Sorry you couldn’t comment yesterday, silbs pointed that out and it’s fixed. I really couldn’t believe I would get away with these posts without some comments. LOL!  Anyway,  today I’m focusing on teaching the first time student.  Again, I’m certainly not an authority on this stuff. We’ll leave that to the Big Dogs.  But I can share what I’ve learned or at least what I think I’ve learned. 

The message of an introductory level coach is simply this; Have fun, be safe, learn more.

When most of us take our very first kayaking class we know next to nothing about anything other than boats float and that kayaks often tip over.  At this point “Kayaking” is not a religion or a way of life.  It’s not even worth practicing much.  Beginning students are not “converts”. . . yet.  Just people who think they may like being on the water.  Some have bought their first boat and have no idea how to make it go straight, some have never been in a kayak before.  Some only took the class because their spouse did, some are afraid of the water but like the idea of paddling, others are bronze athletic types looking for a new gig in their later years and on and on.  There are many reasons to take a class and each class is a mix of people with varied goals.

As a coach you can’t possibly make them all great paddlers in a couple hours.  In fact most intro level coaches are not really qualified to assess skills or take take the student beyond pond conditions either.  Recognizing our own limitations will help us focus on what we can do well. I think many times we try to over teach.  Inside each new student’s head is a storm of questions, ideas and misconceptions and personal goals.  Looking around at each face in your class you are seeing not just a diversity in faces, but a diversity in concepts and questions.  We can’t  possibly come at this mix with a generic teaching style. We also can’t expect to have them all dancing through rock gardens by the end of the class. What we can do realistically is quite limited,  however if we understand those limits we can come away with success.

First and foremost we can show them how fun kayaking can be.  “Fun” is NOT a dirty word.  We paddle for fun.  I think sometimes we should stamp that on our foreheads.  We paddle for fun.  Our goal with new students should be in a large part to show our students what a great time it is to play on the water.  We want them going away thinking this kayaking thing is a blast.  Something they want to do more of. Now for you more serious types, there is a reason for this.  If your students are having fun, they are excited.  That excitement will lead them to practice more, play more and learn more.  They will be more apt to join clubs and take more classes.  We as introductory coaches then pass them on to higher level coaches who will then start working with them on more advanced skills.  The student who signs up for the next level class will be ready to take on more and of course want to be there doing it.  One measure of an introductory coaches success could be students who sign up for another class.  The bottom line is that it is the responsibility of an introductory coach to do what they can to be sure the student is still paddling a year from now.  The best way to do that is to make sure they are excited about paddling.

 Another thing we teach beginners is safety and confidence.  I put these two things together because I believe confidence is a major part of paddler safety.  Certainly we all know how to teach the “rules of the road”.  Never go out alone, have proper gear, watch the weather and all the rest.  I’m not belittling these things, just acknowledging that we know it already.  The confidence bit is a little more elusive.  In order for a paddler to perform a fast, efficient rescue they need to be well practiced.  They also need to be focused in real world situations.   That focus comes from confidence.  One of the strange things that gets in the way for early paddlers is just being IN the water.  It’s amazing how little time new paddlers spend getting wet.  When I work with a new class they can expect to spend a good amount of time not only on the water, but in it as well.  With the help and observation of some great coaches I’ve learned or copied a number of fun (see above) games that allow students to build up their confidence in the water as well as making their rescues go much more smoothly.  My experience has always been that students who play in the water regularly find learning rescues to go much more smoothly.

The 3rd bit of the triad is of course boat control.  We want our new students to walk out of the class feeling they either can or will have control of their kayak with some practice.  The issue I think comes when we confuse boat control with “names” and “moves”.   In time we come to know all the names; bow rudder, reverse sweep, forward stroke,  draw with in-water-recovery. .  blah, blah, blah.  The names have their place and eventually we all learn those names.  However, we should not make our new students confuse learning names & procedures with learning boat control.  In my BCU coach training last year we did not focus on names.  What we did do was something like this. .  “Let’s work on turning our kayaks.  It’s simple!  I’m just going to put my paddle in here, then I’ll push away from the boat.  See what happens?  Cool!  Give that a try. “  Now of course, that’s way simple and when you demo a “sweep” you demo it properly.  However, you don’t want to confuse the student with procedure when the goal is actually turning the boat.  My goal by the end of a class is that students can go forward and backward, turn, spin, stop and make their boat go sideways all in a safe way.  I’m not concerned that they are performing or describing what they are doing at an advanced level.

Now of course in among those 3 major points we teach the rest.   Boat types, materials, paddles, clothing, PFDs, gear. . . and so forth.  I’m not leaving the rest of the outline out, just not focusing on it for this post.

At the end of that first class my goals are simple.  I want my students to feel excited about kayaking.  I want them to practice, learn more and play.  I want them to feel in control of their kayak.  I want the student to be safety conscious and be aware of how to rescue themselves and others.   I want to build their confidence and give them some tools to properly self-evaluate.  And yeah, I really want them to know when to stay OFF the water as well.   The thing to keep in mind is our place on the coaching ladder,  what we do as an introductory instructor and how it fits into the learning process.  If there is one thing we can do on that first rung it should be to encourage students to stay with it and move on to the next.  Simply,  have fun, be safe, learn more.

2 Responses to “Learning Revisited Part 2”