How much of you teach canoeing

[h2sk1]

Just out of curiosity, reading some topics lately I have the impression quite a few of you are coaching.

.........

Some important insights you want to share with us?

In my experience people are quite happy after a session -most of the time back to the basics on the lake. but it's hard to make them come back for another session.

Your last statement is something that I think the canoe coaches need to think about. I know from teaching skiing that it is easy to get beginners to take a lesson, but really hard to get them to come back. This is being studied quite a bit in Canada, and a few new trends are starting to be implemented. These ideas could easily apply to canoeing.

(1) get the beginners feeling the thrill of WW as soon as possible. That's the hook we all have - the adrenaline rush of harnessing the river. So, in skiing, we're going to try less time working on the skills needed to get the beginner on the hill, and instead look at ways of teaching them these skills WHILE SKIING. For canoing this might mean spending very little time on strokes in flat water, and get them into simple white water, and slowly introduce all the terms and strokes

(2) just get the student doing the activity, even if it is with poor technique, then fix the technique later. So in skiing, instead of getting the student to have a good snowplow before trying parallel, try to move them to a crappy parallel quickly. In canoeing, this may mean forget about getting the student to have a good pry before introducing a cross forward -- just get them using a mismash of both and then fix it later

So, the idea here is that a student can look at an 'expert' and see that he or she is doing all the same things, albeit with less finesse and skill.

The last thing we really push now in our lessons his highlighting to the students what they could be learning in the next lesson -- provide an incentive to come back for more teaching.

[Einar]

Great comments H2ski and Milkman
If a newbie makes it to the ww put-in with a boat on the car I feel that 50% of the groundwork is in place; they are the curious people that naturally look for challenges. A couple of fun and laughter chaotic runs on grade 2 will probably hook-em rather than scare them.

I have taken lots of courses and could use some more but I feel that challenges are more overcome by the learner's attitude than the instructors technique (not diss'n instructors here, too late anyways, they have cashed my cheques)

I guess my take-away on this is that if a newbie shows up with a boat make the effort to show'em a good time, they are interested! Someone did that for newbie-me on my cold call from a phone and I appreciated it.

[PAC]

I get schooled just about everytime I get on the water in a canoe.



Usually its a good thing....

Locally we have 2 clinics a year that I assist in... mostly taking photos and setting shuttle.. but everyone in a while I give a pointer. Its nice to have to explain things since it makes you think out the how and whys you do things! Have so good locals that are really good at teaching ... makes life much easier getting new folks out!

[pmp]

at the risk of this being a self promotion post (moderators take this down if you think so, no hard feelings) I offer a variety of courses listed on paddlepointers.com
(of course that's only if you can't get to an ELI course)
Paul

[Sir Adam]

I'll second Paul's point that he has put up some excellent info... and of course also offers courses. Never any harm in mentioning things once (or even twice), if something is endlessly flogged and we see an issue we'll let you know, don't worry:)

[Yukon]

I teach paddling almost full time from early May to end of July. I wish our season was longer. I really enjoy a lot of aspects in teaching, especially getting people hooked. I focus on helping people develop the tools they need for the type of paddling they are going to do. Matching the course, the type of water, the boat etc for the student is an art and when you get it right its great. When I get it wrong I am almost always left thinking I should have stuck with my gut and insisted people start with this level of course instead of the the next.

Learning canoeing can bring out a lot things in a person and the outcomes are not always what you expected. I have seen a wide range of emotions from great joy to tears and it is all good as it is all learning. I am there to be supportive with peoples learning the best that I can.

I say I run it as a business but my year end statements tell me otherwise. I spend too much to provide the experience. I have about 30 boats of all sorts with matching outfitting, air bags, thigh straps, bailers, painters etc, I provide helmets, pfds, booties, wetsuits, paddle jackets, barrels for your lunch. I started with wetsuits and quickly saw or knew that for optimal learning students would need drysuits and now I have over 30 of em.

In the summer when I am not teaching I am fixing drysuits, finding pin holes in air bags, patching canoes, changing bearings on the canoe trailer, doing paper work and silly reports and filling receipts (which happens 2 years after) etc etc. People dont realize that every day I spend on the water I spend at least a day on the above chores.

Most of the time I spend teaching is teaching fundamentals (not basics) and not on challenging whitewater that I wish I was. I have to teach what the markets demand and not what I want to be teaching. It is a pyramid- for every 10 beginners that comes in, I may get 1-2 of those into my most upper courses.

I do it because I love being outside on the water. I love seeing peoples smiling after their first jet ferry or front surf, seeing them succeeed. I love hearing their stories months later about a wilderness trip they took in the summer and how the back ferry secrets I taught them saved their bacon. I've been doing it now for 20 years and have been through ups and downs. Every spring I am counting the days until the first courses start.

[Shep]

I have been an ACA Instructor in WW solo canoeing for about 3 years. I only get one chance per year to do a formal WW school, but I end up coaching people in OC1 about 1/4 of the days that I get out. I haven't done many Outward Bound Canoe courses, but I have taught tandem and solo canoe on the ones that I've done. It's a very different speed than doing an actual whitewater class. I have also been teaching college and adult students in a class room setting for several years. I think the themes of all of this that I have been working on are:

• Always think about new ways to present or share information.
• Ask your students questions. Sometimes the same questions multiple times.
• Listen to what the student says or asks you, and think about whether it makes sense in terms of what you think know about what they are working on.
• Be Flexible in order to deal with the environment and meet your students needs

I wish I could afford to teach canoeing for a living in the summer, and snowboarding for a living in the winter, and still have money for adventures (and bills!). In a couple of years, my tour-of-duty in Arkansas will be over, and I will very-likely be headed back to Vermont. I know when I head back, I will still be trying to work with Vermont Paddlers Club, Zoar, Outward Bound, and anywhere else that I can get out and share this stuff (and keep learning myself!)

Shep

[Wiggins]

I sit in eddies and yell "Roll! ROLL! Don't panic! NO, I SAID DON'T PANIC!!!"

Does that count?

Kyle

[Paddle Power]

I've been instructing canoeing for almost 20 years. Mostly moving water, some canoe tripping and lake paddling, using the Paddle Canada courses. Usually a couple to several courses in May-June.

[bearboater]

I have been teaching openboat tech for 3 years prior to coaching canoe/kayak slalom athletes for 4 years. there is a huge depth of knowledge in this forum. as stated though the NOC does offer some stuff. But depending on where you are, try to contact wayne dickert. Great guy, and one of the better instructors/coaches I know...