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Written by David H. Johnston
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 Kayaking
instructors, I have a challenge for you.
When we
teach forward stroke, we emphasize using torso rotation for greater endurance
and strength rather then just using our arms. I have absolutely no problem with
it. It makes sense to me as an advanced paddler and I believe strongly in it.
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Written by Mark Tozer
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 Video is a flexible and powerful tool for
the coach, its level of use is dictated by the coaches ability with the camera
and confidence in it's application as part of the normal coaching process. The
strength of video lies in it's ability to capture movement and speed rather
than fixed shots. Many coaches are, needlessly, nervous because of the
technology involved and it's application. The video should be built into normal
coaching activity and viewed as additional to coaching activity.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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 How long is a long kayak? How wide is a wide kayak? How fast is a fast one? Who cares?
If kayak symposium conversation is an indication, paddlers care.
Nevertheless, paddlers persist in using hopelessly inadequate
terminology to describe boat characteristics. "Fast", "not fast",
"wide", "narrow", "stable", "tippy" are but a few of the terms that
have nebulous or different meanings to different people. Naval
architects long ago recognized that something better was needed, and
devised terminology uniquely suited for talking about boats.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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The concept
of edging your kayak is taught as an intermediate technique. For better
success, try changing mixing up your order and teach it to beginners right
away.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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We are
looking for Sea Kayak Instructors like yourself to help out a fellow paddler
learning to roll in India.
With little resources available to him, we thought we could help by posting a couple of videos
here so you can comment with ideas and suggestions to make his roll more successful.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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Paddling back through the chop towards the beach once, we suddenly had the sense that we were not alone. Rather surprisingly, a decidedly glamorous-looking wooden yacht had crept up silently behind us and the skipper wanted to chat.
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Written by Michael Pardy
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 The past ten years have seen a very significant growth in the popularity of kayaking in North America. Kayakers are now seeking more and better training opportunities. Instructors are meeting these demands with more sophisticated programs and teaching resources, providing both new and experienced paddlers opportunities to develop skills in safe and challenging learning environments.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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Off season paddling, for me, it is the best time of the
year. I teach all summer so I don’t get much time to get out and do some
paddling for myself so I look forward to the off season when teaching slows
down and my own recreational paddling goes way up.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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As kayaking instructors, we take on the roll of "salesperson" as much
as or even more than we do the roll of "instructor". I like using the
metaphor of sales, because we are in a unique position in which
students pay money for you to introduce them to the sport. If you don’t
do a good enough job "selling" the sport of kayaking on the first day,
they won’t enjoy themselves and move on to another sport. This is your
only chance to help develop a passion for the sport you love.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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If
you were to look at the possible occupational hazards in your career as a sea
kayak instructor probably the biggest hazard would be the sun.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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Over my years of talking to former kayakers, many of them have some sort of story along the following lines, "I tried kayaking once but it flipped over and I got trapped inside of it. I thought I was going to die!"
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Written by David H. Johnston
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 So you want to become a paddling instructor do you? Good
choice. This article will help get you started.
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Written by Peter Carter
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 Some time ago I read in Sea Kayaker a
not very complimentary review of a UK video on sea kayak rescues. I did
not see the video until much later, but I can only say that I agree
with Sea Kayaker’s reviewer: it is a video of value only for learning what not to do.
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Written by Peter Carter
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One of the most frustrating aspects of
paddling a kayak is that of making the thing go in a straight line,
especially downwind. The boat tries to round up, and the paddler must
make continual correcting strokes. Frustrating, and also fatiguing, and
fatigue has a bearing on safety.
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Written by Tim Dyer
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Learning how to give positive and constructive criticism to
a student is one of the more difficult teaching skills to master. Tim Dyer from
White Squall provides some tips and tricks that he has picked up over the
years.
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Written by Nick Schade
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He said, "I was out there and the waves must have been 6 feet."
Funny, I was out there at the same time and didn't see anything bigger
than 18 inches. What is going on? Estimating wave height is very
difficult. Sitting down in a kayak, low to the water, waves look pretty
big.
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Written by Tim Dyer
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You
just finished up your first kayaking course. You need to talk to your students
and let them know how they did. Help! What do I do? Tim Dyer from White Squall has
posted some great tips to help you get through what some argue as one of the
most important part of any kayaking course – the final debrief.
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Written by David H. Johnston
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You find yourself out surfing at the local break. Who has the right-of-way? This article explains the rules of the road for both kayak and board surfers.
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