Dragon Boating
History
Dragon Boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build this traditional watercraft. It is one of a family of Traditional Paddled Long Boats found throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands.
Dragon boats are the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing an amateur water sport which has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers held over the past 2000 years throughout southern China. While 'competition' has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976.
But the history of dragon boats in competition reaches as far back as the same era as the original games of Olympia in ancient Greece. Both dragon boat racing and the ancient Olympiad included aspects of religious observances and community celebrations along with competition.
Four Phases of Paddling:
1."Catch" as you lean forward, turn your body slightly toward your partner and submerge your paddle in the water. Make sure that the full blade catches water.
2."Pull" as you lean back to pull water. Propulsion of the boat is based on countering that water resistance you feel. Therefore, the boat experiences maximum propulsion as the full blades of all 20 paddlers catch and pull water at the same time.
3."Finish" as you pull the blade out of the water. This phase signals the completion of your first stroke and preparation for your next stroke.
4. "Reach" as you lean forward again to prepare for the "Catch" phase of your next stroke. The "finish" and "reach" phases are sometimes known as "ready-and-reach". Together, they are also addressed as the "recovery" phase.
Practices that can be done:
It is a good idea to sit in front of someone taller than you as you train on water. Why? Your taller teammate behind you naturally has a longer reach than you do, thus forcing you to lean forward more. Be careful - do this only if you have sufficiently conditioned your abs and back muscles. Otherwise, you will likely suffer endless swearing from behind.
Resistance Training:
Sitting in the back of the boat will give you more effective resistance training overall. Why? You are eating the wakes created by everyone in front of you.
If you are sitting in the front, a good way to practice resistance is asking your teammates behind you to create drag by putting their paddles in water but not paddling. This will require coordination by your coach.
Apart from Water Training...
Basic training like:
- Push ups, - at least 200
- Pull ups, - at least 60
- Sit ups –at least 300
- Run at least 5km daily. 6-10km daily
Opinions on Dragon Boat-
I feel that dragon boat is a sport which requires a lot of mental and physical strength unlike track and field or marathon whereby it is an individual sport. If you are fit as a runner then all the glory goes to you. But dragon boat is not the same as it is a team sport. Not only must you be very fit but you must also ensure that each and every member of the dragon boat team must be mentally and physically fit.
By nature, dragon boat is a water sport but I feel that dragon boat as a water sport and land sport. Why? Basically it is because you need land training like I have mentioned above in the previous question and also other trainings like carry weights in gym and all. Because weight training gives the explosive power required for paddling hard. All those running and plenty of push ups and pull ups will give the endurance to not stop during a race.
A dragon boater must be mentally fit. Why I say that is because during a race it will be extremely tiring. For example, if you give up while running a marathon only you will lose. But if you give up during a dragon boat race, you will become a burden to your entire team, because it is all about TEAM WORK.
More Details about Dragon Boating-
Rowing is a generally considered to be a very safe, low impact sport when done correctly. Technique is stressed not only because it make boats move faster, but also because poor technique can lead to injury, particularly in the back. As an aerobic, non-weight bearing activity, rowing can be a wonderful alternative to high-impact sport; however, rowing may also exacerbate existing injuries such as those of the back, wrist, and knee.
Rowers may experience sore muscles (especially at the beginning of the season), but should feel better after a day or two. Any pain that continues or gets worse it needs to be addressed.
The most common rowing injury is blisters on the hands. Rowers must take care of their blisters so that they do not get infected. Infected blisters are very painful, can be a long time in healing, and markedly decrease a rowers performance. First, leave blisters alone. Don’t “pop” them. In the best of all possible worlds, the blister will reabsorb and form a callous. If the blister pops of its own, rowers should keep blisters clean by washing hands after rowing and using band-aids and tape to keep blisters clean and protected. Blisters tend to decrease with experience. A further note: leave your rings at home.
Injuries that May Occur
Lower Back Pain/Injury
Lower back pain is probably the most commonly occurring complaint among rowers. There are three main types of back pain.
Disc injury (rare but serious) is caused by the disc being repeatedly stressed by constant flexing, twisting, and loading of the spine.
Facet joint pain (also rare) is caused when the facets (part of the bony vertebral bodies) are jarred or stretched too far and become inflamed with overuse or misuse.
Muscular back pain (more common) is caused when muscles in the back are strained or sprained or simply overused. Muscle strain is usually precipitated by a single incident, most often lifting the boat. Pain is usually throughout the muscle and will be worse on any movement.
Any back pain that is intense, long-lasting, restricts movement, hurts overnight, or is made worse by rowing needs to be addressed and treated immediately. In most cases, the underlying problem can be identified and corrected with minimal impact. However, if ignored, the problems become more severe and the athlete may not be able to return to their highest level after the injury. Early treatment is good treatment.
Overtraining
Overtraining can cause constant tiredness, irritability, trouble sleeping, and decrease in training performance, decreased appetite, and loss of weight. These signs are often missed by the athlete themselves so it is vital for parents to be attentive on such things in your athletes. Rowers are expected to be tired, but they generally “bounce back,” especially if they are eating properly and getting enough sleep. If your teen is not, they may be overtraining and should discuss their situation with the coach.
