Do kayakers make better Dragon boaters??

[MrPaddleshop]

Many races have shown that seasoned kayakers haven been winning races in Dragon Boat events (e.g. ACJC girls winning women's open, ACJC canoeing boys winning Dragon Boat National Schools) Does it justify that pure dragon boaters are losing the fight to them? As a seasoned dragon boater myself, I find it a hard fact to swallow when a canoeing team brings down a dragon boat team down to race to find themselves winning races most of the time..

Moreover, looking around at the National Teams in the West, namely the Canadians, in fact most of their squad comes from their canoeing team as well. I understand that they have very good "water sense" which allows them to catch the water very well and "feel" the glide of the boat regardless of the type of boat they're in.

Furthermore, I have seen many teams in Singapore picking up canoeing to supplement their training for dragon boating one of if I'm not wrong is SAFSA and the National team. I do hope someone can enlighten me on this, since there are really very few articles online that gives little information on this topic. So being good at kayaking really matter?

[TheMachine]

I think you know the answer to this! But yes, a kayaker will make a better dragon boater. It's all about the cross training and their ability to develop a wider, complimentary group of muscles. As well as that all important water sense.

Also, spending a lot of time in the kayak, surfski or outrigger you will develop a very keen sense of what exactly makes the boat go faster. To be able to knock out 40-80km training session in the outrigger you need to keep your focus throughout the entire training session, and this equates to keeping focus in a dragon boat race.

Training a lot in the canoe as a team is a really great selection and trainign tool. There's no where to hide in a 1 man boat! But in a 20 crew DB, you can guarantee that there are people not pulling their weight. So the individuals start working harder in the 1 man craft, pushing themselves and their team mates on, which then equates to more power in the DB.

For example the Aussies train a lot in the outriggers and they did a fantastic job in the Festival, getting a silver in the mixed. SPC also train a lot in the 6 man and 1 man outriggers and have been succesful in the DB both domestic and overseas.

However, I've always felt the DB short races 200/300m do need a special skill set that only DB can really nail. Canoeing will help build up the anorobic/aerobic/V02 threshold very well, but a short race your technique and synchronisity needs to be spot on. With only 80-100 strokes to play with, it doesn't leave much room for error, and it's my opinion that solid DB training is the way forward.

I've heard a rumour that SDBA are buying OC1's to compliment the NT training programme, so maybe it is the future?

[ok_doggie]

hi,

Do agree that individual craft does sharpen our senses in paddling. And individual craft give one the flexibility of training.

However to conclude that kayakers are better paddler in dragonboat is jumping the gun. The current gold and sliver world champ medalists are phi and china. They dun do kayaking as cross training. But they beaten teams of kayakers, outriggers and canoeists. At the end of the day, it is how u train not what u train matters.

And fyi, SAFSA dun have the resources to train with canoe or kayaks.

Cheers

[MrPaddleshop]

hi,

Do agree that individual craft does sharpen our senses in paddling. And individual craft give one the flexibility of training.

However to conclude that kayakers are better paddler in dragonboat is jumping the gun. The current gold and sliver world champ medalists are phi and china. They dun do kayaking as cross training. But they beaten teams of kayakers, outriggers and canoeists. At the end of the day, it is how u train not what u train matters.

And fyi, SAFSA dun have the resources to train with canoe or kayaks.

Cheers

I'm glad a pure dragon boating team won the world championships this time which dispells a lot of myths about how kayakers make better dragon boaters. Like you said, its how you train that matters.

My sincere apologies for the wrong information on SAFSA:)

[khatsalano]

I don't think it is about whether a particular group of sportsmen do better than another group... in my opinion it is like comparing apples and oranges... nothing to compare actually... By engaging in this kind of argument, whether is it the pro kayakers or pro dragonboaters, will simply encourage each other to beat his/her chests and then it becomes a matter of ego and nothing much else...

However, for the general rowing enthusiast, be it to a kayaker/canoeist/dragonboater/outrigger paddler etc, I'd say that engaging in more types of rowing sports certainly will help the paddler clock water time to have a better sense of what the paddle can do once it is in your hands. So yes, I agree that even for dragonboaters, engaging in kayaking/canoeing/outrigger will help one to get some "water sense" which will definitely help in terms of understanding the differences between the various rowing disciplines.

[crimson]

I don't think it is about whether a particular group of sportsmen do better than another group... in my opinion it is like comparing apples and oranges... nothing to compare actually... By engaging in this kind of argument, whether is it the pro kayakers or pro dragonboaters, will simply encourage each other to beat his/her chests and then it becomes a matter of ego and nothing much else...

However, for the general rowing enthusiast, be it to a kayaker/canoeist/dragonboater/outrigger paddler etc, I'd say that engaging in more types of rowing sports certainly will help the paddler clock water time to have a better sense of what the paddle can do once it is in your hands. So yes, I agree that even for dragonboaters, engaging in kayaking/canoeing/outrigger will help one to get some "water sense" which will definitely help in terms of understanding the differences between the various rowing disciplines.

Seems like a answer in the middle ground, but I agree.

Do kayakers make better dragon boaters? No.
Does kayaking help dragon boaters? Yes.

[dragon08]

Bumped into this article today. A story about a dragonboater in Singapore and became a canoeist.

Quote:
“Rowing was introduced to us in my second year because one of the national rowers was in NTU,” Wai Mun recalled. “I wanted to stop dragon boating and switch to rowing but ended up staying in dragon boating on the advice of my coach.”

“Since I didn’t have a foundation in canoeing and kayaking (both Olympic disciplines), I focused on rowing,” said Wai Mun who eventually picked it up in January ‘07. “Dragon boat training in NTU helped me with the physical aspects of rowing.”

Read article here: http://womenoneverest.com/jane/?p=25

[Paddlers Of Tomorrow]

Bumped into this article today. A story about a dragonboater in Singapore and became a canoeist.

Quote:
“Rowing was introduced to us in my second year because one of the national rowers was in NTU,” Wai Mun recalled. “I wanted to stop dragon boating and switch to rowing but ended up staying in dragon boating on the advice of my coach.”

“Since I didn’t have a foundation in canoeing and kayaking (both Olympic disciplines), I focused on rowing,” said Wai Mun who eventually picked it up in January ‘07. “Dragon boat training in NTU helped me with the physical aspects of rowing.”

Read article here: http://womenoneverest.com/jane/?p=25

bryan79, Wai Mun is a national rower, not a canoeist. Rowing is a totally different sport from canoeing although both are paddling sports. Do take note.

[merman]

Bumped into this article today. A story about a dragonboater in Singapore and became a canoeist.

Quote:
“Rowing was introduced to us in my second year because one of the national rowers was in NTU,” Wai Mun recalled. “I wanted to stop dragon boating and switch to rowing but ended up staying in dragon boating on the advice of my coach.”

“Since I didn’t have a foundation in canoeing and kayaking (both Olympic disciplines), I focused on rowing,” said Wai Mun who eventually picked it up in January ‘07. “Dragon boat training in NTU helped me with the physical aspects of rowing.”

Read article here: http://womenoneverest.com/jane/?p=25

bryan79, Wai Mun is a national rower, not a canoeist. Rowing is a totally different sport from canoeing although both are paddling sports. Do take note.

You got it even more wrong!!! Rowing is rowing, paddling is paddling. Two completely different biomechanical motions.  Do not attempt to correct people when you get it wrong in the first place. It is hilarious... to say the least.

[Paddlers Of Tomorrow]

With regard to watercraft, paddling is the act of manually propelling or navigating a small boat using a blade that is joined to a shaft, known as paddle, in the water. The paddle is also used to steer the vessel and may either be a single blade or a double blade affair.