Following on from the core coach training organised by the club in October, Alan, Chris M, Rob B and myself did the moderate water sea kayak coach discipline specific training on the 14-15th March. George Fell was the trainer for the course, and was excellent, keeping the jargon to a minimum and making it as relevant to volunteer club coaches as the BCU syllabus allowed.
The first day looked at key skills such as observing and analysing performance, providing feedback, staying quiet (easier for some that others) and how different coaching techniques could be used. On the second day we took it in turns to run sessions for each other, which we then reviewed with input from George and the rest of the group.
The training took place at Ballachulish as it’s difficult to guarantee moderate water in the Forth, and we stayed at Inchree – recommended if you need accommodation with a classroom and a drying room for a small group.
Aside from the coaching, the key take home points from the course for me are that I could really improve my personal paddling skills by learning from Alan, Chris and Rob, and that I need to spend time analysing my own performance and working on improving my paddling skills each time I’m out.
It looks like it’ll be a while before we get to put the coaching skills into practice, but we will all be keen to run some progressive skills sessions with the club once we can get out on the water again.
Sorry – no picture – too busy for photography.