THE ONLOOKER VERSUS THE REAL-TIME VIEW What I ’ m talking about here is the different perspectives ; what should it look like if you were to watch the perfect performance from the bank , and how should it look from the paddler ’ s view . Visualising the perfect descent down a rapid from an onlooker ’ s perspective might give the picture of the required paddle-strokes , boat movements or movement of the water . Try to think of this as a real-time rehearsal of the performance . What edge , paddle-strokes and movements are required , and what ’ s the likely speed ( e . g . if it ’ s perfect , how quickly will you move through the rapid ).
The onlooker ’ s view can make it hard to picture the timing and , therefore , imagine how it might feel to nail that drop or carve into that eddy . If you can picture it from the paddler ’ s view , you have the potential to visualise not only the required moves but also the intricacies needed to make that move work in action . For example , the onlooker might not have their view obscured by a wave or stopper , whereas the paddler might . The onlooker might just see water flowing around a rock as it turns the bend ; the paddler might see the rise in the cushion wave as it interacts with the rock – same rapid different view . The paddler ’ s view is the view you ’ ll get in action ; therefore , being able to picture this allows the closest thing to real-life ; the closer you can get with your vision , the closer you ’ ll be with your interpretation of how it might feel .
The water interacting with that rock , as you edge then accelerate around it , are you going to feel a thump from the rock then the impact of the landing or is the cushion wave sufficient enough that the move will feel soft . Will you feel like you ’ re accelerating or decelerating through the move you ’ ve chosen ? Fortunately , the action cameras readily available now have made this firstperson view much easier to picture . If you recorded it from a headcam , how would it look ?
SLOW-MOTION Ever got to the bottom of a rapid and felt out of control to the point that it felt like the environment was one step ahead . The chances are that at the top of your comfort zone , if you just ‘ disengage brain and go ’ that the amount going on in the big picture and real-time is too much to take in , potentially leaving you one step behind each move .
To help with this , if the above is working , why not imagine that you ’ re putting the above-imagined videos into slow motion . If it ’ s with less of a time pressure , where are the key movements ? Where would you focus ? What markers have you picked up ? Try running through the dry rehearsal in slow-mo , then bringing it back to real-time ; this makes it as close to the experience as possible before action .
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