Dragon Boat West

I've joined a dragon boat team recently and am surprised with the lack of energy I have! It's been over a month and I'm not sure if I can continue at this rate.  It's not that I'm gasping for air or anything.. it's just that my arms get tired and by the time we're half-way through practice the upper arm holding the top of the paddler starts dropping, then it causes me to splash the guys in front of me! For the rest of the practice, I can barely get the paddle out of the water without it scraping and splashing water on ppl which i hate doing. I'm sure I'll probably have some fun during the competitions but I'm certainly not looking forward each time to when the next practice is.  Could this be a sign that I should try a different activity?  I don't want to let the team down by splashing everyone in the middle of a competition and slowing down the boat.  Man, that would be embarassing!  :shock:

sounds like you are only using your arms to paddle instead of the correct body parts being your core, hips, legs, etc.  You should talk to your coach and have him/her show you and help you with the correct technique of using your body rather than just your arms when you paddle.

Suck it up and stick with it! My shoulders and arms were dying when I started out, and I'm sure a lot of other paddlers will tell you the same thing! There is some base fitness that you have to build, and it will come. Listen to your coach, learn the techniquie, and the owwies will be less...Oh and they never truly go away, you just get used to them. The racing part makes it worthwhile... Whoo hoo!

there's always nekkid skydiving...  :shock:

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking it was because I'm trying to wrap my 6'7" body into the tiny seat with my knees to my ears. Because of that, it's quite hard to twist and turn like everyone else.  Plus, because of my long arms I have a long stroke which usually bumps the person in front and person behind me.

nude skydiving, here I come!  8))

A few things you can try:

• Relax your shoulders (keep them down, don't bunch them up)
• Switch sides with your seat partner half way through the practice
• Use a shorter paddle
• Switch to outrigger :-)

Being 6'4", i know how you feel.  And I wasn't the tallest on my [most recent] team.  You'll get used to it.  the motions are probably a foreign concept for your body right now, but like anything, it'll just take some time for your body and muscles to become familiar/used to the movements. 

Unlike Brainiac, I wouldn't suggest using a shorter paddle.  at your height, that can only lead to poor habits forming, more arms and less everything else. 

What seat are you sitting in?  I've sat in everything from 1 to 10 and done alright.  Its actually nicer in 1 because there isn't anyone in front of me to get in my way.  :lol:   .... unless we're talking about the geminis.   :x

As for your stroke length and hitting the people in front and behind, that'll be something that comes in time/with practice.  EVERYONE will smack the paddles of the people in front and back at least once when they first start paddling.  just concentrate on getting the paddle in and out of the water at the same time as the person in front of you, and maintain the same "air time" in the recovery as them as well.  The further up front your stroke is, the better. 

I agree with Colossus on the paddle length, don't go shorter.  It does sound like you're "all arms" right now.  Try and get your rotation going, using less arms and more body and see if this helps you at all.  Many of the other comments made already are good too.  You just need that base fitness level and then you should be fine.

Just thought i'd add this in as well, regarding splashing people: This is a water sport.  If people expect to stay completely dry, they need to find a different sport.  When I sat seat 1 & 2, I'd be completely soaked by the end of practice, purely from the spray of the bow wake.  Thats when I was super happy about the sauna and showers of FCCC.  :lol:

I missed the 6'7" bit so I agree it is highly unlikely the paddle is too long.

Well nekkid dragonboating works too. At least you don't pay the fee to have your arms tired. So you have nothing to lose! Except your clothes and dignity of course.

Thanks for all the great replies, guys!  I was surprised that this may be just that I need to reach that base fitness level. I have been doing pretty intense weight training 5 days a week for a couple years, plus tennis, basketball and more recently dragon boating. I'll try tonight to move my body more and see how it goes.

 If you're training hardcore w/ weights in the gym 5 days a week this may be why your feeling sore and fatigued .....Don't train shoulders the day before you paddle as that will only make things worse .

 I train pretty hard with weight and just suck it up ......no pain no gain .With time it will get easier .I would suggest if you are working w/ weights that you break the body parts into different days and don't keep training the same body parts everyday . So 1 day work chest,tri's..then next day back /bi's ,then shoulders/legs ...so say 3-4 days ...5 is honestly overtraining because you have to give your body time to recover .If you go 3-4 days gym and make sure you train each body part at least once during the week and then add paddling on top that will add up to 5 or more days ....give at least 1-2 days w/o any training .Eating properly also plays a role ...lots of good carbs before a work-out /paddle

Thanks for the tips, Paddleboy.  I know to alternate body parts each workout as my schedule usually goes something like:
Mon - Chest, Shoulder, Abs
Tues - Back, Arms
Wed - Leg, Arms
Thurs - loops back to Chest, Shoulder, Abs
Fri - Back, Arms
      .....  and so on .....

But now I have Tues & Thurs were I do paddling instead of weights. I'll remember to not do the shoulder workouts before a paddling day though.

 You really don't need to train the same body parts more than 1 day a week .....trust me ,you will see better gains .With the work-out you are doing there is no allowance for off days for your body to recover .Like I said 3-4 days and train all body parts once a week and leave it at that .Do max 4 different excersices per body part w/ 3-4 sets per excercise .The max time in the gym should be maybe an 1 hr to 1.5 and inc cardio of some sort

 

I thought that since I wasn't training the same body parts each day, I was giving those body parts time to recover, but I see your point.  I'll try just Mon, Wed and Fri and leave the shoulder workouts until Fri (after my paddling for the week).

anytime you lift weights there will be some overlap w/ other muscle groups even though you are not training them specifically

 You will probably find you have more strength if you go that way