past decade has changed perceptions about what constitutes best hydration practice. Moreover, the traditional advice to athletes to drink enough to ‘replace fluid lost in sweat’ during endurance events has come under attack from scientists such as the renowned exercise physiologist Professor Tim Noakes. In 2006, in a hard-hitting leading article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Noakes claimed that the case against ‘over-drinking’ in athletes was proved 20 years earlier but that official advice since has been influenced by the marketing needs of the sports drink industry rather than the needs of the athlete(17).?For example, Australian researchers measured core temperature in ten participants in the 2004 Ironman Western Australia and then related this to the triathletes’ hydration status after the event(18). The results showed that while fluid losses led to an average fall in body mass of 2.3kg (about 3% of body weight), the athletes’ core body temperature averaged only a modest 1oC above normal resting temperature, while other measures of dehydration, including plasma levels of sodium and urine concentration, stayed within normal ranges. Following their findings (that even quite large fluid losses don’t lead to dehydration or heat illness), the scientists called on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and other official bodies to revise their current fluid replacement guidelines.

Another study looked into the effects of 5% dehydration on running economy in ten highly trained collegiate distance runners(19). Two 10-minute runs (one at 70% VO2max and one at 85% VO2max) were performed in a fully hydrated state and two in a dehydrated state (a water loss corresponding to 5.5 and 5.7% body mass – ie about 3 litres). The researchers discovered that there were no significant differences in running economy between any of the combinations of hydration states and workloads. Likewise, there were no differences in perceived rates of exertion or in post-exercise lactate concentration.?Why is this surprising? Well, 5% dehydration is very severe, equating to a water loss of two and a half times that commonly accepted to be the threshold of reduced performance! To achieve 5% dehydration in reasonably temperate conditions, a runner would have to run for long periods beyond the 2% dehydration point that has traditionally been claimed to produce significant performance drop.
Dehydration and motor skills

When it comes to sports where complex motor skills are important, some recent evidence suggests that the 2% dehydration threshold may be relevant. US scientists set out to investigate the effects of three hydration strategies on 15 basketballers (aged 12 to 15 years) who underwent three separate two-hour exercise sessions in hot conditions with different drinking strategies(20).
1. No drinks consumed leading to 2% dehydration;?

2. Consumption of a 6% carbohydrate/electrolyte drink to maintain hydration levels (ie 0% dehydration);?3. Consumption of a flavoured water placebo drink to maintain hydration levels, but with no added carbohydrate/electrolyte.

After each exercise session, the subjects performed a sequence of continuous basketball drills designed to simulate a game during which the researchers looked at a number of performance measures. Compared with the flavoured water drinking strategy, 2% dehydration significantly impaired shooting ability whereas consuming the carbohydrate/electrolyte drink improved it. Moreover, the carbohydrate/electrolyte drinking strategy significantly improved total defensive drill times compared with no drinking.

Antioxidant nutrition
Oxygen is a double-edged sword; its reactivity provides us with the energy for all life processes including muscular contraction. However, this very same reactivity leads to the production of highly damaging free radicals, which are now believed to play a major role in the process of aging and degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart and autoimmune diseases.

Because athletes use greater volumes of oxygen than their sedentary counterparts, it’s long been assumed that they need greater amounts of protective antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins A, C, E and naturally occurring compounds in brightly coloured fruits and vegetables called phytochemicals.?In the late 1990s and early noughties, the practice of taking large doses of antioxidant supplements such as vitamins C and E was commonplace among athletes, but ten years of research has shown that the benefits of such a strategy are far from clear.

While some studies on athletes taking supplements have shown benefits(22-25), a significant number have produced inconclusive results(26-29) and some have even indicated that large single doses of an antioxidant nutrient may increase cellular damage in the body following exercise!

Five-a-day
Although it’s true that the balance of evidence for taking antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C or E is slightly more positive than negative, recent research indicates that the phytochemical antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables have a far greater antioxidant activity in the body than that achieved from vitamin C and E supplements. This has led to a major shift in thinking about how athletes can best protect themselves and also provides the rationale behind the more general ‘5-a-day’ recommendation for healthy eating.
A good example of this research is a study on oxidative stress generated during a 30-minute treadmill run at 80% VO2max, which showed that a mixed fruit and vegetable powdered extract containing only small amounts of vitamins C and E afforded as much protection as the pure vitamins supplemented at four times the amount found in the extract(30). The clear implication was that it was the phytochemical content of the extract that was providing the protection rather than vitamins C and E.

There are also a number of other studies on the use of fruit and vegetable extracts and juices for antioxidant protection during training, which not only provide encouraging evidence but also indicate possible performance benefits too.

These include:

cyclists taking grape, redcurrant and raspberry concentrates, which lowered measures of muscle damage compared to a placebo(31)
rowers consuming chokeberry juice before strenuous workouts, which again lowered markers of muscle damage and oxidative stress(32)
resistance trainers who consumed cherry juice before and after eccentric exercise and who suffered less post-exercise muscle soreness and strength losses than those taking placebo(33).

Recommendations
The evidence gathered over the first decade of the 21st century suggests that antioxidant nutrient supplementation (eg vitamins A, C and E and the mineral selenium) shouldn’t be ruled out, but it may be better to use low-dose synergistic combinations of these nutrients rather than large doses of a single nutrient – in a broad-spectrum multi-vitamin/mineral for example. More importantly, any health-boosting strategy should be based on harnessing the antioxidant power of phytochemical-rich fruits, vegetables and other high-antioxidant foods, which you should try to increase significantly in your diet (see box, left).

Andrew Hamilton BSc Hons, MRSC, ACSM is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American College of Sports Medicine and a consultant to the fitness industry, specialising in sport and performance nutrition

References
1. Sports Med 1997; 24:73-81?2. Acta Physiol Scand 1967; 71:129-139?3. Williams C, Harries M, Standish WD, Micheli LL eds, Oxford Textbook of Sports Medicine, 2nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press 1998?4. Sports Med 1992; 14: 27–42?5. Metabolism 1996; 45: 915–921?6. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 1999; 276: E672–E683?7. Med Sci Sports Ex 1993; 25:42-51?8. Int J Sports Med 1994; 15:122-125?9. Med Sci Sports Ex 1996; 28: i-vii?10. J Athletic Training 2000; 35:212-214?11. Int J Sports Nutr 1997; 7:26-38?12. Nutrition Reviews 1996; 54: S136-S139?13. J Appl Physiol 2004; 96: 1277–1284?14. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2004; Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1551–1558?15. J Appl Physiol 2006; 100:807-816?16. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Feb;40(2):275-8?17. Br J Sports Med 2006;40:567-572?18. Br J Sports Med 2006;40:320-325?19. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Oct;38(10):1762-9?20. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Sep;38(9):1650-8?21. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Feb;39(2):323-9?22. Biol Trace Element Res 1995;47:279–85?23. Int J Sport Nutr 1994;4:253–64?24. J Appl Physiol 1978;45:927–32?25. Acta Physiol Scand 1994;151:149–58?26. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 1999, 38(4): 281-5?27. Am J Clin Nutr 1997, 65(4): 1052-6?28. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000, 9(7): 647-52?29. J. Nutr. 2002, 132:1616S-1621S?30. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2006, 38:6, pp1098-1105?31. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2005 Dec;95(5-6):543-9?32. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 15(1): 48-58, 2005?33. Br J Sports Med 2006;40:679-683

6 Tips from Olympic THINKING

Mon, 17 May 2010 16:57:53 GMT

When I first started my dream of paddling it was to go to the Olympics and nothing else.

I was lucky that I was able to surround myself with quality athletes, some Olympians and Top Ironman. The things I learn’t from them were so valuable.

Learning from people who are at the top of their game is the best tips you can ever get.

For me I started my training with three of the best Steve Wood Olympic kayaking Bronze medalist, Mick Porra champion life saver and Guy Leech iron man champion what they all taught me was in the end very special as they all had great quality’s that they passed onto me.

All the time they possessed the same quality that took me some time to pick up on.

THEY NEVER GAVE UP.

No matter what was thrown in front of them, they always found a quality to bounce back from. When you get ideas from people like this you can only improve like I did.
Here are 6 tips you can try.

Newswise — Olympic athletes inspire us with their fierce discipline and natural talent as they smash records, going higher, further and faster. Their can-do spirit encourages us all to take on new challenges. Whether your goal is to complete your first 20 beaches, improve your technique or compete in a flat water kayak competition, there are lessons to be learned from the best of the best.
“The Olympics symbolize the chance for all of us to push the boundaries of human potential,” said Chris Sebelski, assistant professor of physical therapy at Saint Louis University. “As I tell my students, if you want to compete at a high level, mimic the strategies of those at the top.”

Set a Goal and Break it Down - Olympic-level athletes train for their next gold medal as a part of a four-year process. After setting a goal to medal or set a world record, athletes and their coaches will break the process down into tasks and time periods with smaller goals that mark progress along the way, Sebelski says. For instance, if you’re training to get in shape for 20 beaches, Dubai or Molokai, you might aim to paddle 7-10kms day for the first two weeks and build up to 20kms a day by the end of ten weeks. Break it down, and you’ll find that a goal that seems unreachable is obtainable.
Cross-train - Olympians may be unrivaled within their skill-set, but they use other skills along the way. Cross-training reduces risks of overtraining and helps avoid injury. It also enhances muscle performance and stimulates the mind so you don’t become bored by too much repetition.
Cross-training is also useful to prepare for sports you can’t practice every day. If you’re planning a paddling vacation and your goal is to graduate from beginner to Intermediate , don’t be discouraged because you live far from the water. In the months before the big trip, prepare by going to the gym, focusing on lower extremity strength training, balance activities and cardio workouts, like the elliptical machine. All of these activities will help you get the most from your paddling trip.
Workout with Others - Olympic athletes don’t train alone and they don’t train only with those at the same skill level. paddling with those who are of higher ability to help push you along. Also lower ability helps you take the time to work on your technique.
Not only will you find that the spirit of competition and encouragement will keep your motivation high, but there are also training benefits to working out with others who compete at different levels.
If you’re a paddler, mix it up and paddle with different people. Partner with someone slower than your normal pace, and on that day, you’ll stay out longer and practice endurance. Another day, paddle with someone faster than your average pace and experience a more intense cardio workout.
Create a Team - Olympic athletes are under no illusions that they can do it on their own, and you shouldn’t be either.
“While we’re enamored by the idea of an Olympic athlete as a hero, we forget that that person is standing on shoulders of so many other people. It takes a village to put one Olympian in front of the world,” said Sebelski. “We shouldn’t forget that we need those resources, too.”
Think about the people who can help you accomplish your goal. You might find that you’ll benefit from working with a trainer, a nutritionist, a physical therapist or a physician. Recognize that help is available in all different forms and find what works best for you. It might be a face-to-face session with a trainer, a nutrition class, or an online chat room of like-minded people.
Find your Motivation - You may feel silly rocking out to your Ipod at the gym, but remember how gold medalist Michael Phelps made music a part of his mental preparation, psyching up with Lil’ Wayne before he hit the water.
Take a page from Phelps’ playbook and embrace your inspiration. You can feed your passion by finding the method that motivates you most, whether it’s music, visualizing success or a pep talk from your coach.
Put on an Olympic Attitude - For most of us, our jobs, families and personal commitments mean we can’t devote as many waking hours to training as a world champion might. But you can adopt the mentality of an Olympian during the time you set aside for training, approaching that hour with the single-minded focus of a full-time athlete. The results will be encouraging, Sebelski says.
“Train for a couple of weeks with focus and discipline, and lo and behold, you’ll be surprised by what you can do,” Sebelski said.
Sebelski says that the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from striving to improve upon your personal best is something everyone can experience.
“It’s been said that running a marathon is now everyman’s Everest. But that’s true for every sport,” Sebelski said. “You can train for the Sunday club paddling, if that’s your passion. The Sunday paddle may be your Olympics.
“Regardless of the scale of your goal, you should have the experience, at least once, of training for and accomplishing a physical goal you set for yourself. Crossing that finish line is a feeling unlike any other.”

I know the day I reached my goal I couldn't have been happier. So chase your goal and enjoy the challenge and feel the reward of self accomplishment.

Six Things We Can Learn From Olympians
Released: 2/5/2010 3:45 PM EST
Source: Saint Louis University Medical Center

MKC Runners Clinic

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Runners Clinic

1/05/2010

The 2^nd Mykayakcoach runner’s session was held at Fisherman’s Beach in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

With a mix of paddlers turning up for the session it made for a lot of fun.

Fisherman’s beach is a great spot for catching runners as it is tucked in against a cliff and a big rock face on the south side of the beach.

We started the session off with some drills where each paddler learned the basics of catching swells/runners. Talking about the length of stroke on how the length changes from flat water paddling to ocean paddling with swells/runners. After talking about the length of stroke it was time to do some drills that would emphasise the importance of the catch [the front part of the stroke]. The catch, no matter what sort of paddling you do, flat water, downriver or catching runners/swell, is most important part of the stroke.

The catch is the part of your stroke that makes the boat get the run that is needed to make you move forward; thus making it easier to catch swells/runners or accelerate the boat in the flat water.

We then joined into groups of twos, completing exercises in pairs that allowed us to simulate the feeling you should get when using your trunk to the best of your ability. A good paddler uses their trunk efficiently as you use all the major muscle groups. One of our drills was the trunk twist drill. This practices rotating your hips and shoulders together, which makes you use your trunk whilst feeling a locking sensation in your stomach. This is the feeling we want to achieve on the water when making a strong catch to get the swell/runners.

Once out at sea all paddlers started by getting the feel of the water under the boat. This is the opportune time to apply the drills. Paddlers waited for their moment to apply techniques learnt on the shore. Through out this time paddlers practiced maximising their catch whilst catching swells/runners. Paddling for swell/runners is so much different to other forms of paddling as timing is everything. If you get your timing right you can make your ocean paddling so much easier. You need to be explosive and hard on your catch, then the boats run allows you to rest whilst steering your craft onto a swell. THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO PADDLE.

After spending the time to feel the swell we moved onto connecting swell/runners together.

This is where you catch the swell and whilst on the swell you look left and right to see the steepest part of the runners to surf. Keeping on your pedals all the time will help you steer from one runner to the next, taking as little as 5-10 strokes. Strong catch is needed here.

We surfed the swells/runners for sometime and enjoyed the surfing experience of catching these consecutively.

We closed the session with a race, the aim being to see how we would apply what was learnt in a race scenario. Many people panicked and tried way too hard losing their timing because of the pressure they put on themselves. It is funny when people are catching swells/runners, they panic and think runners should just come to them. Naturally, they try harder and miss the runner altogether.

My best tip is to relax, let the swell/runner go and get the next one. It doesn’t matter if you miss one or two swell/runners there is always more for you, just relax and steer onto the next one.

Going back out in the ocean as many times as possible and getting the feel for the swell/runners is the best way to improve.

It was a treat to see Dean Gardiner, Tim Jacobs, Michael Clues and Mark Anderson paddle past us a few times. It was great to see all levels of paddlers sharing and enjoying the same ocean.

Nutrition For Recovery

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Athletes are always seeking ways to enhance performance and delay fatigue. Muscle glycogen is the major fuel source during prolonged, moderate to high-intensity ex- ercise, and there is a direct relationship between depleted muscle glycogen and fatigue. Therefore, muscle glycogen repletion is vital to recovery time and maintaining top performance for athletes at all levels (1).

Glycogen repletion is important to ensure an athlete’s quick muscle recovery for subsequent practices, especial- ly those who train, or must compete, multiple times in a single day (1). Timing, composition and the quantity of a post-exercise meal or snack is dependent upon the length and intensity of exercises, timing of the next exercise ses- sion, as well as an individual’s needs (1).

Carbohydrates For Recovery— How Much? The current recommendation for daily carbohydrates (CHO) consumption is 5 – 7g CHO/kg/day for the general athlete and 7 – 10g/kg/day for the endurance athlete (1). Consuming CHO immediately after exercise accelerates glycogen repletion (10) because there is increased blood flow to the muscles, which results in heightened sensitiv- ity to insulin (9). Sufficient CHO ingestion over the next 24 hours is also important. Current recommendations are to consume 1 – 1.5g of CHO/kg of body weight within 30 minutes after exercise and then again at 2-hour intervals for the next six hours (1). See Table 1 for some ideas on what to consume within 30 minutes post-exercise.

Carbohydrates For Recovery— What Type? The type of carbohydrate (CHO) an athlete consumes after exercise can affect how much and how quickly he or she resynthesizes glycogen. Foods and/or beverages contain- ing glucose/ sucrose, and those having a high glycemic index are preferred. Glucose and sucrose are preferred over fructose (1), as fructose promotes a lower level of gly- cogen resynthesis as compared to glucose (3) and larger amounts of fructose may promote gastrointestinal dis- tress due to its slower absorption rate(3). High glycemic index foods induce higher muscle glycogen levels as com- pared to low glycemic index foods (1).

Readily available foods, such as whole grain cereal and skim milk, have been found to be an effective post-exer- cise fuel (2). In fact, one study found that the carbohydrate to protein combination found in a bowl of whole grain ce- real and skim milk had a similar effect on muscle glycogen repletion as did sports drinks (2). The combination was also found to positively affect protein synthesis. From this research, it seems that whole foods can be a good alterna- tive to commercial sports drinks, if preferred by the athlete.

Endurance exercise

Endurance athletes may benefit from consuming protein along with carbohydrates after exercise as this combina- tion has been shown to reduce markers of muscle damage and improve post-exercise recovery. This could also have a positive effect on subsequent performances (8).

Some studies have demonstrated a benefit of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) on muscle recovery (6). BCAA’s appear to affect muscle protein metabolism during and after exercise and prevent muscle damage induced by ex- ercise (6). The release of amino acids from muscles is de- creased when BCAA’s are ingested (6).

Resistance Exercise

The goal for athletes in resistance-type exercise is to in- crease muscle mass and strength. The nutrition inter- vention for this type of activity involves stimulating net muscle protein gains during recovery. PRO ingestion in- creases the rate of muscle protein synthesis and inhibits protein breakdown after training (10). One study found that during prolonged resistance training, post-exercise consumption of CHO and PRO, 1 – 3 hours after resistance training stimulated improvements in strength and body composition better than a placebo (3).

Essential amino acids in a dose of 40g have regularly shown to have an effect in promoting muscle protein syn- thesis and CHO may enhance this effect (3). The findings suggest ingesting 50 – 75g CHO with 20 – 75g PRO after heavy resistance training (3). Furthermore, adding 10g of creatine has shown to produce a significant increase in body mass as compared to just CHO and PRO (3). See Table 2 for possible CHO and PRO combinations.

nsca’s performance training journal • www.nsca-lift.org • volume 9 issue 2 18training table Nutrition For Recovery?

Bottom Line

Nutrition post-exercise has been proven to promote recovery for athletes. Post-exercise nutrition has been shown to increase strength and muscle mass in athletes who participate in resistance-type exercises. Timing, com- position and amount of post-exercise food is dependent upon the indi- vidual, timing of the next exercise session and the activity performed.?

References

1. American Dietetic Association. Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and athletic performance. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2009(109).

2. Kammer L, Ding Z, Want B, Hara D, Liao Y, Ivy J. Cereal and nonfat milk support muscle recovery following exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2009(6).

3. Kerksick C, Harvey T, Stout J, Campbell B, Wilborn C, Kreider R, Kalman D, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Ivy J, Antonio J. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Nutrient timing. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2008(5).

4. Miller SL, Gaine PC, Maresh CM, Armstrong LE, Ebbeling CB, Lamont LS, Rodriguez NR. The Effects of Nutritional Supplementation Throughout an Endurance Run on Leucine Kinetics During Recovery. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2007(17).

5. Mizuno K PhD, Tanaka M PhD, Nozaki S PhD, Mizuma H PhD, Ataka S MD, Tahara T PhD, Sugino T MSc, Shirai T MSc, Kajimoto Y PhD, Kuratsune H PhD, Kajimoto O PhD, Watanabe Y PhD. Antifatigue effects of coenzyme Q10 during physical fatigue. Applied Nutritional Investigation. 2007.

6. Negro M, Giardina S, Marzani B, Marzatico F. Branched-chain amino acid supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune system. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2008(48).

7. Rowlands D, Thorp RM, Rossler K, Graham DF, Rockell MJ. Effect of Protein-Rich Feeding on Recovery After Intense Exercise. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2007(17).

8. Saunders, Michael J. Coingestion of Carbohydrate-Protein During Endurance Exercise: Influence on Performance and Recovery. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2007(17).

9. Stout, Andrew. Fueling and Weight Management Strategies In Sports Nutrition. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2007(07).

10. Van Loon, Luc J.C. Application of Protein or Protein Hydrolysates to Improve Postexercise Recovery. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2007(17).

Choosing the right CRAFT.

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Ski paddling around the world is going from strength to strength, with people joining the sport in huge numbers. The increase in numbers is fantastic for race organisers and of course those involved in selling new craft. With that in mind, what should you be looking for in a new ski?

If you are new to motor sport, you don't rush out and buy a brand new V8 Supercar. Ideally you will look at buying a cart, and learn the basics of driving. Without having a solid foundation in driving skills you will never master the faster cars up the range. So why should a sport like ski paddling be any different? Well, in reality, it isn't, yet everyday you will see guys paddling skis which are beyond their current skill set. Friends advise them that they spend lots of time paddling; they will master the more advanced ski, that over time it won't be as tippy. Unfortunately, not getting the right craft to start with will have long term implications on your paddling technique, your stability, your ability to use the ocean to your advantage, and ultimately your enjoyment out on the water.

So how do you go about choosing the right craft that suits YOU? By answering the following questions, you can go a long way to getting on board a ski that will allow you to perform well and improve as a paddler.

* What level are you at?
* Where will you do most of your paddling?
* What are your paddling goals?

Lets look at some possible answers.

What level are you at?

This is the most important aspect when choosing a new craft.

Are you a beginner just starting out in paddling? Have you maybe got some experience in paddling from a fitness squad for example and are making the step into ocean racing? If you answer yes to either of these questions, then it is very important you walk before you can run. A ski which offers lots of primary stability will allow you to learn correct forward paddling technique, while also giving you a solid platform to try your hand in the harbour or ocean. At this stage, you need to be nice and stable and not have to worry about falling off. If you're stable you will start to learn the feel of the ocean, how runs feel as they come under your ski, how side chop affects the run of your craft and how to use the ocean to your advantage. This is the stage in your paddling where you will set the foundations to build a successful career upon. Use the time wisely and efficiently and you will set yourself up for many happy years of paddling ahead.

The next stage is what we term intermediate, and I believe, the hardest one in which to choose a craft. Paddling at this stage, you will have built a good foundation in paddling technique and will have a reasonable feel for the ocean. What is really important in this stage is not to make the jump to a more unstable craft too early. If I can use the example of a racing car again, you decide to move to a faster car when you really can master your cart, not when you have improved a lot, but are still hanging on for dear life on a race track. You should have 100% confidence in your equipment and support strokes are a thing of the past. By getting out regularly in messy side chop and down wind runners you feel totally comfortable, then you are ready to make the step up.

Advanced and elite paddlers are you guys with a very solid forward paddling stroke and who have little to no stability issues in almost any conditions. You will have built up a great foundation over the years and by getting onto an elite level ski, you can perform to your optimal level.

Where will you do most of your paddling?

The great thing about surf skis is that they can be used in a variety of places and conditions. When you are looking for a new ski, it is good to ask yourself where you will do most of your paddling. If it's in the flat water, with the occasional trip to the ocean, then you may be able to handle a tipper ski, but bear in mind that it might be more of a challenge in the ocean. Also worth considering, do you drive to your favourite stretch of water? If so, a lighter ski may appeal, as lifting skis on and off roof racks can be hard work. The important thing to remember is that you need to match you skill set with the stretch of water you will do all your paddling on.

A very important aspect of where you paddle is how safe the craft you choose is. If you are paddling in the ocean, chasing runs, battling rebound chop from cliffs and the like, you need confidence in your ski that it won't let you down. As the sport grows, more and more attention is being paid to the safety aspect of craft and also paddlers wearing PFDs. Most race organisers now insist you wear a leg leash, and anchoring it to your ski is very important. Your ski should have strong internal stringers, which support the structure, as well as providing rigidity to the craft. While we all crave high performance, don't let it be at a cost to your safety and well being.

What are your paddling goals?

For most of us, going to the Olympics or World Championships isn't on our agendas. We paddle because we love it, we enjoy the outdoors, the fitness levels we gain and the fun we have out on the water with our friends. But it is still important to have goals. To beat your best mate at a local time trial, to finish a big high profile race, to improve your 10km PB as examples. With your goals in mind, you can make your choice of ski also. For many beginner paddlers who quickly progress to intermediate status, why would you reduce the enjoyment factor by getting on a ski, which is too much of a challenge? You may find that you are actually quicker on a more stable craft, as you are able to apply more power on each stroke, and not have to worry about falling in. If your local time trial has some challenging conditions, but your best mate has jumped on the latest and greatest ski he has seen an elite paddler on, without having the ability to get the most from that ski, odds are you will beat him on a more stable craft. If you want to smash your 10km time, that will be very hard to do if you are just paddling with your arms because you are on a ski which is too tippy. Being on a suitable craft, which you can apply, all the power from your torso and big back muscles will pay dividends and in no time you will be reassessing your goals with a new PB logged in your training diary.

For advanced to elite paddlers, most will tend to choose the fastest skis on the market, but having the skill set to get the most from these craft, you will excel.

I hope this article helps you in choosing a new ski. I have specifically refrained from mentioning any brands or models, as the sole intention is to help aid in craft selection, and not to confuse or influence paddlers. Being a distributor of skis here in Australia, I speak to many different paddlers every day; each one will be of a different ability. The important thing for me is to match them to a ski on which they will perform to their best ability and the one, which they will gain the most enjoyment from. After all, we all paddle for the love of the sport and the enjoyment we get from the best outdoor sport on the planet.

Now go for a paddle.....

Cheers,

Stewart O'Regan

Think Kayak Australia

Sports psychology: are you mentally tough enough?

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Mental toughness is the most important psychological characteristic that determines athletic success but what is it and what do mentally tough athletes think about or do when competing?

Athletes, coaches, commentators, and journalists often refer to mental toughness as an explanation of why certain people fail under immense pressures, whereas others seem to excel during sporting competition. In this adapted article, Adam Nicholls explains how you can behave and think like a mentally tough athlete.

It’s widely accepted by coaches and athletes that mental toughness is the most important psychological characteristic that determines athletic success. An important question, therefore, is what is mental toughness and what do mentally tough athletes think about or do when competing?

‘Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.’– Vince Lombardi

As Vincent Lombardi said, mental toughness is difficult to explain and contains many different attributes. Nevertheless, mentally tough athletes seem to have complete trust in their ability, no matter how much stress they encounter, and they believe they will be successful. Researchers from the University of Hull, UK have identified a number of constructs that are related to mental toughness (see figure 1, below).

Tiger Woods (see below), says that mental toughness is something that you have to discover from within and that you have to keep challenging yourself to do better. Thinking and behaving the same way a mentally tough athlete does has the potential to boost your mental toughness, but you need push yourself to learn new psychological skills.

Tiger Woods’ understanding of mental toughness:

"It’s something you have to find from within. You have to keep pushing yourself from within. It's not about what other people think and what other people say. It’s about what you want to accomplish and whether you want to go out there and be prepared to beat everyone you play or face."?Tiger Woods

Let's look at how you can change your coping, boost levels of coping self-efficacy, optimism and stress control, whilst reducing pessimistic behaviour and stress intensity to enhance your mental toughness level and maximise your performance.

Coping

Coping refers to the thoughts and behaviours we engage in to manage the stress we experience whilst competing or training in sport. Research suggests that there are massive differences between how the most and least mentally tough athletes coped with stress during sport. The most mentally tough athletes used coping strategies such as:

mental imagery
effort expenditure
thought control
relaxation
logical analysis

Mental tough athletes do this very frequently. In order to enhance your levels of mental toughness you need to practise these strategies on a regular basis. The same research also found that the least mentally tough (mentally weak) athletes used a number of strategies

distancing
mental distraction
resignation

They use these strategies much more frequently than the most mentally tough athletes.

Athletes should maximise their mental toughness by using the coping strategies that the most mentally tough athletes use but just as importantly, be aware of the coping strategies that shouldn’t be used. Even when you experience immense stress – especially during stressful competitive encounters – do not use the 'weak' strategies, even though there may be a temptation to do so, because it will be the easier option. To be a mentally tough athlete you cannot take the easy option!

Coping self-efficacy and optimism

Coping self-efficacy refers to belief in your ability to cope effectively with stress during competition. Emerging research found a positive relationship between coping self-efficacy and mental toughness. The most mentally tough athletes were very confident that their coping strategies would be able to manage stress effectively, compared to the least mentally tough athletes who were not very confident.

In the study the most mentally tough athletes were also the most optimistic. Optimism refers to the hopefulness and confidence a person has regarding any uncertain outcomes and is thought to be a major factor in determining which of two types of behaviour are adopted: continued striving or giving up and turning away. More optimistic individuals are likely exhibit increased effort to attain goals, whereas more pessimistic people are likely to withdraw from situations and disengage from attempts to attain a goal.

Increasing your optimism levels may therefore be the key to increasing your mental toughness and maximising performance.

An ‘ABCDE’ model to help people enhance their levels of optimism has been proposed by a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. During times of stress we encounter Adversity. An example of adversity could be unexpected chop tipping you out, missing a stroke or having someone fall infront of you. Thinking about what has just happened can then influence our Beliefs. For instance, missing a stroke on one particular side a paddler may feel that they are weak on that side, they may then begin to overcompensate or negativeley adjust the stroke or body position, thus creating consequences. The consequence of a paddler believing they have poor technique on one side could be that they feel they need to lengthen that side or shorten the other when it was really just a situational misshap.

In order to improve optimism levels you should think of examples in the past where you were successful and thus find evidence against your negative beliefs, which is referred to as Disputation. In the example of the paddler think of how great the stroke has been during training and how it helped you 'get home during a previous race. According to the research, the skill of dealing with setbacks is to dispute the thoughts that emerge from any setbacks.

Finally, Energisation occurs after a person has disputed their negative thoughts.

Pessimism

The most pessimistic athletes have been found to be the least mentally tough in recent research. Pessimistic people tend to lack confidence and always predict the worst when faced with any uncertainty. Pessimists think differently compared to optimistic people when setbacks occur during competition (eg being beaten by a competitor that you know you can beat). Pessimists also tend to blame themselves for the setback and their own ability ‘I am not good enough’ or ‘None of the other players want me in the team’ are phrases that pessimists often use. A pessimist believes that any misfortune they encounter lies within themselves rather than being external, so the misfortune is Personal.

Pessimists also believe that their misfortune is long lasting or Permanent (eg ‘I will always start slow’). Finally, pessimists believe that their misfortune is Pervasive to all parts of their life and that if they experience misfortune in one part of their life, they will experience it in others. This leads to the three P's of Pessimism:

Personal
Permanent
Pervasive.

To maximise your levels of mental toughness and sporting performance, therefore, it’s essential that you do not adopt a pessimist’s mindset. If you feel that you may have a pessimistic mindset there are strategies you can employ. Attribute any setbacks that occur to external sources (eg the other guy paddled well, I was affected by a flight during the week, I didn't get a good sleep). View all setbacks as being temporary and tell yourself that they are temporary because you can improve your technique to prevent such setbacks occurring regularly.

Finally segment different parts of your life (eg work, family, sport) and believe that just because a setback occurs in one part of your life, it should not influence another part of it. Choose to think positively!

Stress control

Stress control refers to the degree of control a person has over the stress they encounter at a particular point in time. The relationship between mental toughness and stress control revealed that the most mentally tough athletes were more in control of the stress they experienced, compared to athletes who were not as mentally tough. It is therefore essential that athletes focus on the elements of the stressful experience that they can control.

Further study also explored the relationship between mental toughness and the intensity of stress experienced by athletes. The most mentally tough athletes did not rate the stress they experienced as being as intense as the less mentally tough athletes. In order to perform to your potential it is imperative that you reduce the intensity of the stress you experience, whilst competing. Box 2, below, gives some tips for reducing stress intensity.

Summary

Mental toughness is widely regarded as a crucial characteristic that determines athletic success. This article has highlighted a number of different characteristics that have been associated with mental toughness and it shows you how you can improve your mental toughness. Making these steps could be the key to unlocking your athletic potential.

Remember that all skills, including psychological skills, require practise and time to develop. The more you practise the more mentally tough you will be and the better you will be able to perform when you really need to!

Dr Adam Nicholls is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hull. He is a chartered psychologist and a BASES accredited sport psychologist, who has published over 30 articles in sports science and psychology journals

References

1. Pers Ind Diffs 2004; 37: 933-942?2. Mental toughness for training in sports: Achieving athletic excellence. Lexington MA: Lexington, 1986?3. Pers Ind Diffs 2008; 44: 1182-1192?4. Self-efficacy in sport. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics, 2008?5. Pers Ind Diffs 2009; Manuscript submitted to Journal?6. Int J Stress Mange 2004; 11: 245-269?7. Percep Mot Skil 2002; 93: 153-164?8. Learned Optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Free Press, 1998?9. Pers Ind Diffs 2009; 47: 728-733

Group Session in the Ocean

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

After a series of private and group lessons concentrating on technique it's now time to put the theory into practice. See our 'Chasing Runners' blog.

This session , is on Saturday the 1st of May. It will teach you how to get the most out of your stroke and develop a better understanding of what is needed to paddle in the ocean.

The session will start at 2pm where we talk and and answer any questions you may have on how to paddle in the ocean. I will teach you what you need to change in your stroke to adpat to runners instead of flat water paddling.

When we go out into the ocean I will run the session on my jetski so that I can get close to you and help you right at your point of need. You will understand how to catch those swells and learn technique that will make you a better ocean paddler and help you have more fun.

The session will be held at Fishermans Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches next to Colloroy Beach. Easy beach access to the water plenty of parking.

View Larger Map

Date: Saturday 1st May 2010

Time 2pm start NOT ARRIVE.

Cost $50

Bring Drink/fluids, lifejacket if you require, sunblock and your will to improve.

Comments from others who have had lessons.

Now time to walk the walk and not just talk about it. But without doubt none of this would have been possible without the quality of the feedback that you were able to give in today's session Just excellent. Cheers Mark K

Thanks for the very well organised training run on Saturday morning. Jimmy was brilliant and very professional with his presentation.
It certainly adds so much more than just owning a Think kayak. Well done Cheers Mick

Thanks for the training session last week at Bondi Beach. Steve

Jimmy it was a great session- thanks for putting it on! Regards Keith

Very interested in the open ocean session. Enjoyed the last one so keen to have some more. Greg

tx for your interest today Jim....my goal was 2 hrs and thats what i did exactly with a lap speed of 12.1km/h and top speed of 20.9km/h...i can safely say it was the most fun i have had!! The first hour i felt no pain but then had a problem with my right hip so things started to get ugly then...any how it was a great day out. Chris

Off Season Training

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Off-Season Training

A David Sandler and Taylor Simon (modified for MyKayakCoach)
The off-season is defined as, “a time of year when a particular activity, typically a sport, is not engaged in” However, this definition is ambiguous when it comes to strength and conditioning.

The Off-Season: Recovery or Preparation?
For many athletes and coaches, the off-season represents time to repair, regenerate and recuperate from a long season. Decades ago, players used the off-season to engage in other sports than the ones they played and some periodization models even suggested it might be beneficial to become active in dissimilar sport activity.

Some coaches still use this methodology today even though it was shown in the early 1980s that competitive athletes need to continue to train all year round both for better performance and sport longevity.

While the pre-season has traditionally been marked as the time of year to begin building strength and power, more recent practice has indicated that athletes need to get a jump on the competition by using the immediate post-season to recover (if necessary) and take that valuable off-season time to work on new strength, new skills, master technique, and develop a solid base for the upcoming season.

Rather than call this time period the off-season, now it is often referred to as a “Transition Period” where the coach can dictate the length of time spent working on weak areas for each individual athlete.

Since many off-season periods can last several months, simply engaging in general physical ac-tivity or no activity at all, could cause a neurological shift in muscle recruitment patterns as well as both muscle size and strength decrements. Thus, the pre-season period would be used to “recover” all of the lost training time by forcing the body to relearn its specific motor patterns.

On that same note, spending time overworking drills that may improve a weak area, may still not help with the athletes’ overall sport performance and may detract from their actual sport capability. Older training models would suggest that the yo-yo effect is perfectly normal, or caused by training itself, however, more progressive coaches begin the off-season with an aggressive course of training to maximize performance for pre-season training.

Movement Screens and Sport Analysis
There is much information and speculation about athletes’ needs but very few practical applications are evidence- based. Terminology such as sport analysis and movement screens have become commonplace for practitioners, yet many do not understand their true place in identifying athletes’ weaknesses. While this article is not about either, we will mention that while a thorough needs analysis should be considered, it should be considered by the need of the sport and not necessarily by the athletes’ weak- nesses. The off-season, for many athletes, is earmarked by improving on weaknesses seen throughout the sporting season. Years of consistent training and practice, as well as demand by sport specificity, may in fact alter what is considered proper or normal movement patterns. The confusion appears to be in the cause-effect relationship of movement and performance. Is it the sport causing the movement or the athlete failing to move correctly? In other words, the “imperfect” movement patterns may not need to be corrected, as the sport itself dictates usage in many cases. Often coaches analyze weakness and devel- op a course of action to correct, thereby overcorrecting an issue. Although athletes may appear to be better at those specific drills after practicing them to improve weakness, they may have altered the required motor patterns to be
nsca’s performance training journal • www.nsca-lift.org • volume 9 issue 2 7Off-Season Training
successful at their sport. This becomes increas- ingly more problematic when static or station- ary drills are substituted for dynamic activity. Thus, as part of your needs analysis, you should consider movement execution, speed, power, and strength demands of the sport. The saying “Paralysis by Analysis” is echoed by the often over-corrective nature of an attempt to uncover weakness. The fact that an athlete may have had trouble getting open, catching a ball, or hitting a ball may be in the performance of those spe- cific skills themselves and require more practice. This is especially true of athletes stepping up to the next level. We suggest a thorough examina- tion of both movement and athlete, but caution hasty decisions in assessing weakness without relating movement to sport. To that end, true strength, power, and speed exercises still prevail as both are well evidenced methods and suc- cessful implemented practices. Without doubt, sport-specific skills such as throwing, kicking, and patterned movement should not be ne- glected, rather, they should be practiced even more. So when building your program, consider recovery for regular sport practice so that move- ment speed and skill are not compromised.
While there are many different schools of thoughts as to what and how to train, a common bond is now apparent: if you are not working, challenging yourself all year long, during every cycle of your periodized model, you will lose valuable training time, and likely be unprepared for your sport. This means that a plan is a neces- sity and although this last statement suggests that taking time off is not beneficial, preplanned rest or reduced activity phases are definitely a must to ensure that overtraining is prevented. For the newer or first-time strength coach, prac- tice makes perfect, and expecting to have your periodized program work perfectly is unrealistic. Seasoned veterans of strength and conditioning will tell you they are still trying to perfect their training models.
The Plan
Before beginning an off-season training pro- gram you need to make sure your athletes have fully recovered from their season. Other then those athletes with specific injuries (such as knee, ankle, or other orthopedic issues), bumps, bruises, and general muscle soreness should subside within 10 – 14 days of rest. A general assessment and medical clearance may be re- quired; otherwise your athlete should begin a general strength training program. Building an off-season strength base will ensure that when power, speed, and conditioning is required, your athletes will be prepared. However, just sticking to pure strength, short-changes the athletes’ skill level, again reducing the effectiveness of your in- season training. It is for that reason, we suggest a program that is strength-heavy in terms of time allocation, but still does work on the other as- pects of sport performance. Rather than use the traditional straight-line method of true concise and separate periods, athletes are finding much success with an approach that works on all com- ponents of sports while having a heavier influ- ence in a particular variable, or area, during each phase of training. As periodization suggests, it is important to make adjustments, preventing pla- teauing and overtraining, and continually pro- gressing the athlete toward their end goal of be- ing prepared for the season. Thus, our 12-week model represents a slice of time that you will need to either increase or decrease depending on the length of your off-season. In our model, the immediate off-season is primarily strength focused for the first six weeks, gradually shift- ing toward power and conditioning as the new season approaches. Many athletes overwork strength, speed, and power training in the off- season foregoing important “reps” at their sport skills themselves. We suggest keeping workouts to three or four per week, and making sure reg- ular skills are practiced on opposite days. Our athletes have seen the best gains using a four to eight-week consistent training period before making major adjustments. This means that you will need to plan accordingly as you stretch or shorten your off-season.
Success or Failure
Implementing a well thought-out plan is more difficult than developing the actual plan it- self. Knowing how your athletes will respond is something we will never truly be able to pre- dict. However, using a sound general program and tweaking it along the way improves your athletes’ likelihood of success. You will get im- mediate feedback as to the effectiveness of your program as your athletes should continue to see improvement in at least one performance aspect, if not all, as regular training progresses. If you are not seeing improvement after a few weeks of training sessions, you should take a deeper look and make sure your athletes are working hard enough, but also that they are re- covering properly. A successful off-season train- ing program will dictate the success of the ath- lete not only as pre-season approaches, but as their careers continue. ?
References
1. Bompa, T. (1999). Periodization: Training For Sports. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL
2. Wilmore J. and Costill, D. (1988) 3rd. ed. Training For Sport and Activity. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.
3. Fleck S. and Kraemer, B. (1997) 2nd ed. Designing Resistance Training Programs. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.
nsca’s performance training journal • www.nsca-lift.org • volume 9 issue 2 8
Off-Season Training
Table 1. Off-Season Program
Macrocycle
Week
# of Workouts
Set Volume
Microcycle Overview
Weeks 1 – 4
Strength
Strength
1
4
3 x8
Upper Push/Lower/Upper Pull/Lower
Strength 2
Strength 3
Strength 4
Strength/Power 6
Power/Strength 7
Power/Strength 8
Power 10
Power 11
Power 12
Lower Body
Squats Split Squats Lunges Step-ups Deadlifts Leg Curls
Upper Pull
4
4
4
4
5
5
4
5
3
3 x 8
4 x 8
5 x 6-8
5 x6
5 x5
5 x5
5 x5
5 x3
5 x3
Upper Push/Lower/Upper Pull/Lower
Upper Push/Upper Pull/Lower Strength/ Lower Power
Upper Push/Upper Pull/Lower Strength/ Lower Power
Upper Push-Pull Strength/Lower Strength/ Upper Push-Pull power/Lower Power
Upper Push Power/ Lower Power/Upper Pull Power/Lower Strength/Upper Push-Pull Strength
Upper Push Power/ Lower Power/Upper Pull Power/Lower Strength/Upper Push-Pull Strength
Plyometrics/Upper Push-Pull Strength/ Plyometrics/Lower Strength
Plyometrics/Full Body Strength/Plyometrics/ Full Body Strength/Plyometrics
Plyometrics/Plyometrics/Plyometrics
Upper Push-Pull
Pull-ups Wide Grip (or Lat Pull Down) Bench Press Chin-ups Military Press/Push Press
1-Arm DB Rows Pushups
Lower Power
Hang cleans Snatch 1-Arm DB Snatch Squats
Step-Ups
Plyometrics
Squat Jumps Split Squat Jumps Box Jumps Plyometric Pushups Medicine Ball Throws (2 or 3 variations per workout)
General Core Exercises
Planks (Variations) Hanging or Lying Leg Raises Ab Crunch
Weeks 5 – 8
Strength / Power
Strength/Power
5
4
4 x6
Upper Push-Pull Strength/Lower Strength/ Upper Push-Pull Power/Lower Power
Weeks 9 – 12
Explosive Power
Power
9
4
5 x5
Plyometrics/Upper Push-Pull Strength/ Plyometrics/Lower Strength
Workouts will always start with a Dynamic Warm- Up that includes movement preparation work and basic skills such as form and technique drills for sprinting. Additionally, dynamic stretches will be included as part of the movement preparation. Exercises will progress from slow rhythmic move- ments to ballistic movements as the warm-up progresses. You should spend about 20 minutes on your warm-up. Following the warm-up, you will begin explosive exercises first, followed by strength exercises and finishing with core and cool-down exercises at the end of the workout. On strength days, lift heavy going to momentary muscle failure or just short of that. On power workout days, use the same programs but reduce the weight by 20 – 30% and perform the movements more explosively without going to failure. The workouts above are general samples. You can add or subtract exercises depending on your time allocation per workout.
Pull-ups Wide Grip (or Lat Pull Down) Chin-ups T-bar rows 1-Arm DB Rows
DB pullovers Biceps Curls
Upper Push
1-Arm Incline DB Press Military Press/Push Press 1-Arm Shoulder Press Pushups
Triceps Extension
nsca’s performance training journal • www.nsca-lift.org • volume 9 issue 2

In San Diego - Set up is everything

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Perhaps the most important aspect of competing is having a strong mind and solid technique. Ex USA Olympic team member Chris Barlow, certainly has a strong mind and great technique but perhaps his greatest achievement his work in creating the incredibly supporting community that he has help to build around the San Diego Canoe and Kayak Team (SDCKT).

That support has seen the club become one the most successful clubs in the USA having produced National Junior champions, senior champions as well as Olympic Team members.

In this Podcast Chris Barlow provides his thoughts on the importance of a good set up. We also get a glimpse of some of the amazing junior talent from the SDCKT.

'If you don't have a good set up you are not going to have an aggressive catch. You are not going to have a good stroke as you will cut it short, you won't have good rotation or good leg drive. Everything follows on from a good set up.

You have to set up every single stroke. Your bottom hand should be extended infront of your eye line sighting the horizon at full extension, the top hand should also be at eye level. At that point there should be a split second pause before moving to the catch position. It is that pause that allows you to recover in between each stroke.

Even when National Champions and Olympians are sprinting flat out they still maintain a slight pause. It is a good idea, when training, to include drills that emphasise a pause so that you get used to it and use it automatically when paddling. Once such drill is the 5, 3, 1 drill where you take 5 strokes then add a pause with a set up, then three strokes before a second pause and set up and finally one stroke then a pause.

A common fault, common is surf ski paddlers, is to go straight into the next stroke causing a cyclical stroke without any pause and without full extension. This reduces the power and effectiveness of the stroke. Having the stroke set up where you include a pause, then plant the paddle and then unleash the power and connect the legs is absolutely vital for every stroke. Set up each stroke and everything else will follow'. Chris Barlow

The San Diego Canoe and Kayak Team serves the San Diego community by introducing the sport of canoeing and kayaking to local youth and their families. The team teaches skills necessary to be successful in the sport: balance, technique, sport physiology, sport psychology, and sportsmanship. The team competes in monthly regional races around Mission Bay but also participates in the yearly National Championships.
Watching the strength of this community is impressive.

Race and Training eating mistakes.

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

TOP 10 NUTRITIONAL MISTAKES MADE BY ATHLETES

by James Skitt - 09.11.09

Athletes regularly refine and revise their training programmes and plans in order to fully maximise training adaptations and improve their performance, however some make crucial mistakes with their nutritional choices and eating patterns which can often reduce the benefits this can bring.

Jeni Pearce, a Performance Nutritionist at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), outlines her Top 10 most common nutritional mistakes made by athletes and suggests steps which can be taken to avoid them...

1. Skipping breakfast

Jeni says: “This often leaves athletes hungrier later in the morning, making weight control a greater struggle and achieving body composition targets harder.

It also fails to provide additional fuel for any morning training sessions -especially as the athletes may not have eaten for 8-12 hours and blood glucose levels could be low - and does not increase the body’s metabolic rate due to the energy cost of digesting and absorbing food and nutrients.

Breakfast should contain some carbohydrate, protein and fluids, while some athletes may need two breakfast sittings to consume all the nutrients they need, especially for hard morning trainings (one small breakfast before and a larger breakfast after the session).”

2. Not eating before a workout

Jeni says: “Fuelling the body with energy prior to a workout is beneficial to provide fuel so that muscle glycogen stores last longer, allowing athletes to train harder, feel less fatigued and not to feel hungry during a training session.

The timing of the snack or meal will depend on the individual athlete’s preference and the training session, but you should allow more time for high intensity sessions. Keep foods familiar and remember to include fluids.”

3. Waiting too long after exercise to eat

Jeni says: “Athletes should consume some carbohydrate and protein within 2 hours of a workout to help refuel energy stores in muscle, maximise insulin responses and training adaptations and to help prepare them for their next training session. This becomes even more essential if the next major meal is delayed.

Fluids should also be part of an athletes nutrition strategy post work out. After hard sessions in particular some athletes lose their appetite making eating a struggle. Sports drinks and liquid meals such as milk based smoothies or soups are good options if this occurs.”

4. Replacing meals with energy bars and drinks

Jeni says: “Energy bars are designed to refuel muscle stores with carbohydrate and many also contain high levels of protein. They are not designed as a meal replacement, rather a convenient snack for a limited number of nutrients, and are unsuitable for people who are performing very light training or very limited activity.

Some bars may contain the same energy values as a sandwich, fruit or fruit juice. Read the labels of bars carefully as some are protein only and may not be suitable in recovery where replacing glycogen stores is the main goal.”

5. Eating too much protein and not enough carbohydrate

Jeni says: “The popularity of protein and low carbohydrate diets has resulted in some athletes including protein at the expense of carbohydrate in their diets.

Carbohydrates are important for all forms of exercise as it is the body’s preferred fuel. The key is to balance this with the activity performed and to also include protein, which is not an effective energy source but is important for tissue repair, replacement and metabolic responses.

It is not a case of one at the expense of the other, both are needed.”

6. Trusting the accuracy of dietary supplements labels and claims

Jeni says: “Despite changes by some supplement companies to improve safety and accuracy of marketing claims, many products remain unregulated, with claims unproven or with little or no research performed on them.

Athletes are advised that they are ultimately responsible for any supplement they consume and should always seek professional advice from a Performance Nutritionist or Sports Dietician if they are at all unsure.”

7. Not consuming the right amount of calories (energy) for the amount of activity done

Jeni says: “Matching energy intake to support training, daily life, growth and repair is a skill and intakes must be adjusted for tapering for competitions, injury or surgery, high intensity training bouts and endurance sessions.

Failure to match intake with changing needs could results in undesirable weight gain (fat mass) or loss (reductions in lean tissue –muscle).”

8. Believing that exercise means you can eat what ever you want.

Jeni says: “The benefit of exercise is often the ability to consume more total energy and a higher metabolic rate. However, quality and quantity is just as important.

Exercise does not allow an athlete to eat large amounts of high fat or treat foods as this could compromise recovery and further training sessions. Training may mean athletes need to eat more healthy foods and nutrients to support their immunity, recovery and additional stresses placed on the body.

Exercise is often used as an excuse to justify poor eating patterns by athletes.”

9. Not drinking the right amount of fluids

Jeni says: “Athletes should monitor changes in their body weight (replace 1.2-1.5x losses) regularly during training and events.

In hot humid environments especially, dehydration can be a serious concern, particularly for those athletes who sweat heavily, those performing for long periods, or athletes who are acclimatising to a hotter environment or going to altitude.

Sports drinks containing sodium are more suitable than water in these situations and athletes should take care not to over hydrate or gain weight due to excess fluid in training and competitions.”

10. Jumping on the latest diet craze in search of the elusive ‘edge’

Jeni says: “Athletes are understandably keen to take on the latest information to gain a performance advantage. At times however, this may be at the expense of more trusted and reliable practices or strategies.

There are no magic formulas or practices that will dramatically boost performance, produce an increase in lean mass or amazing weight loss, whilst some practices may actually lead to a decrease in performance or have undesirable side effects.

The best advice is to follow sound and tested well recognised sports nutrition practices and seek professional guidance for individual fine tuning. Athletes should never try anything new or not tested in training during a competition or event.”

New research links life balance and sports performance

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

The Athlete Career and Education program supports more than 3000 elite athleThedodtthreeees across Australia each year in managing their education, work and sportsTh performance.

The Thing that I found when I devoted my whole life to my paddling, was there were times where I would go stale and lose focus on what I wanted to achieve.

I found that when I got myself into some sort of work or an activity that I could focus on helped me paddle. It was a good thing to stop focusing 100% on the paddling. You just can’t focus on it 100% 24/7, you will find that the more you focus on the sport the more people you find in your set of friends and all they want to do is talk about paddling. This is great but sometimes it can become just too much, then leading to you doing some average training sessions.

So by finding a job or study helps you focus on something else, then you come to training with a fresh out look and find it easier to focus on the training session you have.

Read this study.

Sporting performance may be boosted by a well-balanced lifestyle combining work, study and training, according to the preliminary findings of a new study of Australian elite athletes.

The National Athlete Career and Education (ACE) program and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) ACE program recently conducted a survey of 143 AIS athletes on their attitudes and approaches to sport, study and other activities.

NACE program acting manager Dr Nathan Price said preliminary findings of the study suggest sport–life balance has a positive effect on an athlete’s performance and longevity in their sport.

‘More than 90 per cent of athletes surveyed indicated they believed that actively engaging in non-sporting pursuits helped to lengthen their sporting career,’ Dr Price said.

‘Of those athletes that were studying or working, 72 per cent believed that their sporting performance benefited from them undertaking education or employment, while only 13 per cent believed that their sporting performance suffered as a result of participation in education and employment.

‘The findings show that many AIS athletes are highly motivated and driven through their attitude and approach to education, work and other pursuits, which translates to enhancing their sporting performance.’

Responses from AIS athlete to questions about a balanced lifestyle included:

‘[Education] puts sport in perspective, [it] facilitates lateral thinking and independence [and] increased self-esteem.’
‘I feel that I am achieving things outside of my sport and in that way I put less pressure on myself in my sport.’
‘It gives me the ability to be a whole person and I am able to focus on different aspects of my life. Therefore I do not burn out or over focus and lose sight of the big picture.’

The Athlete Career Education program supports more than 3000 elite athletes across Australia each year in managing their education, work and sports performance, as well as preparing them for life after sport.

New Season

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

What do I do now?

After the season finishes it is often the hardest time of all.

Many questions go through your head.

How much rest should I have?

How do I improve on last year?

What resource do I need to get better?

Where did I go right and where did I go wrong?

How much do I really want it?

When I first started paddling I was a young guy who would go in search of the best people in my chosen sport.

I would make the effort to travel if need be, I would digest all their words and advice then work out what worked best for me.

After a few years of moving around the country or within my own city, I found I had enough knowledge to start to work hard on my own.

The thing about training on your own is that you get lots of time to work on the small things, these small things end up being the major things that help you improve in the end. The time spent on my own allowed me to work on my drills and paddle stroke.

To start a new season I would always give myself a few weeks off from paddling and all sorts of training. If you are confident in your paddle stroke you can have some time off.

In this time I would work out what will be the biggest event for me in the coming season, then work back from there. It is so important to have one major race to work on for the season. Then set yourself another 2-3 races to have a big go in, to see where you are at with your training. From these races you can see if you need to alter your training to beat your time, pick out people of similar ability who you can race against or just make it to the finish line for the first time.

To improve I would look at new training methods available, refer to this link on the website: http://www.mykayakcoach.com/blog/are-you-training-for-performance . This will explain how to structure your training?

The most important aspect in setting up for a new season of training is having structure. You should look at your stroke. Get a video session done early on, enabling you to work on your stroke over the entire season. Then you won’t have to rush it, allowing you to dedicate a session a week to drills. The video session lets you see what you are doing correct and what you are doing wrong. This is something I did a lot of.

I can help you with this, email me at info@mykayakcaoch.com for further details.

As I said earlier, it is always a good idea to source some training squads that have paddlers better than yourself. This will force you to push yourself harder. A GPS device is good and helps you monitor time, speed and distance to log into your training book, but nothing beats man on man racing when training.

The one aspect of my paddling and training that I tried not to do, was dwell on the areas where I went wrong throughout the year. I hated looking backwards, when you are positive you like to look forward. I would reflect on my stremgths and weaknesses by writing these down. This was the easiest way to workout what might have made things go wrong. Sometimes you find that you may have not eaten well that week, late nights leading to less sleep or you may find you just had a bad training week or race. In reality sometimes there is no obvious answer and you can have bad sessions or bad races. It’s how you bounce back from the bad sessions and races that make you the real winner.

For me I would have an extra day off or I would go to a race where the competitors may not be as strong to get my confidence back. Nothing beats winning or doing a PB.

To complete your year’s planning you need to be honest with yourself. You are the most important person, you need to be happy with what you have done with your paddling. Remember it is you who has to get up early mornings or do the hard yards in the late afternoons, so be true to yourself.

There is no use having a goal of being an Olympian if you are only going to train 3-4 times a week. You will just be disappointed.

The best way to set a goal is workout where you were last year and add 10%.

If you need help in any areas of paddling look at www.mykayakcoach.com and take the tips from there.

If you set yourself a plan that can stay consistent all year and be honest with yourself, you will improve by at least 20%. Your season will be enjoyable and rewarding.

I can tell you with all the training I did, nothing was more rewarding then achieving my goals.

Check the blogs and podcast from MYKAYAKCOACH to help you throughout the year and set your goals.

GOOD LUCK and most of all ENJOY IT.

http://www.mykayakcoach.com/blog/podcast-episode-4:-mental-training

http://www.mykayakcoach.com/blog/podcast-5:-importance-of-the-catch

http://www.mykayakcoach.com/blog/nutrition-for-performance

http://www.mykayakcoach.com/blog/cross-training-for-kayakers

Extreme paddling

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

The end of the season for Australian paddlers has ended in spectacular fashion. Big waves, strong winds and rain. Australian paddlers, for some reason, view this as fun.

Australian Surf Life Saving Titles in QLD are the highlight of the surf paddling in Australia.

Surf racing is the home to many of Australia's great kayakers; Clint Robinson, Grant Kenny and latest kayaking Gold Medalist Ken Wallace.

Surf paddling is a tough type of paddling, as it requires strength, courage and brains to workout commit to, and choose, the best path to take without getting wiped out. As you see from the gallery of pictures below, it also requires a touch of madness.

When I arrived on the beach to see the surf and the conditions I thought of two things;

1. I can go a whole lot better now then I first thought I could
2. how great is it going to be to ride one of those big waves

The reason I thought I was in with a bit more of chance is because the surf levels everyone out. Olympian or average paddler both have a chance in those conditions.

The surf can be difficult, scary, hard to handle but, at times, your best friend in racing. The surf sometimes opens up on your side of the race to let you get out without getting wet and 10 paddlers to your left get hit by massive walls of water. This is tough, I should know, this happened to me on more then one occasion.

This was my 21st National Titles, and it was the first time, in a single ski race, that I did not even get through the break. I tried for more then 15 mins to get out through the break without luck. My last wave I tried to negotiate was my biggest enemy. It broke my paddle and rudder and my ski got washed into shore. I then put my head down and had to swim all the way in.

There is a saying in Australian Surf Ski Paddling, 'That's Surf'

Don't I know it.

My Season

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Australian kayak championships 2010 are the finally for all athletes competing in the sport of sprint kayak in Australia.

The most difficult thing about the final races of the season is that they are selection races, pride races and most of all the races that you judge yourself and your training off.

With all of this comes a lot of pressure and if you are new to the sport it is often pressure that it hard to handle.

Refer to our mental training for better performance podcast for areas to improve training and racing.

The sport of sprint kayak is difficult. You need experience and you need to know what a race plan is. This is also difficult because, as you grow in your years of paddling, you develop new skills. The important thing about having a race plan is having a plan that you can follow during a race, that you have worked on and have trained over and over both on the water and off. For a 1000m race that may look like - go out hard for 200m, be strong with boat run for 300m, then a small lift for 100m and finally build home with your strong finish 150m out. A race plan will help to settle nerves as you focus on the plan at the start line. The race plan also keeps you on track and on task throughout the race.

There are many different race plans. Clint Robinson was always a strong leader who leads from the front. Clint dominated by having his boat in front at all times.

Ken Wallace is a paddler who’s race plan has him leading at the most important time, right at the finish line. He tends to go out a bit slower and comes home very strong, leaving him with a very consistent pace throughout the race, never slowing just getting faster. Watch his win here.

Most important thing about these race plans is that they are all personal. These two paddlers have practice and perfected these plans for many years before they found their winning formula.

The performance of your season shouldn’t be judged off just one National Championships, you need to look at your season as a whole. Yes there is merit in making the Nationals your races to see how much you have improved but sometimes you maybe unwell, have stepped into a new age group or just trained so well you just got to nervous at the big one.

So your season should be judged over the whole season, racing ,training and how much you have learnt throughout the season compared to where you were last year.

In my own case, as coach, I had an athlete who 12mths ago I wished for him to make the B Final and at the Nationals this year he only just missed the A Final. When racing the B Final he did his very best. This is a season he should be very happy with. A major step up.

His goal next year will be to work out what extra he has to do to make the A Final.

It is funny though once you reach your goal you become so much hungrier then before. With this in mind you must always look back to see how far you have come to see your improvement.

Take the time reflect on your season a little after the event to see how much you have improve and with that have a pen and paper handy to write down what you have to do to live out your dream the following season.

Remember the power of your dream is the most powerful tool you can use in training.

Some dreams that have come true at these nationals are:

Results

Podcast 5: Importance of the catch

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:47:32 GMT

Balazs Babella has achieved some fantastic results since taking over as National Coach in Singapore in 2008. Recently Balaz agreed to share some of his background and coaching ideas. We join him during a recent training session with his natinoal Junior squad at Marina reserve.

Singapore has a vibrant junior kayaking culture with thousands of budding athletes jamming thier limited waters ways. The Singapore Canoe Federation has put alot of effort in securing coaching staff of the quality of Balaz and have also secured the upcoming inagural World Youth Olympic Games.

Balaz has won two World Championships in the K4 200m. Blaz is also a keen coach who has learnt from a long line of coaching in his family. Please enjoy this insightful two part series as we look into paddling in Singapore.