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dragonboat talk for dragonboaters.

Goal setting is a powerful tool used to help us achieve a result. This is applicable to any part of your life and I’m going to be discussing this specifically for Dragonboating.

One issue that I see happen time and time again from any paddler and even myself is staying focused and motivated in this sport. When you first start, it’s easy to learn so many new techniques and improving the quality of your paddling. Though, there reaches a point when you start to plateau and this is the time when we need to boost our motivation and set new goals. Whether you have just started or have been paddling for years understanding how goal setting can work for you will not only get you motivated, it will take you to another level of paddling.

I use the S.M.A.R.T approach when it comes to setting goals for Dragonboating. It is a simple principle to follow and can help you take your paddling to another level if you apply it properly.

The S.M.A.R.T. principle

1. Set Specific Goals. Research shows that specific goals are the most motivating. For example, a specific goal is to reduce your 200m water time trial time by 30 seconds within 6 months. Many people just say they want to get faster. This goal is far too general to really motivate you in your training.
2. Set Measurable Goals. Simply saying that you want to get faster is not enough detail. You need to be able to chart and document progress toward your goal. One way to measure your progress is to document your performance at set intervals. In the above example you may want to record your 200m water time trial performance every 2 months so you have a good measurement to work on.
3. Set Adjustable Goals. This means your goals are flexible enough to accommodate unexpected challenges without becoming obsolete. An injury may force you to modify your goal. If your goal is to compete at the Dragonboat National titles in 6 months and you are injured, you may need to change your goal to allow for an extra 3 months to recover from injury. It doesn’t mean you abandon all your plans. At the same time, you may find you are progressing quickly and need to raise your goal. Set Action-Oriented Goals
   Another important aspect of goal-setting is to keep focused on personal action. Don’t forget to consider not only what you want to achieve, but how you plan to achieve it. I will discuss this in another post.
4. Set Realistic Goals. Start where you are, and increase your goals accordingly. If you haven’t ever paddled a 1000m race, it’s probably not a wise goal to say you want complete this in 20 minutes. While that may be your long-term goal, in the short-term you may want to shoot for the a 500m race first and condition your body for racing conditions. This sort of progression is healthy and realistic. Also, keep in mind that as you become more fit towards your full potential, the room for continued improvement gets smaller. Similarly, if your goals are too simple, you won’t feel much satisfaction by attaining them. Only you truly know what is realistic for you.
5. Set Time-based Goals. Look again at first example: reduce your 200m water time trial by 30 seconds within 6 months. This is specific and time-based. Without a time line there is a tendency to procrastinate or get bored. You may also need to set interim goals with shorter time lines to keep you on track. Consider the previous example of working up to a 1000m race by completing shorter distances first. This is breaking down your goal by being time specific. In general, goals that stretch out beyond 6 months are too long to keep you interested and motivated. Try to re-evaluate your goals every 2-3 months.

Goal setting is an art as well as a science, but if you make sure your goals follow the S.M.A.R.T. formula, you will find you are more likely to stay motivated and reach goal after goal.

With this in mind, start putting down your goals for Dragonboating. I would love to hear your goals for 2009, so please add your comments below.

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About Dragon Boat Program
A company called Dragon Boat Program located in Vancouver, USA has a number of courses they run that helps maximise a dragon boat paddler’s potential. There are a series of classes or workshops, clinics, and weekend or weekly camps that run throughout North America. These classes or workshops have been individually tailored so that any paddler wishing to develop their dragon boat skills will be able to do so through a one on one coaching program.

The Dragon Boat Program brings together numerous state and national coaches that will help train novice to elite Dragon Boat Paddlers all in a structured training environment to bring the best knowledge and skills to the program.

They also have programs that are dedicated for corporations and businesses allowing them to do team building sessions and mix in fitness to their busy work lives.

What Programs Are There?
Dragon Boat Program offers numerous tailored programs that is suitable for most dragon boat roles, e.g. paddler, steerer, coach, team manager:

Below are the following different programs currently available:

• Novice Paddler Program
• Intermediate Paddler Program
• Advanced Paddler Program
• Dragon Boat Coaching Program
• Elite Coaching Program
• Novice Race Officiating Program
• Basic Race Officiating Program
• Race Officiating Program
• Steering Certificate Program
• Competitive Drumming & Calling Program
• Festival Management Program
• Fundraising & Sponsorship Program
• Time Trial Program

How Much Does It Cost?

The Dragon Boat Program compared to other courses is at the top end and starts at $600 (before the 1st December 2008) for each individual for a 5 day program. It goes up after that date.

Other similar courses I have heard from other companies cost:

Great White North: $425.00
Double Fifth San Diego: $600.00
Water’s Edge: $750.00

You can visit their website for more information at http://www.dragonboatprogram.com or you can contact them at:

Telephone: 1-971-222-3679

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Written by Kevin Neeld

To stretch or not to stretch…Why is this still a question?

There is more than enough research showing that stretching before activity decreases performance measures (strength, power, speed, balance, etc.). Compared to a static stretching warm-up, a dynamic warm-up lead to significantly greater increases in these same measures. The misinterpretation of this research has lead to the idea that static stretching is completely unnecessary.

Makes sense right? I mean if an activity meant to elicit relaxation and passively lengthen muscle doesn’t lead to immediate performance improvements, why do it at all?

I’m not the type to just accept something I’ve read. I’m also not the type to discount something I’ve read just because it doesn’t make sense to me. So following the complete lack of logic behind never stretching again, I decided to conduct the ultimate research experiment…I stopped stretching altogether. For 6 weeks I didn’t stretch once. Not my legs, not my shoulders, not my neck, nothing. I ran with the idea that simply moving through a full range-of-motion (ROM) consistently would be enough to improve, or at a minimum maintain joint ROM.

The results: The study was cut short from an original 8-week proposal due to the only subject feeling like complete hell. Not only did I lose active and passive ROM around my ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders, but I started to get exceptionally tight in variable areas that would lead to nagging aches and pains.

Backed with this convincing research, everyone should be stretching AFTER their training. Stretching at this time allows you to relax, and return chronically shortening muscles to their original length. To avoid omitting potentially important information, I’ll tell you that I’ve heard that stretching muscles cold may actually lead to long-term flexibility increases, while stretching warm muscles may lead to more short-term changes. If you’re disciplined enough to do your stretching at another time, this may be an option to consider. In a team setting, it just doesn’t work. Many athletes don’t like stretching and won’t do it if they aren’t supervised. If you’re a coach, the only way to guarantee that all your athletes are stretching is to watch them do it after practice. If you’re an athlete and hate stretching-just do it immediately after your lift/practice.

Now that we understand that stretching is a necessary component of a well-designed training program, let’s talk about how to get the most bang for your buck out of your stretching time. There are a few tricks to address muscles that traditional stretches may miss. Moving from the ground up:

Plantarflexors (or calves): While the soleus and gastrocnemius are both plantaflexors, only the gastrocnemius crosses the knee joint, allowing it to assist in knee flexion. Because of the difference in origins between the two muscles, the plantaflexors should be stretched with both a bent knee (greater emphasis on the soleus), and an extended knee (greater emphasis on the gastrocnemius). While stretching these muscles with an extended knee may stretch both muscles, the magnitude of the stretch on the soleus will be limited by the stretch of the gastrocnemius. In other words, if the gastrocnemius is really tight, the the soleus will not be sufficiently stretched. Bending the knee and stretching again puts the gastrocnemius on slack, allowing a greater focus on the soleus.

Soleus Stretch

Gastrocnemius and Soleus Stretch

Hip Flexors:
I have yet to see an athlete that didn’t have tight hip flexors. Stretching this muscle group is extremely important. Most people are familiar with the lunge stretch. The focus of this stretch is primarily on the iliacus and psoas muscles. What many people don’t consider is that one of the quadriceps muscles, the rectus femoris, is also a hip flexor. This two joint muscle works to flex the hip and extend the knee. Since most people perform quad stretches with a slightly flexed hip, this muscle frequently passes under the radar. The solution is to find a stretch that extends the hip and flexes the knee, which is possible through a slight modification to the well-known lunge stretch. The tensor fasciae latae (TFL) is also a hip flexor. This muscle connects with the IT band, which means that TFL tightness can lead to a ‘tight’ IT band, which can have implications on patellar tracking (a lateral pull on the knee cap). Unfortunately the TFL is very difficult to stretch. Below is a simple variation to the other hip flexor stretches that puts a slightly greater emphasis on the TFL. Notice that the feet are closer to an in-line position than a hip-width position.

Iliacus and Psoas Complex Stretch

Rectus Femoris Stretch

Tensor Fasciae Latae Stretch

Adductors (or groin muscles):
The majority of the adductors originate on the ischial tuberosity (the bony prominence that you sit on) or pubis and attach to varying positions on the femur. The gracilis, however, attaches to the medial tibia. This means that the gracilis not only spans the hip joint, but also the knee joint. Functionally, this muscle cannot be stretched if the knee is bent, as in most “groin” stretches. However, only stretching these muscles with the knee extended may limit the magnitude of stretch to all the adductors other than the gracilis. Stretching them twice, once with a bent knee and once with an extended knee, may be the most effective way to stretch this group.

Pectineus, Adductor Brevis, Adductor Magnus, Adductor Longus Stretches

Gracilis Stretches

Pectoralis Major (and anterior shoulder):
The pectoralis major has a unique fiber orientation with the direct line of pull of individual muscle fibers changing relative direction throughout the muscle. In other words, from top to bottom, the fibers are angled diagonally downward, horizontally, and diagonally upward. Consequently it makes sense to stretch this muscle in at least two different positions, 90° and 135°. Time permitting it may be worth stretching this muscle at a lower angle (~60°); although I’ve found this angle to be the least beneficial of the three. Notice how my forearm is supinated and my upper arm externally rotated. The pectoralis major is also a humeral internal rotator. I’ve found this stretch to be much more effective by arranging my arm and forearm into this position. I also like to keep my elbow fully extended because it adds a greater stretch to the biceps brachii, allowing for an effective stretch of all the muscles that cross the anterior shoulder.

90° Stretch

135° Stretch

External Humeral Rotators:
Like the pectoralis major, the fiber orientation of the infraspinatus (one of the rotator cuff muscles) changes from a horizontal direction to a more diagonal direction as you move from the top down. In order to maximize the effectiveness of stretching the external rotators, it makes sense to stretch these muscles at two angles, 90° and 135°.

90° Stretch

135° Stretch

I generally recommend that each stretch is held for 30 seconds, and that static stretching isn’t performed until AFTER the training session. I think it’s a great way to keep the blood flowing a little, cool down, and relax. However, since many of these stretches address specific areas that are problematic for a lot of people, it may be beneficial to run through a quick circuit of these stretches BEFORE the training session, holding each position for only 10-15 seconds and actively contracting the antagonist muscle groups. If you aren’t stretching at all, start. Maintaining proper tissue length will allow you to keep progressing through your training while minimizing the risk of unnecessary injury.

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Well, lets face it who wouldn’t want rock hard 6 pack abs? In reality you don’t need to have muscles that are so ripped that you can see a 6 pack. What is most important is how strong the muscles are for dragon boating. I am a firm believer that not only do you need back muscle strength, but you need to have strong core muscles in your abdominal area for dragon boating.

Firstly you need to understand how abdominal’s work in Dragon Boating. These are your core muscles that hold your body together and having a strong mid-section will remove stress that tends to build up in our lower backs. Furthermore when you reach and twist for a stroke you are using your abs and back muscles.

Basic Anatomy and Muscular Function
The abdominal muscles can be divided into 4 groups: Transverus abdominus, Rectus abdominus, , External obliques and Internal obliques.

Transversus abdominus – the deepest muscle layer. Its main roles are to stabilise the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure.

Rectus abdominus – slung between the ribs and the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. This muscle has the characteristic bumps or bulges, when contracting, that are commonly called ‘the six pack’. The main function of the rectus abdominus is to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis.

External oblique muscles – these are on each side of the rectus abdominus. The external oblique muscles allow the trunk to twist, but to the opposite side of whichever external oblique is contracting. For example, the right external oblique contracts to turn the body to the left.

Internal oblique muscles – these flank the rectus abdominus and are located just inside the hipbones. They operate in the opposite way to the external oblique muscles. For example, twisting the trunk to the left requires the left side internal oblique and the right side external oblique to contract together.

Exercises to train your abdominals
To train your abdominals safely and effectively you must know the basic movement patterns of your abs and train them within all sub-categories:

* Truck Flexion (upper abs)
* Hip Flexion (lower abs)
* Rotation (obliques)
* Lateral Flexion (obliques)

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Rotation	Trunk Flexion	Rotation
Lateral Flexion	Hip Flexion	Lateral Flexion

Aim to split your abdominal exercises into three days and by completing 4 sets with 12-15 repetitions each.

Here is a sample abdominal exercise program below:

Day 1:
#1. Decline Oblique Crunch (Rotation)
Position yourself on a decline bench with your feet locked in. Your upper body should be raised off the bench. Cup your right hand over your right ear, and place your left hand on your thigh. Raise your upper body slowly while turning your torso to the left. Focus on keeping your abs tight and keeping the movement slow and controlled. Continue crunching up until your right elbow touches your left knee. Lower your body slowly back down to the starting position. After completing one set on the right, switch to your left side. TIP: Focus on really twisting your torso and feeling the contraction when you are in the UP position.

#2. Dumbell Side bend (Lateral Flexion)
Works the obliques. Stand straight up with your feet at shoulder width. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your palms in. Place your left hand on your waist. Keep your back straight. Bend to the right as far as you can, then bend to the left as far as possible. After finishing your desired reps, change the weight to your other hand and repeat. Bend at your waist only, not at your hips or knees! Can also be done with a barbell on your shoulders.

Day 2:
#1. Swiss Ball Crunch(Trunk Flexion)
Sit on top of an exercise ball with your feet placed firmly on the floor. Roll the bottom half of your glutes off the ball by sliding forward. Your lower back should be centered on top of the ball. Place your hands on the sides of your head, but don’t use your hands to pull. Crunch your upper body forward and roll your shoulders towards your hips. Squeeze at the top! Then lower back to the starting position and repeat. You can hold a weight to increase the difficulty

#2. Hanging Leg Raise (Hip Flexion)
Hang from a bar with your legs straight down. Raise your legs by flexing your hips while flexing your knees until your hips are fully flexed. Continue to raise knees toward shoulders by flexing your waist. Do NOT swing and use momentum. Go slow and concentrate on using your abs to pull your legs up. Return to the starting position. Repeat. You can place weight between your ankles for added resistance. You can also raise your knees to one side of your body to work the obliques.

Day 3:
#1. Oblique Crunches (Rotation)
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent (placing your knees on the floor or resting on a bench). Place your left hand over your left ear. Roll your upper body up to the right until your left elbow touches your right knee. Concentrate on tensing the sides of your waist and holding contraction throughout the movement. Slowly lower to the starting position. After completing a full set of reps on the left side, switch to your right side and do the same thing.

#2. Dumbell Side bend (Lateral Flexion)
Works the obliques. Stand straight up with your feet at shoulder width. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your palms in. Place your left hand on your waist. Keep your back straight. Bend to the right as far as you can, then bend to the left as far as possible. After finishing your desired reps, change the weight to your other hand and repeat. Bend at your waist only, not at your hips or knees! Can also be done with a barbell on your shoulders.

If you perform these exercises on a weekly basis combined with your dragon boat training on the water no doubt you will not only strengthen your abdominal muscles, you’ll also achieve a great set of abs!

Have fun with these exercises!

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The biggest challenge of dragon boat racing is managing synchrony. Since there is no gym exercise for building synchrony, teams that spend more time practicing on water tend to have an advantage.

Paddling
Some teams that emphasize stroke rate might put their strongest members in the front to set the stroke rate for the team. Some others that emphasize the mechanical science of propulsion put their strongest members in the back to deal with water resistance. There are also those who theorise on the centre of gravity of the boat and the best lineup to lower the centre of gravity. Whatever the lineup, there is a rationale for it. Yet, basic execution, including flawless strokes and synchrony, is the most important part of competitive dragon boating. No amount of alignment experimentation will help the team if its members fail on the basics.

There are four (4) basic phases of paddling:

1. “Catch” as you lean forward, turn your body slightly toward you partner and submerge your paddle in the water. Make sure that the full blade catches water.
2. “Pull” as you lean back to pull water. Propulsion of the boat is based on countering that water resistance you feel. Therefore the boat experiences maximum propulsion as the full blades of all 20 paddlers catch and pull at the same time.
3. “Finish” as you pull the blade out of the water. This phase signals the completion of your first stroke and preparation for the next stroke.
4. “Reach” as you lean forward again to prepare for the “Catch” phase of your next stroke.

The “finish” and “reach” phases are sometimes known as “ready-and-reach”. Together, they are also addressed as the “recovery” phase.

In the “catch” phase, how far should you lean and how much body turning should you have? If you are a beginner, imagine doing that again and again until you finish a race course of 500 metres or longer. Don’t freak out as “practice makes perfect”. Perfect execution requires physical conditioning outside of dragon boating. In the ”catch” phase, your abdominals and shoulders matter most. Regular crunches and shoulder lifts using dumbbells will condition these body parts.

Practicing Reach
It is a good idea to sit in front of someone taller than you as you train on water. The reason being your taller teammate behind you naturally has a longer reach than you do, thus forcing you to lean forward more. Be careful-do this only if you have sufficiently conditioned your abdominals and back muscles. Otherwise, you will likely suffer endless swearing from behind.

Resistance Training
Sitting in the back of the boat will give you more effective resistance training overall. The reason is that you are “eating” the wakes created by everyone in front of you. If you are sitting in the front, a good way to practice resistance is asking your teammates behind you to create a drag by putting their paddles in water but not paddling. This will require coordination by your coach.

Training on One Side-versus-Switching Sides
Some dragon boat teams finish a practice round without allowing paddlers to switch sides or some dragon boaters prefer to train only on their stronger side. Prolonged training on only one side of your body is not healthy for your spine, posture and overall balance. A healthier way of training is switching sides midway through the round, one row at a time. The drawback, of course, is slowing down during switching. Another method is keeping track of which side you paddle each week and making sure you switch every week. Finally, if you really prefer to paddle on one side in order to say, become a “left side expert” for racing, compensate by doing more conditioning exercises for muscles on the other side.

Verticality
Keeping your paddle vertical against the side of the dragon boat (i.e. the gunwale), enhances speed of the “recovery” phase and hence the stroke rate. Verticality also makes full submission of the blades easier and thus enhances the propulsion of the boat. However, the biggest drawback of keeping the paddle vertical is its impact on your shoulders as your stroke, particularly if you stroke fast. If you use this technique, it is crucial to perform shoulder conditioning exercises to build up your shoulder muscles and protect your shoulder joints. Leaning out of the gunwale will make it easier for you to accomplish verticality, however that will require strong oblique abdominals as well as switching sides to protect your spine.

Tilting
If you team’s paddling style is tilting the paddles, you might protect your shoulders and spine more but the drawback is a slower “recovery” phase. To enhance the “recovery” phase, you will need to reduce the air drag (air resistance) by turning the paddle so that the blade is horizontal to the water and “slicing” the air as you reach forward. This requires frequent wrist turning, particularly if you stroke fast. If you use this technique, you need to build up your wrist strength to prevent injuries. When you do the conditioning exercises, include wrist curls and using light weight dumbbells. You will find it convenient to incorporate wrist curls in between sets as you do bicep curls.

Conditioning Exercises to Get Ready for Races
How much endurance and strength you and your teammates have is a key factor determining whether your team can sustain multiple heats and beat a close rival at the right moment ..the final race. This is where physical conditioning plays a role in addition to on-water practice.

The best conditioning exercises are tailored to your team’s stroke strategy. Carefully designed, conditioning exercises not only build your strength and cardiovascular capacity but also stimulate the muscle movements, breathing pattern and heart rates during a race.

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Today I will talk about warming up for Dragonboating and what exercises I have used in our team. These are very common stretches and simple exercises that anyone can do and I highly recommend them before and after any training session and race. But firstly why warm-up and why don’t we get straight into a training session or race?

Why warm up?

• warms your muscles by increasing the movement of blood through your tissues, making the muscles more supple;
• increases delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles by increasing the blood flow to them;
• prepares your muscles for stretching;
• prepares your heart for an increase in activity;
• prepares you mentally for the upcoming exercise; and
• primes your nerve-to-muscle pathways to be ready for exercise.

Why don’t we get straight into a training session or race?
Warming up before a training session or race is simply to help prevent injury. While scientific studies are ongoing to define the best warm-up techniques to gain this injury-prevention advantage, the warm-up is an important aspect before any dragonboat session that a paddler undertakes.

Ensuring an effective warm up
To make your warm up effective, you need to do movements that increase your heart rate and breathing, and slightly increase the temperature of your muscle tissue. A good indication is warming up to the point where you have raised a light sweat. We would generally allow 5 to 10 minutes for your pre-exercise warm-up (or slightly longer in cold weather).

Warm-up options
Follow these options in the order listed.

1. General warm-up. To begin your warm-up do 5 minutes of light (low intensity) physical activity such as walking, jogging on the spot. Pump your arms or make large but controlled circular movements with your arms to help warm the muscles of your upper body.

2. Stretching. Any stretching is best performed after your muscles are warm, so only stretch after your general warm-up. Stretching muscles when they are cold may lead to a tear. Static stretching (stretching a muscle and holding it in this position without discomfort for 10-30 seconds) is considered the safest method of stretching. I will list some stretches that we recommend for Dragonboat specifically below, so keep reading.

3. Dragonboat paddling warm-up. One of the best ways to warm up is to perform dragonboating strokes whilst out of the water. This will allow you to simulate at low intensity the movements you are about to perform at higher intensity during your session. For example, you may stand or sit on flat ground and pretend to hold your paddle out in front of you and start practising your stroke in mid air. Start with slow paddling as though you were in the boat to warm up your muscles and gradually increase it to a medium pace, until you feel that your muscles are loose and warmed up. Furthermore I would suggest also taking note to rotate your hip and back muscles so you will warm them up as well during your mid air warm up.

Dragonboat Stretches
These stretches below should be held at the point where you can feel the stretch but do not experience any discomfort. If you feel discomfort, ease back on the stretch. Remember not to bounce when holding the stretch. Don’t spend so long doing your stretches that your muscles cool down and your heart rate returns to normal.

	Shoulder Strangle 1. Cross one arm horizontally over your chest, grasping it with either your hand or forearm, just above the elbow joint. 2. Exhale, slowly pulling your upper arm in toward your chest. 3. Aim to keep the hips and shoulders facing forward throughout the stretch.
	Chest/Bicep-Wall Stretch 1. Place the palm, inner elbow, and shoulder of one arm against the wall. 2. Keeping the arm in contact with the wall, exhale and slowly turn your body around, to feel the stretch in your biceps and chest. 3. Adjust the hand position either higher or lower and repeat to stretch the multiple biceps and chest muscles.
	Tricep Stretch 1. Extend one hand down the center of your back, fingers pointing downward. 2. Use the other hand to grasp the elbow. 3. Exhale slowly, pulling gently downward on your elbow, aiming to take your fingers along your spine.
	Moderate Leg Over 1. Lie on your back, extending your left arm out to the side, while taking your left leg over your right, bringing the knee inline with the hips. 2. Keeping your right leg straight, use your right arm to push down on the knee of the left leg, exhaling slowly as you stretch.
	Hamstring Stretch 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, one foot extended half a step forward. 2. Keeping the front leg straight, bend your rear leg, resting both hands on the bent thigh. 3. Slowly exhale, aiming to tilt both buttocks upward, keeping the front leg straight, and both feet flat on the floor, pointing forward. 4. Inhale slowly, and relax from this stretching exercise. Repeat the stretch again, this time beginning with the toes of the front foot raised toward the ceiling, but keeping the heel on the floor.
	Quadriceps Standing 1. Stand holding onto a secure object, or have one hand raised out to the side for balance. 2. Raise one heel up toward your buttocks, and grasp hold of your foot, with one hand. 3. Inhale, slowly pulling your heel to your buttock while gradually pushing your pelvis forward. 4. Aim to keep both knees together, having a slight bend in the supporting leg.
	Side Lunge 1. Stand upright, with both feet facing forward, double shoulder-width apart. 2. Place your hands on your hips, in order to keep your back straight, slowly exhale, taking your bodyweight across to one side. 3. Avoid leaning forward, or taking the knee of the bent leg over your toes. As you increase the stretch, the foot of the bent leg should point slightly outward. 4. To increase the stretch, relax upward, slowly sliding your feet out a few inches to the sides.

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