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Dragon Boat Forums => Racer's Village => Topic started by: blizzy on October 16, 2004, 01:56:30 PM



Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: blizzy on October 16, 2004, 01:56:30 PM
What are your fomulas for optimizing performance for dragon boat racing? eg. weight distribution, etc.


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: Guido on October 16, 2004, 02:13:04 PM
If we tell you.....we must kill you.  Every coach has a different theory.  There isn't a true science and there isn't really a formulae per se.


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: Steamrollers Moaner on October 17, 2004, 02:47:44 AM
One way to improve weight distribution or to minimize weight is to have less water fights...


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: Guido on October 17, 2004, 11:13:30 AM
I'm sorry Mr. Moaner...I have to disagree with you on that one.
If Seat 4 is heavier on the left you will need to add a bit of weight to the right side....so the benefit of a water fight will give them the necessary weight in Seat 4 on the right to offset the initial imbalance.

Or the water could be transfered to Seat 7 on the right that way the boat rises slightly in the front so you  have a bit of rise off the front of the boat and stabilizes the back so when you take off from the explosive start...the back of the boat isn't so high off the water.  This will then cause the lift on the front of the boat to begin sooner thus creating the maximum speed of velocity to occur much sooner.

Hence....the aforementioned water fight will be of benefit for weight distribution and equality for right and left side imbalances.


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: Steamrollers Moaner on October 17, 2004, 05:02:01 PM
Quote from: Guido
I'm sorry Mr. Moaner...I have to disagree with you on that one.
If Seat 4 is heavier on the left you will need to add a bit of weight to the right side....so the benefit of a water fight will give them the necessary weight in Seat 4 on the right to offset the initial imbalance.

Or the water could be transfered to Seat 7 on the right that way the boat rises slightly in the front so you  have a bit of rise off the front of the boat and stabilizes the back so when you take off from the explosive start...the back of the boat isn't so high off the water.  This will then cause the lift on the front of the boat to begin sooner thus creating the maximum speed of velocity to occur much sooner.

Hence....the aforementioned water fight will be of benefit for weight distribution and equality for right and left side imbalances.


wow...  so technical.  I guess I still have much to learn from the wise one...


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: DBWTim on October 17, 2004, 11:42:00 PM
Quote from: Guido
If we tell you.....we must kill you.  Every coach has a different theory.  There isn't a true science and there isn't really a formulae per se.

Like Guido said before, there isn't really one formula that everyone goes with...

Over the years I've seen teams putting all 8 girls up front and then the 12 guys behind them with the biggest two doing Seat 6 duties... Also I've seen seating arrangements based on paddling experience with the rear few seats for newcomers. I've also seen teams that would ensure that the weight distribution was equal between the rights and lefts by way of asking for everyone's weights. As well they would pair up each seat with matching weights.  For example if Seat 8 Left was 200lbs, they would find someone one the team that would be roughly 200lbs. Usually teams that use this method have ambi-paddlers.

As some pointers, it's probably best to get outside of your boat when it's on the water and see how it sits on the water.  If it's bow heavy (front-heavy), then it's would probably be a good idea to move some weight to the back and ensuring that the left and right is balanced. As long as those terms are satisfied you should be ok.


Title: dragonboat racing optimization formulas
Post by: coach_of_little_people on October 18, 2004, 02:05:17 PM
I agree with Guido...every coach has a different theory/theories...and each is also based on team composition and seasonal goals (ie, winning is not a goal...beating a certain team is also not a goal...placing top 3 in the Comp B/A/Recreational A/B final in the 2005 Vancouver DB Festivall is a defined goal!)

There are many ways to maximize your team's performance... For example, weight distribution, matching seat partners, making sure your drummer isn't 200 lbs, etc.  So, one of the first things you have to do is decide on which one will be most beneficial to YOUR team!

Every team has a different composition of paddlers...some have size, some have technique, some have brains...  I honestly believe this is where your coach (assuming that he/she has enough technical paddling experience) has decide how determine how to maximize your team's performance...  The reason that I mention "direct" experience is b/c, in my opinion, their theories should be based on something that has been attempted and successful in increasing boat efficiency...

So in summary, I can't personally answer the question without seeing the whole team... Why don't you ask your coach to help out with this question?