rsk_at_gsp.org wrote: > > On Thu, Jul 23, 1998 at 07:46:23AM -0400, Michael Neverdosky wrote: > > Applying information from racing to recreational pastimes is of limited > > usefullness at best, and may be flat wrong at worst. > > I strongly disagree. Many of the innovations in boating have come > from racing: I am not saying that there is not technology transfer. I AM SAYING THAT WHAT IS BEST FOR RACING IS NOT BY DEFINITION BEST FOR EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > in particular, the duffek stroke, squirt boating, and > the sweeping changes in PFD design over the past couple of years all > came from slalom racing. I must allow for your bias. > Those are completely obvious Sorry, I don't think anything is completely obvious. > -- but there's also a more subtle transfer > of technique going on. I do a fair amount of river paddling in addition > to racing, and one of the things I've noticed over the years is that it's > pretty easy to tell who the racers are while on a trip. They're the ones > who can put their boats anywhere they want to -- catch any eddy, surf > across any wave, and so on. They're also the ones with energy left > over at the end of the day. Most of that is due to their use of correct > techniques which maximize their paddling efficiency and boat control. > Recreational paddlers who learn those techniques are often amazed > at the difference that it makes -- I know, I teach them. Maybe it is just that racers spend a lot more time practicing and training. People in all sports benefit form improving their skills, that still doesn't mean they should use the same equipment and techniques as the racers. I find you statement to be something like saying a professional football player is better than the guys on a saturday 'pickup' game. On the road I can spot race car drivers also. So what? Most of the things a driver does on the race track do not apply to the street. The race drivers are more skilled and tend to prefer to drive in a much more precise manner > > The test in racing is winning. To win you must go as fast as possible > > while still being able to finish the race. Efficiency only enters > > the equation in the being able to finish part. > > Not true. Efficiency is necessary in racing in order to go > fast *and* conserve energy for critical moves. (In downriver, that > might mean "running the big drop"; in slalom, that might mean "avoiding > hitting the gates in the hole".) Nearly *everyone* can finish -- so > that's not much of a factor at all. But efficiency is always secondary to speed in racing. To win you must finish FIRST! To finish first, you must finish. In auto racing, once you cross the finish line any leftover fuel, brakes, tires, tricks, etc are useless. If you finished first, fine. If you didn't finish first you probably should have used up (or tried to) one or more of these things. If you finish other than first, and you still have energy left at the end, you either did not race hard enough, or you are not really racing. When I am paddling there are lots of things more important than speed and efficiency, depending on what I am doing at the time. I may value silent, non-obtrusive movement if I am watching wildlife. I may do things that I find Fun just because they are FUN. IOW For you, racing may be the most important thing in the world, it may even be the only thing in the world. Most of the people in the world are not racers. michael *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jul 23 1998 - 06:37:58 PDT
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