A couple of sheep in the pasture
I had the opportunity to do a maliko run with Slater Trout yesterday. One of my objectives was to observe his technique and try to offer some advice. A little ways into the paddle I started to think to myself that his technique and ability in general aren’t bad at all. His reading of the water very adequate, he has room for improvement, and then it dawned on me, this guy is only fourteen years old. He’s taller than I am, he’s probably more fit than I am, he’s just as focused as I am, he’s scary. Not that he poses a threat to the upper crust of downwinding yet, but give him two or three years, say when he’s sixteen or seventeen. That’s a pretty scary thought from my perspective. His success in last years Battle of the paddle isn’t a surprise to me, but I think just a glimpse of things to come.
I’ve posted a lot of information about technique and the various mental aspects of downwinding and paddling in general, but no matter how much technical information you are armed with, at some point you just have to put the miles in to get a true feel for the water. At this point that’s the only thing I think I still have over the young bucks coming up ( Slater, Conner, Kai just to name a few).
Fortunately, it does take some time to acquire, just like it took Gerry Lopez some time to become the master at pipeline, but because he probably spent more time out there then anybody else he learned every little nuance of the place: Tide, swell direction, wind and all the elements that effect, not only the way it broke, but the mastery with which he rode it. So too is it the way of learning wind swell. And as soon as you learn one location you go somewhere else and it starts all over again. Every channel, bay, lake and river seems to have it’s own character. I’ve done the Kaiwi so many times I thought ” you’ve seen one channel, you’ve seen them all”. Boy was I wrong. The first time I did the Alanuihaha it was like going from the kiddie pool and then jumping into the deep end of the adult pool. What a difference, now I understood why so many boats go down in that channel.
Another thing that dawned on me while observing Slater was intensity. I’ve spoken about focus and how important it is but intensity is another cog on the gear of success that is vital. When it’s time to release the hounds you’ve got to be able to really let those babies go. Chasing down those opportunities that sometimes transpire into a hundred yard glide can make a huge difference. Intensity is a double edge sword though. It literally can make or break you and the trick is learning to recognize the difference between the two. The best advice I can give you there, is to experiment. The good news is that even the very best paddlers in the world never get it right 100% of the time, no matter what they’re paddling, canoe, paddle board, stand up, kayak etc. When it comes to downwinding it really is just a matter of minimizing your mistakes, (the main mistake being coming off of your glide), and the one who does that best is usually the winner.
Keep experimenting and thank you to Slater for the inspiration.
Aloha,
Dave