Kirby Mark who has been paddling for a few years made some compilation of guidelines and pointers to the dragon boat strokes to improve your technique. Lots of paddlers give thanks to Kirby Mark for assembling this useful information for them.

This comprehensive information has been based on the many aspects of Dragon Boat and Outrigger training and racing with documentation readily available for sports like canoeing, kayaking and for general fitness. This post is a bit focused on Outrigger Canoeing or Dragon Boating. The overall objective is to define the general training principles for similar sports that you can relate to a precise scheme to efficiently improve and enhance paddling performance.

The optimum paddling style creates a big controversy circulating around Hong Kong which implied more ambiguity. Dragon Boat technique usually originates from the most forms of paddling like kayaking, marathon canoeing, outrigger or rowing. The C1 canoeing is most closely related to dragon boating or outrigger canoeing which contains similar pattern of movement according to the large amount of research data which made available on this particular stroke for useful comparison.

A good paddling technique is base on the emphasis on the forward stroke wherein you apply power in the water in front of your body. Though this technique may sound so simple, you still need to learn complex series of movements to effectively execute the required movements for this kind of stroke. You basically need to understand the components of different stroke technique to analyze accurately your paddling style.

Here are the four phases in the forward stroke:

• The Catch means anchoring the blade
• The Compression which is the power phase
• The Finish means of getting out of the water
• The Recovery means of getting forward to a ready position

Variations in one or in every phase of stroke are resulted from the characteristics on the different style or from person to person depending on his body size and stature which can give the team an advantage on the different physical curbs of each sit position. It is also important that one must understands that as the stroke rating increases and stroke length decreases, the style changes.

To achieve a perfect and complete stroke one must be seen as a cooperative product of its parts performed in unified motion. Understanding the components of each stroke intimately and how it will affect your performance is what the paddlers must possess. It will be easier to analyze the different technique if you isolate yourself from the disposition of the paddle in relation to the boat and tracking key reference points on your body such as wrist, elbow and the shoulder.

This year competition was a bit watered down because most of the top teams were not in attendance as they were in Penang, Malaysia for the 2008 6th World Club Crew Championships and as a result some of the teams that were not usually belong in the A Division category was subsequently ranked as such in this regatta.

The 2008 Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta also presents special races such as the Women’s Division, Men’s Division, Out of Town Race and many more to name it few. Each team really performed to their best to win the race. But some teams were not very happy about their performance. They were not prepared and focused due to some unpleasant circumstances like one paddler may end up not paddling and some paddlers did not hear the referee gives the signal to go.

The referee in this kind of race gives a very little time between the time when he says paddle up! (meaning that you need to get your paddle ready to race) from the time he says Go! And when some of the paddlers were not ready, the team start will be affected and subsequently will not perform as well as they should be.
Weeks before the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta, participating teams were pushing themselves to do well during their practice to ensure their victory. Some of the coaches were moving around his paddlers around the boat to know when the paddlers do well in front as well as the back of the boat. This strategy makes the paddlers to become versatile and more valuable. The coach could not only switch the paddlers from front to back rather he can also interchange it form left to right sides of the boat.

In the second race, calling your boat Finish is a little bit risky. The cox or the coach should know his team very well. If they call finish too early, their boat can tire out and subsequently will have nothing left to finish the race. The third and fourth race in the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta was interesting as they were the Financial Cup as well as the Out of Town Race. The distances in each race in this competition is 500 meter but not on Financial Cup and Out of Town Cup which is only 250 meters distance. There are specific strategies used for each type of race. For the 250 meters race, it is very much sprinting the entire time as the distance is short because there really isn’t enough time for transition. However, in 500 meter race you can really feel the difference between the Start, the Transition and the Finish.

In this competition, you really need to be ready mentally and physically during the race and your goal is to race and beat your opponents regardless on the external forces that you can’t control.

For more information, visit: http://www.azdba.com/Festival/festival_index.htm

Dates: March 28/29, 2009
Venue: Tempe Town Lake

The festival is held between the 5th – 7th June 2009.
Venue is at the Man made lake of Putrajaya, Malaysia.

After many years Qua Yuan learned about a planned invasion of his kingdom and his love for his country and his distress in knowing that it would be destroyed led him to commit suicide. Once his followers heard that he planned to drown himself in the local river, they raced down to it in an attempt to save him. His followers formed groups and jumped into boats. Banging loudly on drums and splashing their paddles around in order to deter the fish from eating his corpse, they searched up and down the river but never found him.

Thus, a sport emerged where a boat full of men raced to the sounds of drums in order to keep the beat. Every year on the date of his death, a race is held in this same river to commemorate Qua Yuan’s death.

Dragon boating is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. It’s easy to participate in, requiring minimal resources and skills. It is truly a team sport and includes teams at all levels of competition. On the water, dragon boating is a widely colourful and loud sport.

It’s been a while coming and now is your chance to get a copy of my free report, the Dragon Boat Quickstart.

The Quickstart is a report I put together to help any Dragon Boat paddler equip themselves with the right knowledge and gear.

In the report you will find:

• The terminology most commonly used in Dragon Boating
• How to find the right paddle that fits you
• The 5 essential items to get for Dragon Boating

To get your copy, click here -

http://www.dragonglobe.com/quickstart

Your Feedback Please

I hope this report will be beneficial to you and one of the best rewards for me is when I read your feedback comments about it.

If you have anything to say, good , bad or indifferent, after reading the Dragon Boat Quickstart, please add your comment to this post.

Tyrone Shum