Slalom , freestyle , and wild water racing ( more exist ) will all offer different challenges that will force paddlers to apply their existing technical skills to new problems and may lead them to develop some new ones .
Jamie on Thuli Bheri . Fast paced active paddling skills come from fast paced active paddling . Photo : Nick Bennett
Boulder blasting on the Upper Seti , Nepal . Photo : Jamie Greenhalgh
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Slalom , freestyle , and wild water racing ( more exist ) will all offer different challenges that will force paddlers to apply their existing technical skills to new problems and may lead them to develop some new ones .
Jamie on Thuli Bheri . Fast paced active paddling skills come from fast paced active paddling . Photo : Nick Bennett
Boulder blasting on the Upper Seti , Nepal . Photo : Jamie Greenhalgh
Go somewhere new . Photo : Nick Bennett
All games can be improved on , so I ’ d recommend you try one of these , and then after a little while , get together and ask , “ How could we make this more fun and interesting ?”’ Try out new rules and new games to keep life as fresh as possible .
USE THE COMPETITIVE DISCIPLINES .
Competition is a great way to create an extra challenge if you ’ re practising for river running in a setting where the river won ’ t be throwing down many surprises . Slalom , freestyle , and wild water racing ( more exist ) will all offer different challenges that will force paddlers to apply their existing technical skills to new problems and may lead them to develop some new ones . Making difficult manoeuvres fast against the clock , as in slalom , or turning a beatdown into a creative display of skill , as in freestyle , is a surefire way of sending a paddler right into a flow state and forcing the emergence of the adaptive skills and creativity that will be called upon when you get on your next challenging river .
Competition paddling is very different to river running . I know that many paddlers driven by a thirst for adventure might get completely turned off by the idea of getting serious about competition . On the other hand , it will be great for all sorts of things that apply straight across , such as composure and mental game . You might even find you like it .
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