Well, it's been a little time since our last posting. This month I'd like to talk about how we can get the most out of our river time.

Often we are paddling within a group of mixed abilities, sometimes on water that may not be taxing us particularly. We could see this as just an opportunity to get some miles in and just use the river for conditioning work, or we could look at how we could be a little more inventive and work on some skills as well. It is often possible for two different athletes to work on completely different skills on the same piece of water. For the relative novice they may be honing their river reading skills by leading a simple rapid, whilst the more experienced athlete might be working on timing their strokes to every wave.

By looking at the river you are paddling, thinking about the skills that you would like to work on, and finding a fit you can improve the productivity of the paddle - but often can turn a relatively simple paddle into an enjoyable skills session.

There are a number of drills in the WWR manual that you could look at trying, some that can be used on completely flat water - and others that highlight aspects of paddling on whitewater.

So - have a good Christmas and lets hope for good water over the coming months to allow us to get some river work in!