The Devil On Your Shoulder
Published October 14, 2011 | 
On Mondays, I never go to work / On Tuesdays, I stay at home / On Wednesdays, I never feel inclined ? Work is the last thing on my mind
On Thursdays, it’s a holiday! ? And Fridays I detest ? Oh it’s much too late on a Saturday
And Sunday is the day of rest – TMBG
We all know, paddling is an addiction, but to be fair, there are days. You wouldn’t think it would ever seem like a challenge to paddle a couple of miles in the morning, but it can be. Not because it’s hard or because you’re facing the rage of the wild seas or whatever, but because we’re human. Just the simple act of dragging your hide outside and schlepping your kayak to the beach on a cold, windy morning can be a challenge to overcome. Continue reading
Imagine You’re Alone…
Published August 29, 2011 | 
don’t give up
‘cos you have friends
don’t give up
you’re not beaten yet
don’t give up
I know you can make it good – gabriel
Learn to know what you don’t know. Then know it. In some ways our lives are way too simple. We get up, we eat, we drive the same route to work each day, we do a job we’ve done for a thousand years, then drive the same route home, eat and then veg in front of a television. Days pass. Weeks turn into months and months into years. There’s nothing wrong with that exactly, but it may lead us to feel way too secure in what we think we know. Then suddenly, shockingly things can go very wrong. Continue reading
Sea Kayak Essentials DVD
Published July 25, 2011 | 
The Sea Kayak Essentials instructional DVD with BCU level 5 coach Nick Cunliffe joins an ever growing list of paddling DVDs. If like me you simply can’t buy every DVD out there, you have to be choosy. I’d certainly recommend that beginner and intermediate paddlers put this one on their wish list. Coaches might find a few gems as well.
Let me start out by telling you up front that I see lots of videos and lots of coaching styles. To be honest, I sometimes get a bit blurry eyed when I sit down to watch another instrutional video. Sea Kayak Essentials by nature does walk a lot of the same paths you’ve come to expect in an instructional video. The DVD moves through a series of skill building chapters that eventually lead you into real world situations and rough water paddling. ( I received a PAL version, so I found myself moving through a series of DVD players until I found one that would play it. ) Here’s what you get; Continue reading
UP
Published July 20, 2011 | 
All the while the world is turning to noise
Oh the more that it’s surrounding us
The more that it destroys
Turn up the signal
Wipe out the noise – p. gabriel
Talking about rolling and body position can be a challenge on land. Inevitably we find ourselves standing there, reaching far over our heads to practice (or demonstrate) paddle placement on the surface of the water, sweeping the paddle, and recovering over the kayak. It doesn’t work, mind you. In fact, the more you ingrain the reaching over your head movements on land, the more you or your students will be reaching toward the bottom of the lake once they get out in the water. Still, there is just something in our crazy brains that makes us want to always reach UP. Continue reading
Checking In From The Dry Hotel
Published July 11, 2011 | 
I woke up this morning to a blood-red dawn, dark around the edges with flashes of white. Before the sun could light up the day, heavy storms squashed the light. As I walked the dunes I came across a deer standing on one of the high mounds silhouetted against the glow. An amazing sight! Continue reading
Posted in Coaching, Commentary & Rants, Events & Symposia, My Paddling, Paddling, People | 
Coaching, door county, rolling | 
2 CommentsIf the renaissance is now dead..,
Published June 9, 2011 | 
I always said he’d come to no good / In the end your honor.
If they’d let me have my way I could / Have flayed him into shape.
But my hands were tied, / The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with laughter.
Let me hammer him today! – p. floyd
Leon Somme is one of the most talented, creative and most importantly, inventive coaches I know. He’s obviously getting a bit frustrated with self-appointed experts as of late. Aren’t we all!? Every bonehead on the planet has a Youtube out there showing the “proper” this, that and the other.. Bah! In a recent short commentary for Adventure Kayak Magazine, Leon writes about a really bad idea and asks, “What is an expert in Paddlesports?” Then he goes on to say that “Peer review is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep up standards and to make sure disseminated information is worthwhile. Peer Review”, he continues, “advances new ideas and methods and moves the sport forward at a faster rate..” Peer review? Can we pause there for a moment? Continue reading
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the Golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
- bowie
So, I was walking down the beach when from behind, a disembodied authoritative voice said, “What’s that supposed to mean?” In that split second before I responded I had to realize he was talking to me, then that he had read my shirt, then try to discern if the question was genuine or sarcastic. From the tone of voice I figured it was the second. I just turned, smiled and shrugged my shoulders. He then said something to the effect that it could say any sort of nonsense, like the old Steve Martin line, “My mama dogface banana patch.” Yeah, I figured he wouldn’t understand. Continue reading →