The Art of Freestyle: A Manual of Freestyle Kayaking, White Water Playboating and Rodeo - Tapa dura

This book is intended to be instructional, inspirational and of interest to both novice and expert alike. The assumption is made that to even begin to playboat the paddler will already be an intermdiate white water boater familiar with basic strokes and boating skills. For the interested non paddler a glossary of terms is included. Part One gives an overview of the sport and lays the foundations of understanding on which the rest of the book builds, as well as exploring safety issues and exploring key concepts. Part Two describes and coaches the moves which are divided into intermediate and advanced standard. Part Three looks at how to train in order to hone your physical and mental skills and be 'the best you can be'. Never before has so much freestyle, rodeo and playboating information from so many great boaters been gathered together in one place. In a world dominated by the biggest, the fastest, the loudest...the most big headed, this book makes a stand. Whilst of course covering all the latest moves, the authors have not been frightened to start right back at basic concepts. Technical ability is nothing without knowledge, without planning and without stamina. This book tells you the secrets. Freestyle is a thinking person's sport. The authors, the contributors and the book's publisher have an unrivalled breadth of knowledge in this field, so let this book do some of the thinking for you. The full colour format and the emphasis on personal training and coaching make for a particularly easy read. When planning my preparation or training before a competition, I always try to evaluate its potential benefits in terms of how many places it will have helped me move up in the final results. As a general rule in life, any time spent off the water should be viewed with suspicion! However, use this time constructively and absorb the information in this book and you will reap your own rewards. The Art of Freestyle is a book genuinely written by paddlers for paddlers. It is often a hard task to get top athletes to part with their preferred training or competition techniques, but this book is full of such 'Top Tips'. This is not a book written just by its authors, but by a wealth of accomplished paddlers. It is this subtle combination that keeps the reader in the real world...believing in a move, not just imagining it. This is the real world...believe you can do it.

Eric Brymer Eric's initial involvement in coaching and sport science was as a direct result of developing fitness routines and effective nutrition habits for a variety of athletic disciplines. This interest in fitness led to his involvement in the setting up of facilities in America, Europe and the UK. As a competitive coach he initially became involved with sports such as gymnastics and swimming. Eventually he discovered kayaking and canoeing in 1990 and has been coaching the sport ever since. Today his involvement is more specifically with coaching white water freestyle for the Welsh Elite Squad. He has a degree in Sport Science and a postgraduate interest in Sport Psychology. He is also a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and trained in Hypnosis and Kinesiology. When not coaching freestyle he works as a personal, professional and organisational development coach. Loel Collins Loel works as the Head of the Canoe Department at Plas y Brenin, Teh National Mountain Centre in North Wales. He competed in the Freestyle World Championships held on the Ocoee River in the USA and coached members of the UK squad for the following World Championship in Augsburg. He is one of the UK's most qualified coaches and was one of the first to specialise in coaching freestyle, developing many of the strategies in use today. Tom Hughes Tom just goes boating... A lot!