UKLA Chair blog #37

Apr 17

Last call masters and Improving your ILCA sailing

Last call for the Masters in Parkstone - entry closes on 19th April. There is already a decent entry with moderate wind forecast and warmish. All are welcome.

Last week's blog was about the correlation between improvement in skills and quality practice or time on the water. So where would I start? By making a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses in the core areas needed to improve. For me these are:

Boat preparation
Boat handling
Boat speed
Fitness
Mental training
Strategy
Tactics
Starts

Putting aside boat preparation (here is Tim Hulse’s online training on that topic), boat speed and handling are fundamental. There will be no shortage of areas to improve considering the range of wind and water conditions we sail in. Once a weakness is identified, it is about deliberately and systematically building it into training, whether that is practicing on your own, in small groups, formal coaching sessions or in racing itself.

UKLA provides many opportunities for coaching but it is often taking the time to learn from the coaching that is important. I asked James Hadden, one of our top UKLA coaches, about this.

Practicing is the most important part for anyone looking to improve their ILCA sailing (or any skill for that matter). We are aiming to be able to do all the various skills very well without having to think about them. The less we have to consciously think about techniques when we are racing the more ‘brain space’ you have to look around and make decisions. To practice efficiently we need to focus on specific things and set little goals for each session, gradually we build up the pressure on the skill until it breaks down which allows us to reduce the pressure again and work on the specific part of the skill which broke down and the process continues.

Getting some coaching can be really beneficial - having an expert coach help teach new techniques or spot the specific areas which is holding you back can save you a lot of time. The most efficient method for getting better is a balance between self reflection, getting some coaching and practicing. Depending on the skill, I normally work on the basis that one coaching day equates to 6-10 sessions of specific practice to effectively learn/develop a particular skill. Ideally you would get one or two coaching sessions a month and spend the rest of the month practicing what you have learnt so that you can work on something new or different with the coach the next time rather than being told the same thing over and over.

Only sailing in coached sessions and never practicing usually results in mixed messages, confusion and this always ends in a lack of improvement. Solo and small group practice at your club can be really powerful when coupled with testing those skills at open meetings and then reflecting afterwards to work out where the skills has improved and where it still needs work.

Self reflection is key to develop awareness of where you need to improve- this might be where you lost places in a regatta or where you didn’t feel very confident. Only relying on what the coach says and not using your own reflections too halves the potential for improvement.

Younger sailors today are lucky they have access to quality coaches while I learnt how to sail a Laser decades ago from other sailors “hey Mark this is how you do it”. As James says, there is a happy balance between coaching and practicing and I wonder whether we need to emphasize the latter a bit more.

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