Mas and I had a great great time in SF. Our team, AbbyNormal got into the finals! We had an awesome crew (our team comprised of people from 8 different teams who paddled together for the first time last weekend). We placed 4th, but dropped to 6th place because our boat veered left and went to the other lane (got a 2-second penalty). We got so close to the other boat, we hit paddles (which I am sure slowed us down).

The water condition in the SF Bay was so unpredictable. There were strong winds, aggressive waves and the weather was so much colder (comparing to Texas), which made it harder to paddle for both me and Mas. I have never been seriously scared of capsizing in my whole dragon boat life! I was actually so scared that I checked where the rescue boat was while we were getting ready to the start line. The water conditions were so bad, the steersmen yelled at each other during our other races:

"Hey, you are in my lane!"

"I'm in your lane?! He is in your lane!"

I mean, it was funny, but it was not. I've never paddled in that kind of condition before. It was quite an experience. There were a total of 120 teams in the festival.

Anyway, Mas and I want to share some new DB terms/ideas we picked up while we were there. We thought of sharing them with you, so that when we meet other teams in the Regatta in October or other future races, we can understand what they are talking about:

1. Stroke or Stroker - if a person says he/she is a stroke/stroker, it means he/she sits on the first row of the boat

2. Wet start - paddle all the way in the water during the start when they usually say "attention please"

3. dry start - paddle on top of the water during the start. From the impression that I got, this is used when the conditions of the water is choppy.

4. AbbyNormal's start was 4, 4 x 3, 4. Four (4) long deep strokes...then we went to a faster 4 strokes, then we up-it for another 4...then fastest 4 (kind of like our 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 strokes)...then we sort of slow it down to a race pace (4 counts) - kind of like our "transition 3-2-1. We also called “power” towards the end.

5. We also talked to other teams who are about our size and other teams bigger than us (how often they practice, do they have try-outs, etc). We will share them with you when we see you. We dont want to mention any team names on this forum - hahaha!

6. Mas and I met the teams from California and Arizona (Wild Wild West) who will be our buddy team for the regatta in Clear Lake. They are so nice! I think we will like them We will get to spend a lot of time with them in our tents. Let's learn from them, as some of them are really experienced paddlers.

7. In my opinion, as we travel more and more in other cities and as we grow as a club, we need to learn the Russian stroke (kind of like canoe-style paddling when you swing out your paddle). It was necessary for Mas and I to learn this style of stroke when we got to SF because the water conditions were choppy and doing a "piston" stroke (which we normally use) was not ideal. We needed to lift our paddles higher when we "recover" to avoid the splashes/waves, so we are not fighting against the wind and the water. If that does not make sense, we will explain next time we see you

8. Oh, we also saw one of our pacers/strokes used a metronome. I asked her what it was for. She said it helps them keep the pace, as it will tell you how many beats/strokes you do per minute. It is actually a musical instrument, but it is a great tool for dragon boating! Based from the beats of the metronome, I think we usually use 56 to 58 strokes per minute. See this link: http://www.metronomeonline.com/ for a free metronome sample. I will go to the one of the musical stores when I have some time, so we can practice with them when needed. It is only $15, I think.

As a summary, it was a great opportunity to develop new friendships, and learn many things. Mas and I both realized the intensity of competition out there. Houston Heat has a lot to learn, but I am sure we will catch up quickly because we are a great team!

Paddles up!

...wow...this is really a long post, but I hope you learn something like we did...just passing on info

I believe the stroke you called a Russian is also called a modified J stroke which is the latest technique. The piston stroke is the easiest to teach to novice teams since it is easier to explain. The idea is to keep it simply at that level. The modified J, Hybrid exti or "D" stroke is the more advanced stroke which I think is actually easier and allows for a quicker exit from the water without dragging the boat down.

A metronome is a handy device. I have an audible one that I picked up at a music store and will bring to the next practice. I also have a stroke meter and will bring that. As for rate, your community teams will compete at 58-62 strokes per minute. Local competition rate would be around 80 strokes per minutes. International level competition would move that up to 85-96 stokes per minute with burst exceeding 100. Folks, that's fast.

Another good device we might invest in is a GPS unit. This will tell us how fast we are going. To cover 250 meters in one minute you will have to average 9.32 miles per hour.

Thanks for sharing the information from San Francisco. It must have been a real thrill.

David

sorry, duplicate

Post edited by: dpomeroy, at: 09/28/06 10:43pm