« Devizes to Westminster 2006 report | Main | Beginners on the river »

2 star coaching

After all the training of the last few months it was a pleasant change to be coaching again on Shadwell Basin, although I did miss getting some exercise.

I was coaching a group of four working towards their 2 star award. We covered forward and reverse paddling, draw strokes, low brace turns and the stern rudder.

After DW I have gained a much greater appreciation for a good forward stroke so I was trying to stress the importance of learning good technique early on but I find it quite a difficult stroke to coach. It is also hard to hold people's interest paddling up and down Shadwell Basin and it is probably better left to river or canal trips.

After the technical stuff we joined a polo game for the last half hour and I finished up with some one on one high brace practice.

Coaching hours: 2