PROGRAM

Before signing up for a course, you need to fill out and submit the Pre-Course Paddler Profile form. This will help us assess your level of proficiency and be better able to understand and meet your needs.

*If the link doesn't work, please copy https://forms.gle/WRwp2CM8xWsodT3b9 to your browser

Week 1:

• Confirm the paddler’s level of expertise (with pre-course profile)
• Introduction to Va’a: Name of coach, basics, philosophy, What’sApp
• Clarify paddler’s expectations
• The basics of Va’a, including the stroke and technique
• Equipment you will need, training, and safety
• Safe training, bad habits, injury prevention, exercise and mobility
• Train with the canoe you will use for recreation or racing

(Intro: 15 min, Q&A: 15 min, Videos, instruction

Week 2:

• The essentials of posture, balance, and steering; you’ll see a video showing the safe and most efficient way to achieve these fundamentals

Week 3:

• Changing gears; making adjustments and corrections
• Specific exercises and drills for each paddler

Week 4:

• Advanced gear-changing with stroke frequency—high-intensity and low-intensity
• Specific and personalized tips to make a difference in the way you paddle
• Changing your grip, stroke frequency; stroke correction; mastering the stroke!

Week 5:

• Advanced techniques with greater physical demands
• How to improve speed – more refined techniques to accelerate your canoe
• Improving your grip on the paddle
• Video analysis
• Apply what you have learned
• Specific training regimens to help you take your paddling to the next level

Week 6:

• Putting it all together: Review, analysis, and recommendations going forward
• Next step: The benefits of an in-person group class

We offer hands-on coaching you can’t find in a book. They require practice, commitment, and the desire to be at one with the water, yourself and, if you intend to paddle on a team, with your teammates.

Our intermediate instruction, “Taking Paddling to the Next Level,” is designed for those who have mastered the basics of the paddling and want to take their paddling to a higher level of mastery. It is 6 months long, focusing on individual or small (2-3) group instruction. This course is more personalized, rigorous, and aims to get you to a higher level of heartrate conditioning—Zone 3 (145+). The goal is to prepare paddlers for “race-date performance,” at whatever level you wish to compete.

Our third course, for 6-man/women teams, is called “Paddling in Harmony: V6.” Here emphasis is on bringing everyone’s skills together in a finely orchestrated unit. Team members learn how to paddle in sync and to create an enduring bond, each being like the string in a six-string guitar, performing in harmony. The goal is to get paddlers to connect and be connected, so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When there is shared responsibility among team members, this connection gets stronger and stronger. It takes this enduring connection to achieve a winning team performance!

We also offer 7-to-10-day retreats in Tahiti, where paddlers can immerse themselves in paddling and the culture and beauty of Tahiti.