October 28 2009Keener UpdatesTaylor Cote paddled with the keener program in July. She was awarded the photojournalism scholarship to attend the New River Kayak Academy this year.
Beauty of Desensitization
Being back home from the Keener program on the Ottawa is weird. I do however still feel all the newfound confidence the program gave me shining through. I remember one of my crowning achievements there was winning the red ribbon for âBest Beat Down of the Weekâ. That week was like full of me having realizations of why the instructors were making us do some of these things that seemed so silly or unnecessary to us but, it was secretly helping improve our boating. One of the things I believed was unnecessary was the whole âBig Beat down Thursdayâ. I kept thinking to myself why in the world would you want to purposely get beat down in a hole or wave, it’s just not fun. The whole point of purposely getting beat down like that was to help desensitize us. The Ottawa is such a safe river that the worst thing that would happen is that you would swim out of the hole and that’s not such a big deal when all your peers are on shore or at the bottom of the rapid cheering for you as you’re in the hole. Desensitizing is something I found to be key part in helping your playboating excel. Being desensitized lets you drop into some intimidating but fun features and have the composure to know its all okay. Some of the places on the Ottawa that were like this were âDam Waveâ and âPhil’s Holeâ. All of these features are completely safe however, when you look at them they look like they might eat you and your boat alive but, when you get in there you realize how fun it can be.
For people who just are starting this exercise, you probably want to have safety set up on the side of the feature and below it just in case. You also might want to choose a spot that you know is like the ones mentioned above or ask some of the more experienced boaters in your area if they know a good feature. When you finally get into the intimidating hole or wave you might feel out of control but, at this point you need to gain your composure and assess what is going on around you and don’t get tunnel vision while you’re in there. When you have the right state of mind you can start pulling yourself under control and try getting into controlled front surf. Also, make sure you get into a proper paddling position, sitting upright and eyes looking upstream. This will also helps you gain control. After this, if you still feel good about everything going on, you might want to go ahead and try a spin or the easiest trick you know how to do. Then when you get comfortable with that go for the next hardest you know and the next and so on. After awhile you’ll see rapids, holes, or waves that used to make you paddle in the other direction seem like not such a big deal. The beat down part of desensitization is to help you gain your composure while you’re being tumbled around in some of these places. It helps you become fearless play boater. I mean, wouldn’t it stink if you were at a place like âHigh Tensionâ on the Gatineau river and were so scared by it that you wouldn’t surf it. I know all the desensitizing I have done so far has helped my playboating and confidence so much. This is definitely something I plan to continue, to keep pushing myself to the next level in my playboating.
Taylor Cote is the recipient of the 2009/2010 New River Academy photojournalism scholarship.
To view more of Taylor’s articles, visit her blog by clicking here .
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| |  | | Taylor Cote paddled with the keener program in July. She was awarded the photojournalism scholarship to attend the New River Kayak Academy this year. Click to read about her keener experience. | | | | | LATEST NEWS @ OKS |
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Pan Am Results
| September 8 2010 | | OKS hosted the first even Pan American Championships this past weekend. Water levels were touch and go for a few days, but in the end we ended up with a great water level for Push Button. For full click here. | read more »
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| OKS Hosts Pan American Championships
| August 31 2010 | | This weekend the Americas are flocking to the Ottawa River to compete for the first ever Pan American Championships. Ottawa Kayak School and Wilderness Tours is the host and you can see the latest on water and schedule here. | read more »
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| Final Week long clinics of the summer
| August 25 2010 | | Thinking about taking a 5 day clinic with OKS, then this is your last chance to book your week long paddling vacation. Call 1-888-723-8669 to book. Click for a full list of clinics running this Sunday, August 29th. | read more »
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