Hi everyone and anyone who reads this. I’m simply looking for some data to include in a study I’m doing at college. I am reaching out to all with a coaching qualification and with experience working with kids / day one beginners. Please answer each of the following
All questions are based on coaching a group of beginners on flat, sheltered water.
Does your choice of boat change depending on who or what you are coaching? If yes, what inspires this choice?
If you had the choice, what type of boat would you place your participants in (after taking into consideration weight, height and strength)?
Would you say being in a bigger or smaller boat is more advantageous for all parties? Please briefly explain your answer
Do you feel the use of spray decks is an important part of the kayaking experience? If no please explain further.
Do you consider it good practice to put beginners in spray decks in a sheltered environment? If no, what are your reasons?
?? It appears you are thinking kayaks rather than canoes from questions 4 and 5. Is that so?
And do you have any time knowing how to manage a kayak yourself?
I am an ACA certified coastal kayaking instructor (read, sea kayaks), so my responses will be related to that area.
Does your choice of boat change depending on who or what you are coaching? If yes, what inspires this choice?
Yes. Boat fit is most important. Different boast fit different sized people. Outside of that, I will choose a boat that has a higher perceived stability for someone I think may not be as comfortable kayaking, is less fit, etc.
If you had the choice, what type of boat would you place your participants in (after taking into consideration weight, height and strength)?
After boat fit, I then try to put them into a boat that is most similar to what they may use, based on conversations at beginning of class as to why they were learning to kayak. People looking at long tours would get a true touring boat, people looking just to paddle locally would likely get a day touring boat.
Would you say being in a bigger or smaller boat is more advantageous for all parties? Please briefly explain your answer
Shorter boats generally track less well, so are good for teaching someone how to paddle forward efficiently. But can also be frustrating. Longer boats can be more frustrating for people to learn how to turn.
Do you feel the use of spray decks is an important part of the kayaking experience? If no please explain further.
Yes, as skirts are one of the things that kind of make a touring kayak a touring kayak. One of the key areas we teach is getting in and out of a boat with a skirt, at shore and on the water.
If I was teaching a class on recreational type boats, we would not use skirts. For sit on tops, you can’t use skirts, If white water, it would involve skirts (unless they were using white water sit on tops).
Do you consider it good practice to put beginners in spray decks in a sheltered environment? If no, what are your reasons?
Yes., Though it is pretty much a requirement of the ACA that any introductory level class be taught in a sheltered environment, skirt or no skirt.
@Celia said:
?? It appears you are thinking kayaks rather than canoes from questions 4 and 5. Is that so?
And do you have any time knowing how to manage a kayak yourself?
All questions are regarding kayak coaching and yes I am an experienced paddler. My college course is Sports Coaching and Development Outdoor Education, thus, i am investigating some issues regarding the best kit for beginner coaching.
I think it depends entirely on the ultimate goals of the students. I understand the coaching is to be done on sheltered flat water. But the equipment choice would be very different if the ultimate goal of the students was to paddle whitewater, versus ocean kayaking, versus tripping, versus just recreational paddling on protected water.
The best choice of boat would be one that more or less approximates one that would be appropriate for their intended activity. Obviously, you will need to introduce the proper use of spray skirts to those interested in paddling on the ocean or paddling whitewater, unless the plan to use a sit-on-top.
I have been involved in whitewater kayak instruction. Our practice has always been to have students demonstrate wet exits and bow rescues before doing any paddling in water more than waist deep or so. Although this is best done in a heated pool, it can certainly be done in a pond if the water temperature is not too cold.
@pblanc said:
I think it depends entirely on the ultimate goals of the students. I understand the coaching is to be done on sheltered flat water. But the equipment choice would be very different if the ultimate goal of the students was to paddle whitewater, versus ocean kayaking, versus tripping, versus just recreational paddling on protected water.
The best choice of boat would be one that more or less approximates one that would be appropriate for their intended activity. Obviously, you will need to introduce the proper use of spray skirts to those interested in paddling on the ocean or paddling whitewater, unless the plan to use a sit-on-top.
I have been involved in whitewater kayak instruction. Our practice has always been to have students demonstrate wet exits and bow rescues before doing any paddling in water more than waist deep or so. Although this is best done in a heated pool, it can certainly be done in a pond if the water temperature is not too cold.
This reasoning alone has helped me a lot, thank you !
@Peter-CA said:
I am an ACA certified coastal kayaking instructor (read, sea kayaks), so my responses will be related to that area.
Does your choice of boat change depending on who or what you are coaching? If yes, what inspires this choice?
Yes. Boat fit is most important. Different boast fit different sized people. Outside of that, I will choose a boat that has a higher perceived stability for someone I think may not be as comfortable kayaking, is less fit, etc.
If you had the choice, what type of boat would you place your participants in (after taking into consideration weight, height and strength)?
After boat fit, I then try to put them into a boat that is most similar to what they may use, based on conversations at beginning of class as to why they were learning to kayak. People looking at long tours would get a true touring boat, people looking just to paddle locally would likely get a day touring boat.
Would you say being in a bigger or smaller boat is more advantageous for all parties? Please briefly explain your answer
Shorter boats generally track less well, so are good for teaching someone how to paddle forward efficiently. But can also be frustrating. Longer boats can be more frustrating for people to learn how to turn.
Do you feel the use of spray decks is an important part of the kayaking experience? If no please explain further.
Yes, as skirts are one of the things that kind of make a touring kayak a touring kayak. One of the key areas we teach is getting in and out of a boat with a skirt, at shore and on the water.
If I was teaching a class on recreational type boats, we would not use skirts. For sit on tops, you can’t use skirts, If white water, it would involve skirts (unless they were using white water sit on tops).
Do you consider it good practice to put beginners in spray decks in a sheltered environment? If no, what are your reasons?
Yes., Though it is pretty much a requirement of the ACA that any introductory level class be taught in a sheltered environment, skirt or no skirt.
Okay I’ll take a stab at it since the op was kind of enough to respond to posters.
Agree 100% with pblancs assessment that often the end goals- type of water intended to be paddled shapes the instruction.
Does your choice of boat change depending on who or what you are coaching? If yes, what inspires this choice? Most definitely the boat size and volume should meet the individual physique of the paddler. I’ve used sit on tops, and boats and with skegs when beginners have struggled with moving water and tracking. .Canoes tend to be pretty versatile. I’ve put folks in duckies when they have shown an obvious fear of moving water.
If you had the choice, what type of boat would you place your participants in (after taking into consideration weight, height and strength)? I think pblanc nailed this one- “Ultimately, what is your goal? What type of water are you going to paddle?” that determines the choice.
Would you say being in a bigger or smaller boat is more advantageous for all parties? Please briefly explain your answer Bigger boats can help a struggling paddle but they can slow down the skill progression of a more able learner- generally, bigger (higher volume) boats are more stable.
Do you feel the use of spray decks is an important part of the kayaking experience? If no please explain further. Spray skirts and kayaking kind of go hand in hand unless your using a “sit on top” or some other open craft like a ducky, raft, or canoe.
Do you consider it good practice to put beginners in spray decks in a sheltered environment? If no, what are your reasons? If the end goal is to kayak something more than a farm pond then the use of a spray skirt is pragmatic.So yes, I would teach “skirting up” along with a wet exit. Obviously a sit on top precludes this step but instead would require folks to try to self rescue by climbing up on the boat from the water