My Week In Nottingham
As it was half term and I had no college and Jacko was going to be in Nottingham for the weekend, I decided that I'd go up to HPP for a week just after Younguns in May! I got to Nottingham on Monday morning and went and set up my campsite. Den was up for 3 days which meant we had a great opportunity to train with him!
DAY 1-Monday
We started off chatting about what I felt that I needed to be working on in both my squirt and K1 boat. We then, once everyone else had arrived got on the water and started out days training. Mainly I needed to be working on my lunars and phonics as they are extremely weak at the moment. Den pointed out that during my lunar I lean back, where I need to be leaning forward for the cartwheel end.
We then had a session on the wave above troll hole, which is really good at the moment. Nearly every move goes and sticks on there. I was able to airscrew as well as K-Y which was great for learning the movements in the water.
We then moved down to the muncher to get some training done in a different style of feature. The muncher was good to train on as the opportunities for moves are few and far between, this is good because it allows you to throw moves when it doesn't feel natural.
DAY 2-Tuesday
Today we had no inlet gate to train on as they were flushing the course through to help keep it clean. So we all started our training at troll hole after trying to macho move the small green waves that were where inlet should have been. We kept on working on the new moves to us, like K-Y's, airscrews both ways as well as keeping blunts up to a good standard. Den was very good with breaking down the moves to let us know exactly where we were going wrong. He was also telling us it was good to just try moves, even if we flush, just so we understand how the move works, I've done stuff like this with Jacko while learning my airscrew and K-Y back in the winter so was fully expecting to flush the majority of the time.
In the afternoon I did some squirt boat training with Den which was good as I had done much with coaches this year! He was really good at helping understand exactly where to put my paddles and where I should be feeling pressure on my boat. We were working mainly on screwing around and my switch wheels.
As we finished early Den suggested that we went wake boarding down at the cable tow in the evening to keep us entertained. So, we went straight from the course down to the cable tow to start our quest to wake board! We had to start out on a knee board to get used to how the cable works and to get a general idea of control.
Today I started doing some filming so Harry and I put my GoPro on top of the car for the drive to the course for the start of the film I was going to make. We all got on the water and as inlet gate was working we were able to focus back on hole moves. I was starting to struggle with keeping my Mcnastys straight for some reason, probably because they weren't going big enough. I needed to focus on waiting to throw the loop instead of rushing the movement. my lunars were starting to come together but I was still struggling on getting the nose down at the end of the move.
For our second session it was just Harry and myself! We looked at beginning our continuing adventure of trying all the new moves that Bren has come up with. For me I wanted to work on the front loop to back loop entry move and harry was working on the Lunar leap. We tried our moves a number of times and got close to them a few times which was great!
DAY4-Thursday
Today Harry and I only did one session as we had been working hard all week and needed a rest, so we did a morning session and hung around at the course for the rest of the day! In our session we were working on our competition rides as we hadn't really done any of that the whole week, so we made this our main focus. I find that I get the first half of my ride done and then I either make a mistake or feel very out of breath where I forget to take breaths in-between moves and links. This is something I defiantly need to work on if I'm going to make mens team next year!
In the evening we went wake boarding again with Will, but this time we actually got to use the proper wake boards! My first time I luckily made it to the end of the first straight then did a very powerful face plant, which really hurt my chin. I was really good and I would recommend it to everyone!
DAY 4-Friday
Today Brandon Hepburn and Charlie Brackpool had come to the course so we all paddle together! It was good to see everyone! We were able to see the new 2015 Helixer being paddled properly in a good feature, which was good to help me make a decision on what boat to get in the near future! We popped down to troll to do some wave paddling which was good to do.
When we got back to the top of the course I asked Brandon if I could have a quick go in the new Guigui. After having paddled it, I'm not convinced that it will work of me, I just didn't feel very comfortable paddling it.
For the second session I did a bit more filming for the film. After I did this I then got in my boat and did some intense runs in Inlet gate which filming them to look back over when I get home.
Day 5-Saturday
Today Harry and I took as a slow relaxed day on the water knowing that Jacko would work us hard tomorrow as he wanted to look at all of the skills. We did some runs on Inlet and then played our way down the course a few times. We then played around at Troll for a bit, where Harry macho moved down the feature and even landed in the hole with a back loop!
In the afternoon I did some more filming with the GoPro on my helmet for some first hand action!
Day 6-Sunday
Today Jacko had us do a full skill audit which involved every move that Harry and I could name! We had to do these moves 3 times and Jacko would rate how well we can do them! A few of them I knew I would be able to do and other I managed to do every time which was strange considering I haven't really practised them! From this we learnt what we needed to work on in future training sessions. We worked out that I can't cartwheel, which is a horrible fact. This must me worked on!
For our second session we all went down the course and messed about on some of the waves to see what we could do on them. Harry and I were showing Jacko some of the things that we had learnt from our week!
Yet again, another fantastic adventure in Nottingham, spent with great time on the water and great friends! :D
DAY 1-Monday
We started off chatting about what I felt that I needed to be working on in both my squirt and K1 boat. We then, once everyone else had arrived got on the water and started out days training. Mainly I needed to be working on my lunars and phonics as they are extremely weak at the moment. Den pointed out that during my lunar I lean back, where I need to be leaning forward for the cartwheel end.
We then had a session on the wave above troll hole, which is really good at the moment. Nearly every move goes and sticks on there. I was able to airscrew as well as K-Y which was great for learning the movements in the water.
DAY 2-Tuesday
Today we had no inlet gate to train on as they were flushing the course through to help keep it clean. So we all started our training at troll hole after trying to macho move the small green waves that were where inlet should have been. We kept on working on the new moves to us, like K-Y's, airscrews both ways as well as keeping blunts up to a good standard. Den was very good with breaking down the moves to let us know exactly where we were going wrong. He was also telling us it was good to just try moves, even if we flush, just so we understand how the move works, I've done stuff like this with Jacko while learning my airscrew and K-Y back in the winter so was fully expecting to flush the majority of the time.
In the afternoon I did some squirt boat training with Den which was good as I had done much with coaches this year! He was really good at helping understand exactly where to put my paddles and where I should be feeling pressure on my boat. We were working mainly on screwing around and my switch wheels.
 |
| Knee Boarding |
 |
| Waiting to start |
Day 3-Wednesday
Today I started doing some filming so Harry and I put my GoPro on top of the car for the drive to the course for the start of the film I was going to make. We all got on the water and as inlet gate was working we were able to focus back on hole moves. I was starting to struggle with keeping my Mcnastys straight for some reason, probably because they weren't going big enough. I needed to focus on waiting to throw the loop instead of rushing the movement. my lunars were starting to come together but I was still struggling on getting the nose down at the end of the move.  |
| Throwing a Mcnasty |
Today Harry and I only did one session as we had been working hard all week and needed a rest, so we did a morning session and hung around at the course for the rest of the day! In our session we were working on our competition rides as we hadn't really done any of that the whole week, so we made this our main focus. I find that I get the first half of my ride done and then I either make a mistake or feel very out of breath where I forget to take breaths in-between moves and links. This is something I defiantly need to work on if I'm going to make mens team next year!
 |
| Entry 2 in the Inlet gate |
DAY 4-Friday
Today Brandon Hepburn and Charlie Brackpool had come to the course so we all paddle together! It was good to see everyone! We were able to see the new 2015 Helixer being paddled properly in a good feature, which was good to help me make a decision on what boat to get in the near future! We popped down to troll to do some wave paddling which was good to do.
 |
| Starting a blunt |
For the second session I did a bit more filming for the film. After I did this I then got in my boat and did some intense runs in Inlet gate which filming them to look back over when I get home.
 |
| Charlie Brackpool Ladies and Gentlemen ;) |
Day 5-Saturday
 |
| Harry doing a Huge Loop |
In the afternoon I did some more filming with the GoPro on my helmet for some first hand action!
 |
| Huge loop in Troll |
 |
| Another Huge loop on Inlet Gate |
Day 6-Sunday
Today Jacko had us do a full skill audit which involved every move that Harry and I could name! We had to do these moves 3 times and Jacko would rate how well we can do them! A few of them I knew I would be able to do and other I managed to do every time which was strange considering I haven't really practised them! From this we learnt what we needed to work on in future training sessions. We worked out that I can't cartwheel, which is a horrible fact. This must me worked on!
For our second session we all went down the course and messed about on some of the waves to see what we could do on them. Harry and I were showing Jacko some of the things that we had learnt from our week!
Yet again, another fantastic adventure in Nottingham, spent with great time on the water and great friends! :D
Comments
Post a Comment