I'm writing this from a coach's perspective, assuming that's what you either want to start doing, or improve upon.That manual is only useful as a starting point. To answer your question, I don't think that manual is detailed at all. It's fairly comprehensive in that it covers a range of topics, but that's about it.
Think of it this way. That manual is like a wrench. Sure it works, and it works great, but not in all situations/circumstances. You need other sizes too right? For instance, all crews have certain strengths which you'll want to capitilize on.
Anyways, don't be afraid to test out some of your own theories out on the water and challenge accepted beliefs. Especially anything printed in a manual. If it's right, ok. But if it's wrong, you'll know why.
More importantly, don't be afraid to go off on a tangent and mold/develop your own style & technique. That's what I did, and have been happy with the results.
I chatted with another coach once, and he was quite proud of the fact that he ran his practices word for word, on what was done on the team he paddled with.
That's something I would strongly discourage btw. That just doesn't work. (and it didn't) Not only that, I think it's pretty disrespectful to that person's coach.
A quick word on drills - make your own. Seriously! If you know what you want to accomplish and really understand what you're doing, it's easy.
These are words from a bio on Hugh Fisher (paddlesup.ca) that are very wise and correct.
In my opinion far too much is made of style as though there is some exact technique or style everyone should use or did use. I'm just not sure what exactly the FC Style was or is. I had left False Creek by 1988. Trying to paddle with a certain Style is like a protocol where if you do all the prescribed steps accurately you don't have to think anymore. All coaches and all paddlers should think. Certainly no 2 high performance crews I've ever seen paddle or ever coached for that matter looked the same whether they were from FC or not.
Many paddlers from that crew went on to coach other teams and perhaps they taught the same thing. I steered a boat a few years ago but not as the coach and I swear I heard word for word the same coaching jibberish I'd uttered 17 years ago. Go figure. All coaches and all paddlers should think, analyse, be innovative, test their ideas against others, against the stop watch, and so on. They should definitely not subscribe to , preach and teach the " False Creek technique" just because FC paddlers once were warriors, nor should they automatically accept and teach the Missisauga technique, or the Banook technique or the Rideau technique. My favourite piece of paddling advice ever was this. " Just put yer paddle in da water an' pull the Billy Bejeezus outta it" Words to live by.
