PADDLER 28
Words : Jamie Greenhalgh Photos : As stated
PADDLER 28
Embrace the
CHAOS
Words : Jamie Greenhalgh Photos : As stated
Shut your eyes a moment and imagine you ’ re paddling a challenging section of white water . Sunshine , deep forests and crystal clear water . You launch and immediately begin the descent . Constant movement . Fast flows . Water runs down the paddle and laps at your deck , and you feel a sense of merging with the flow . As you paddle , you scan the water for clues about what ’ s to come . A surge of water on the bend . The approach to a horizon line . Which way is the water moving ? Buy time by hitting the slack water or speed up toward the next target ?
Each moment brings new information . A barrelling diagonal wave that leads to nowhere good . You push hard across and over , then ride the surge toward the next resting place . When paddling the river , your mind is solely focused . Each decision leads to the next move , and each move leads to the next decision . Paddle strokes flow from one to another without critical thought as intuition channels through the body and drive the boat forward .
Paddling in the mental state of flow , as described above , is one of the most fulfilling and addictive aspects of white water kayaking for a huge number of paddlers . But how do we get to the stage where this level of automation can happen ? How can we arrive at the point where we can count on our technical skills to organise themselves and appear in front of us to be used without diverting precious brain power away from the river descent ?
How can we hone our river reading skills to the point where we can scan and adapt our line without hesitation ? Being highly skilful and adaptable in flow state might seem like the natural progression of having done a lot of technical practice , but I would argue that these adaptive skills are a separate skill area that can be trained for .