Paddle comparisons 2013!

courtesy of asia.ru

Paddles have developed over the years from its wooden predecessors to its current Carbon fibre iterations. For those looking to shop for a new paddle, look no further and check out the paddle comparison chart, courtesy of http://sfldbt.wordpress.com. 

All rights to the information are to the blogging team from SFLDBT!

Here it is!

Paddle comparison 2013

Have a good weekend everyone!

5 Things the Singaporean Dragon Boater MUST HAVE!

Ever since I started paddling in 2003, I have seen dragon boat in Singapore evolve from the days of yore. I never used to have the things we have today due to the access to more information on the internet and the influence that dragon boaters have had on the sporting community in Singapore. From my observations, many dragon boaters have become more involved in the sport that we have created a subculture in the way we look, feel and act like a the uniquely Singaporean dragon boater. In this post, I just wanted to highlight the TOP 5 things that the dragon boater in Singapore MUST HAVE to announce to the world, "Yeah! I'm a dragon boater.."

5 Tips I Use to Teach Novice Paddlers

It seems like its been forever I've been in Dragon boat but the my path through coaching has only just begun. I'm still tackling multiple problems on site on the water and I recently figured out a way to coach novice paddlers how to paddle properly. I feel I just have to find a way to teach them the proper basics; not like how I was taught way back almost 8 years back I though I could share with people how I teach paddlers especially people starting out how to paddle properly and with form. 

1. Teaching how to hold the paddle properly.

This must be quite a duh step to put in but I believe it is one of the most critical to teach a novice. Handling a paddle and holding the it properly must be an essential step to how to paddle properly because if the paddler is holding it too far up or too far down the shaft of the paddle, he/she will essentially stick to that position for as long as he will go on in their dragon boat career. I think as coaches we should emphasise this even more because a minute difference in the way the paddler holds the paddle can make a difference into all the steps that follow. 

2. Look at your blade!

I always emphasize to each and every paddler on my team to keep a clean catch in the water. They should keep a clear and precise 'catch' with every entry and avoid any visible splashing especially when they are learning. 

3. Listen to the water!

With reference to entry of the blade, I also like to emphasize an extremely silent catch where theoretically they should hear a pin drop when they enter the water. No sound, nothing. All they should hear is an insertion of the blade into the water that brings an orgasmic feeling of perfection. No pun intended. Yet, i make it clear to them that it is all about the catch that will prevent the loss of any distributed water across the blade of their paddle and allow them full resistance as they pull through the water. 

4. Focus on one thing at a time. 

I think many of the paddlers try to get everything right the first time but I never like that. As a coach, I feel it is important to emphasize how important it is to do one thing right and then move on to another mistake in your stroke. For example, if both a paddler's entry and exit in his stroke is lacking, I will just get him to focus on just the entry. Think about that and that and nothing else. He will become better at his entry and eventually when he gets better, we move on to his recovery. Its that simple. 

5. Posture, posture, posture!

Sitting posture in a dragon boat is one of the most critical factors that always elude the novice paddler. They fail to take notice that dragon boat is a sport that requires a full body range of motion that requires perfect posture to execute. If you hunch, its as good as paddling with your arms. If you straighten out, you acquire more than 90% of your body to execute the stroke. So small stuff do make sense in the long run. 

I don't think this list is as exhaustive, but I stick to this system to really teach them the basics. Paddling through their habits will only serve to deprive them of future performance improvements and its only right to get the basics in their subconscious as quickly as possible. 

5 reasons why Singapore Dragon Boat is Stagnating

More often than not, you will hear your dragon boat friends rave about the recent races at the Singapore Dragonboat Festival (SDBF) and exclaim how well they did during the races and how well the top teams did in the Opens Category. Congratulations to NTU for coming in first in the Men's Opens.While it seems like a true feat to be the best in Singapore, to the trained eye, I have seen a not much improvements to the timings clocked over 500m race distances. 

Before I touch on the 5 reasons why our dragon boat scene is stagnating, I would like to emphasize that none of these are gathered facts but truly opinions of my own. Based on observation and fact finding plus a few interviews from coaches, I think its fair to be a critic so that our Singaporean paddlers to continue to improve beyond the standards we have today. Maybe you may find a better reason and we could share over a cup of coffee:)

#1 Singaporeans are too impatient

Dragon boat paddling is a very very very very technical skill that requires years to master. Honestly, in my short athletic career I only really learnt how to paddle the best way to my ability when I got the experience after 4 years of paddling. Yes, you heard right. 4 years. But it seems many of us tend to treat learning this skill like writing your name. As long as you can write your name down properly, you can buy a Mont Blanc pen to sign your name on anything that needs it. 

This attitude of learning is probably a Singaporean thing. When we learn something in the workplace, it has to be learnt fast and as efficiently as possible to make sure we get the job done. Many paddlers bring this idea to the water, that when they can paddle with a wooden paddle after 1 month, they need a carbon fibre paddle. I only got mine after I paddled for 5 years. This impatience has created a big boom to the paddling business. Everyone can afford to buy one because it looks good, but sadly few know how to properly paddle with one. 

#2 Getting bigger and stronger is always the first priority

As I have covered in a previous post, generations upon generations of paddlers have come to believe that paddling requires monstrous biceps and a huge chest to be able to paddle well. Oh man, they are so wrong. One of my ex-teammates who was paddling for one of the tertiary teams in the PM cup was a mere dwarf at 48 kilos. But was he any weaker than the rest of the squad? His team came in 0.23 seconds behind another which had 2 thirds of them weighing over 70 kilos. The paddler's experience made the difference not his size. Of course size can be a factor especially in the eyes of coaches who were brought up in the era of big = strong, but these days, the complexity of the sport has evolved so much that winning teams require so much more than just brute strength to win races, much less clock world class timings. This myth has been debunked on many occasions but still, the legend continues. 

#3 Singaporeans are too vocal

As far as history is concerned, dragon boat is a Chinese tradition that has evolved into a spectacular sport that has gained many enthusiasts all over the world. The sport just like its original predecessors believed that it was a communal sport where it brought together people in the village together to row as one. It is very much "let's just follow what our seniors has taught us and not do our own thing kinda sport.". Well, that just doesn't happen in Singapore. Competitive teams face issues of paddlers who may have come from different backgrounds and experiences to dictate their own way of the perfect stroke. In the end, we end up with a mish mash of strokes in the same team that may not truly optimise the performance of the boat in general. Teams have been stuck at timings which they see year after year of races which sadly does not justify the number of hours they put into training. We put creativity in the wrong place in a very communal environment where everyone should be doing the same thing every time. 

#4 Paddling is only a hobby

In all honesty, coaching has brought me a new side stream of income that allowed me a few more luxuries in my life and I love it. Fact is we can NEVER make real money off dragon boat either as an athlete or a coach.  It is sad to see the turnover rate of many of our top teams in Singapore either due to the more practical reasons like work, NS or in some students' cases. overseas exchange which is something well worth giving up dragon boat for. Our standards will only improve if people take it as seriously as the PM cup, where the standards for winning races become high enough to our regional neighbours. But it will never take shape because we won't earn money from it. Yes I do, but not as a paddler. I have struggled through school because I chose paddling over working part time but that was a choice I made. But for many people who are definitely more pragmatic, who would want to give up 6 months of exchange for a race that lasts 4 minutes? 

# Singaporeans teams are generally selfish

I was having a conversation with another coach in the dragon boat fraternity and we were exchanging views of how the race timings were barely improving year upon year. We have never gotten to the levels our regional neighbours are at internationally and I was searching for answers. 

He explained to me in the most simplest of terms that Singaporean teams are a selfish bunch of paddlers. We like to come together to paddle and race but teams hate it when paddlers move over to another team better to improve ourselves. One example is how we gather paddlers for our National team (Nteam). It has been a well known fact that anyone joining the Nteam has to commit fully for all their trainings for obvious reasons, however these paddlers may come from many of the tertiary teams that usually prepare intensely for their most crucial races in the SDBF. Misunderstandings led to another and soon many of these paddlers lose the time to train with their tertiary teams causing a lot of rife between the National Squad and their tertiary teams. Today, it has almost come to a point that if you are ever in a tertiary team, you had better not join the Nteam because we will kick you out. Today, the Nteam has taken a beating knowing that the best talent that it can muster from the nation's limited pool of paddlers is clearly not trying out for the simple reason where these paddlers fear to be judged by their  "original teammates". Sad to say, as long as this persistence of being selfish stays, we will never be truly able to say that this National team is the best one that we have in the country. I guess it is really a mentality where being Asian, we have this stigma of being left out and being judged which is very unfair knowing how much we progressed as a "westernised" society. I guess some things are meant to stay in our very modern Singapore. 

Wrapping it up

I hope you have enjoyed this light-hearted article of 5 reasons why our dragon boat scene is stagnating. While there may be more reasons why we may be stuck, I guess these are the more salient ones for our situation now. 

Nevertheless, I always believe in the future of our sport and how well it progressed throughout the years. I will never discount the fact where many teams have seen incredible improvements in race timings on a local level. I hope this may generate discussions for people who are interested in a good debate. Till the next article!

5 Bodyweight Exercises that Work!

I've been into the calisthenics routine for a over 6 months now and I can sense a big difference in my strength gains. This post hopes to show the common man how 5 simple but electric body weight exercises can bring a whole new world of  strength into your routine as an independent workout or done as a hybrid with your weights training. So here goes..

1) Pull ups / One Arm Chin Ups

We overlook everything that is basic. Simply thinking that the most primal exercise of moving our bodies through space seems too menial. Many have done countless in our service in the army; thinking that we should progress beyond that to include lat pull down machine training to increase our strength. Much to our dismay we may never see gains as much as when you do pull ups. The most primal exercise that replicates our instinctive prowess to climb trees and branches. One arm chin-arms can be an excellent progression of the pull up for those who are seeking a need for an outlet to bust your guns. Its no mean feat to execute even one. But when you do, your confidence jumps by truckloads. 


2) Push ups / One arm push ups

Studying gymnasts, I have begun to understand very clearly how the human body is able to leverage its body to maximise the resistance on the body when it comes to doing push ups. Although it may look easy to some, try to do close push ups. Not the type you do one rep after the other but the type execute for for 3 seconds down, 3 seconds up. Just 10 of those will hurt your ego badly. Very badly. 


3) Handstand Push Ups (HSPUs)

I have yet to do more than 10 reps at each set but to push your own body weight (upside down!) through space (i weigh 72kg at the point of writing this post) is an exceptional challenge I have to overcome. Its extremely intense but it strengthens your shoulder rotator cuff joints while bulking them up. Forget the dumbbell shoulder presses. HSPUs are the way to go. 


4) Squats/ Pistol Squats

Everyone hates to squat. 1 out of 10 gym goers will use the squat rack. But no one can deny the power and strength that squatting brings. It forms an integral exercise to strengthen the posterior chain running from the lower back, glutes, hamstrings and not forgetting your quadriceps. Don't forget the pistol squat; a hardcore version of the squat that make grown men fall to their knees (literally!). No one that I know looks strong with stick thin legs. Go figure!


5) Towel hangs 

An exercise that I picked up recently from a book called Convict Conditioning. Never in my life have I been humbled by an exercise that took my grip to limits I have never reached before. The feeling you get in your forearms from just gripping a towel hanging from a pull up bar is pure adrenalin. Sugar rush to the brain. You will never feel anything like it unless you climb ropes for a living (something I doubt anyone does). Give it a shot and feel how the burn feels like. 

Those are the 5 exercises that I recommend as part of a strength training routine; a routine tried and tested to surpass the dozens of wanna be workout programs you can find on the internet. If you like this post, do share it and train hard!

Dragon Boat accident caught on Camera!

SAVA international hosted their 2013 edition of the MR500 dragon boat races last weekend. It was an exciting surprise to catch some drama on camera.

The video showed 2 boats which veered off course and collided into 2 other boats almost causing a freak accident that could have involved more than 100 lives. As much as I respect coxwains for doing their duty diligently, this was a mishap that could be avoided through proper drills executed by the team. The teams should have been drilled regarding such collisions for their own safety and not assume to paddle regardless of the circumstances. Definitely more could have been done to educate both paddlers and coxwains alike to manage such situations. I sure hope there won't be more of such accidents in future. Till my next post!