Some comments in another thread about how limited TOW has a negative effect on progression and maintainence of skill made me think that a thread on other activities that contribute to sailing skills might be useful.
General fitness and strength is obviously an asset, esp for females or guys with poor upper body strength etc, so general weight training is going to help
If you look at an expert or pro level slalom sailor, you see a lot of movement of the legs, but the upper body and rig is nearly motionless, and very stable.
Developing that independence between upper and lower body is really key to maintaining balance on a small board or sinker esp in lulls or during tacking/gybing manouvers.
I have had a lot of fun using unstable surface training to help with this. I have a couple of small inflatable biconvex gym ball type thingies, about 30 cm in diameter and 20cm or so high. Just standing on them is exercise. Standing on one foot is harder again, then progressing to doing squats and one leg squats. You find your legs can jiggle and shake quite a lot, while your upper body needs to stay quiet.
A progression on that is to use a large gym ball and learn to first kneel on it, then progress to standing upright on it.
Now, I have to say, that is not easy, and it's wise to have a soft surface with lots of jump-off space when first attempting, but if you manage it, standing on any size windsurfer will never pose a problem ever again.
Any other suggestions for cross training in the quiet months most of us are currently enduring ?
when there is no wind i.......bike ride (dirt jumping),surf and tow in,body board,run,golf,soccer, footy,snow board,long boarding,skim board and that keeps me busy when im not windsurfing.
rip sticking, (castor board)
(i have used my sons a few time) it is great exercise, super good for the abs and good for balance
^^
My internet is too slow for me to watch that, but it looks a hoot.
The ripstick sounds like a good exercise to help sailing.
I'm taking my small skateboard on my next work trip to help me keep working out.
I met Pete Cabrinha in Maui and he's totally ripped still at 50 odd, and I found that really inspirational. He is a GBoR holder for surfing Jaws,winning the Billabong XXL in 2004 with a 70 foot wave, but he's no taller than me, just incredibly fit.
I felt like a total slob next to him, and I'm determined to change that.
From all my research, the best single exercise that makes you stronger (core strength), faster (if you want to sprint faster) is the DEADLIFT.
All you need is a barbell and weights. It is considered the best single weight exercise that employees the most muscles.
The aim is to start with a low weight, and progressively work up to, say, 2x or 3x your body weight. (An elite female sprinter, Allison Felix, can deadlift 136kg even though she weighs 55kg).
Refer to a book "Power To The People" by Pavel Tsatsouline. It is one of the key exercises in his book.
Cheers!
I completely agree about the virtues of dead-lifting. As a 19 yr old weighing 69kg I could dead-lift 200kg.
These days, I like to do power-cleans though, with a much lighter weight and lots of reps. I'm mildly wary of crush fractures or blowing a disc with too much weight as I age a bit.
I was mostly trying to emphasise balance development, in response to a discussion about board size in progressing sailors with limited TOW.
There is a lot to be said for general strength and athleticism though.
def agree about ripstickin!! great fun and def a work out trying to go up hill!
watch out for pebbles tho
also enjoy the Sup for crusin flat water.... best relaxation ever
So what you are all saying is, that there are are a brazillion ways to improve balance while not on the water.
There's a bunch of yoga asanas with a high balance component. They are all pretty static though. Still its testing and you can do it just about anywhere. Your kids wont want to be seen with you though :)
What about that balance board thingo (I forget what its called). It's a board that you lay over a cylinder and stand on and wobble about.
Oh and don't forget your Powerband :)
It's what we are suffering through at present.
off season training is when you spend a sunday afternoon, all by yourself, in a cold grey lake in 10 knt winds, waiting for the wind to pick up to 15 kts, as forecast by seabreaze.
Gradual loss of feeling in both hands and feet sets in before the wind does.
bad idea practicing waterstarts with no wind.
still worthwhile though...in 4 hours...I got planing exactly once, wohooo!
SUP on your slalom board.
Much more of a balance test than windsurfing.
Tricky at first but you quickly get the hang of it.
A pleasant activity when there's no wind.
I can identify with the one plane & whoohoo!
When I was at the chiro yesterday I mentioned balancing on the balls & she was amazed people could and when I mentioned Ripsticks she rolled her eyes & said " I've seen lots of injuries from those!"
Ah, but health professionals (of which I am one) often have incredibly conservative positions on physical exercise and are often not paragons of physical virtue themselves. There are still physios who think that weight training is "bad for you". Humpfh !!!
They are also often see only the injuries, not the people having fun.
As to standing on a gym ball, I bet that you can do it, if you put your mind to it.
I bet you can. Start by kneeling on one, that's not so hard, but still hard enough.
grr I was just getting fit & now I cant kayak, cycle , row , ride..only walk.I was hoping to go on an o/n bushwalk this weekend but my neck is probably too dicky to carry a big pack all day..
Oh to be 21 again!
Ken Ho said -
If you look at an expert or pro level slalom sailor, you see a lot of movement of the legs, but the upper body and rig is nearly motionless, and very stable.
Developing that independence between upper and lower body is really key to maintaining balance on a small board or sinker esp in lulls or during tacking/gybing manouvers.
In that case Skiing and horse riding must help as you have to have that independence.
Yes, there a whole bunch of activities that train independence and general proprioception, as well as specific spinal proprioception (joint position sense) as well as balance training. That is the whole thrust of my OP.
Horse-riding requires different things in the different gaits. A trot builds legs big-time, whereas a canter requires your lower abdo and legs to move with the horse, while your torso stays quiet, which is what you were referring to I think. I suck at that.
Ski-ing is just plain awesome, but I'm not sure it trains balance for sailing, as skis are actually quite hard to fall off, having such a large base area.
Thinking about it, yes you do have a similar independence though.
Ther are 2 types of gym ball I've used. The big one you are describing, and some little flatter ones, which I'll post some pics of later.
You have staretd by sitting on the big one, which should be pretty easy, but some people do have trouble. I used to use one as my chair at work, and I had some Korean kids one day who were fascinated by it, and wanted to try. One girl nearly killed herself just sitting on it.
Next step is to kneel on it. I don't have one a resent, btu I was going to get one, so I'll post some pics. Once you are feeling comfortable kneeling, it's possible to move to an upright standing position. Not easy, but certainly doable. Lots of core ability required.
There's one you can do at home Sue!
I still have a couple of young horses, but I don't ride much anymore.
Never did see the sense in a sit-trot. Turns your liver to much for nowt. Sounds like you might do dressage.
My thought was that sitting balance is not as useful for sailing as standing balance, but it's all good.
I've not really done any X-country or Tele ski-ing. I'm a downhill and off-piste hog and my wifelet is rabid.
Sorry to hear that you were injured in a big crash.
One thing I learnt trying to loop, is that it actually hurts less than a normal catapult, as you are not hooked in.
This guy is a legend, he's got a few killer workouts on his channel worth a look
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