Learning to Learn
Published March 9, 2013 | 
Last evening Sue and I started a beginners fencing class at the local university. It was interesting to be on the student side of the fence. As a coach, you can become so used to examining your students learning styles and their progressions that you often forget your own. Coaches and teachers don’t always make the best students. 
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Posted in Coaching, Fitness, Learning, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling, Random Thoughts | 
auditory, Coaching, discovery learning, fencing, kinesthetic, Learning, learning styles, visual | 
3 CommentsChecking 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
Looking for Mr. Goodwave
Published June 1, 2010 | 
“Maybe there’s something over there!” Nope. The running joke of the weekend was that the most recent 1 footer to go under our hulls must have been at least a “4″. In the end, for students looking to upgrade their coaching level to an L4 the weekend was pretty much a wash out. As a cruel joke nature provided a beautiful weekend for paddling instead of the nasty one we were all hoping for. Continue reading
Posted in Coaching, My Paddling, Paddling | aca, Coaching, ICE, IDW, lake michigan, Milwaukee, wisconsinThe Fairy Dance of the Oligarchs
Published April 6, 2010 | 
Show me sunset and I won’t forget
That I am one of two planets dancing
I am part of two planets dancing
– bat for lashes
What is important is often confused with what is required. What is required is rarely important at all, other than to those who require it. What is important is often very different. Thing is, sometimes you must do what is required in order to be free to do what is important… (yeah, it’s one of those posts…)
Serious Fun
Published July 14, 2008 | 
Robin Nelson is one of the more “serious” new coaches on the scene. . . .
For every time I’ve had a student express their fears and then watched them escape that black pit, I’ve leaned further into the realm of play as a teaching tool. Play as I mentioned in the last post is a stealth learning technique. It helps me bypass fear without addressing it directly. Of course it’s not only fear that you can bypass but preconceptions as well. Each year as my experience grows, so it seems do those little successes that make it all worthwhile. Those moments are my inspiration. Continue reading
Posted in Coaching, Learning, Paddling | Coaching, fear, kelly blades, Leon Somme, Rowland Woolven, Shawna Franklin
Big man, pig man, ha ha charade you are. You well heeled big wheel, ha ha charade you are.
And when your hand is on your heart, You’re nearly a good laugh, Almost a joker,
With your head down in the pig bin, Saying “Keep on digging.”
Pig stain on your fat chin. What do you hope to find. When you’re down in the pig mine.
You’re nearly a laugh, You’re nearly a laugh
But you’re really a cry.
- pink floyd
I chose to de-friend someone on Facebook today. Most of us feel a little crappy when we feel we have to do that and that’s why our friends list becomes unwieldy and filled with folks we’ve never met! Still, it really sucks when you’re reading posts from family and friends and suddenly some dude starts harshing your buzz with their political, self-aggrandizing hatred and contempt. This is part of what we’ll be talking about at the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Symposium when a few of us paddle bloggers take on the subject of Paddling & Social Media. Today I’m going to get a head start…. Continue reading →