Reflections on a WW Leader Training Course

I went on a White Water Leader Refresher course several months ago and made lots of notes because I’m a swot.  I shared them with the group back then but I thought it’d be good to share more widely in the Club for everyone else, and more so because there’s WWL training next week for another 6 BCC members.   You see, there’s better potential for learning & development when you have some initial knowledge, before going through it again on the actual course.

Learning is not a test.  It’s about reviewing what you know already, talking it over and making sense of it, playing about with kayaks and ropes in a safe and friendly situation, and maybe even adding and amending to what you know.  It’s this reviewing that fires the brain up and makes further connections which in turn helps you know, remember and learn.  The more we talk, discuss and do, then the better. 

Can I talk about Grade 4 rivers and then magically paddle them better?  Sadly not 🙁

So… some White Water Leader course notes.

 A Leader Assessment will look at 

• Your leadership skills, focusing on the participants. 
• Your own paddling skills, understanding & experience.
• Your ability to rescue in different scenarios.
• Your underpinning background knowledge.

 Before getting wet

• Introduce yourself but don’t give a full CV rundown.
• Ask them their names (write them on your hand) and what they want out of the session.  For an assessment, you’d already have done paperwork and know who you’re having and have emergency contact info, but they may not know each other.
• Don’t feel pressured to run the river. 
• Is it rising? (not good)
• You could paddle another river / other section?
• You could delay, and paddle in the afternoon?  
• Being assessed?… Don’t feel stressed. Talk and justify answers with the assessor.

 Strategy (… for sharing important info to the group.)

• A. Area. Where are we? Where’s the take in & out? What’s the level & how will it affect us? What hazards do we know about?
• B. Boats & kit. What do we need & who’s got what? Do a quick visual check of their boats – is everything ok & as it should be?
• C. Communication. Basic signals at the start, maybe more if the group is good or later on if they’d be inundated & forget them from the off. Who’s got their phone with them? (VHS channel too if you’re on the sea.)
• D. Doctor. Share any medical info.
• E. Emergency. Establish the protocol for a swimmer & what the rest of the group should do.  On Club trips – we collect up Emergency contact info

 Kit

• Share kit round – everyone doesn’t need to carry everything, but do check if there are split paddles, shelter & a couple of first aid kits in the group.
• Remember, if you walk any river bank, take your throw line & paddle!

 Initial Observation

• Assess skills at the initial section of river… maybe s-bend, break in & out, with minimal paddle strokes? Perhaps a surf of a wave?
• Name for yourself who needs looking after or pairing up, who could hold their own, what each person needs to work on, and/or refer to what they said they wanted from the session.
• It’d be a good idea to establish that if anything happens on the river, everyone gets into an eddy to keep safe.

 Movement

• Ask yourself
  1. Can you see the line?
  2. Can I make the line?
  3. Where does safety need to be
  4. What’s the Risk – Reward balance?
• Then choose how you’re going to run or manage it. 
• Do not point at a hazard, because they will focus on it.  You look in the direction you need to go, so point to the end point / direction / eddy you want them to go to instead.
• Don’t name the rapid as you come towards it.  “Hell’s Hole” will make people worried, scared and unfocused.  “Just an easy right to left line,” gives them actionable action and you can laugh at the names back at the car.

 Keep it Moving

• Assess the river quickly.  Lots of WW experience means you’ll do this well and efficiently, so paddle lots.  Ok, noted.
• Limit how many times you stop but keep in mind their interest (the reward), and also how difficult a section, or cold they could be (the risk).  Hence, keep it moving!
• Identify the eddy you may need to hold them in while you scout, look, assess.
• Keep in mind what a landmark will look like from the level of the river, not the bank.
• You don’t need to do paddler signals at the start of the day (too much info at the start and they may forget it all) but you could introduce them throughout the day as you use them. 
• On signals, it’s good practice to get them repeating them so
  • a. you can see that they’ve heard you and will hopefully do the action,
  • b. people further back see them too (they won’t be wearing their glasses!)
  • c. distracted paddlers (…”Ooh, a Heron!”…) have more chance of seeing them.

 Do I move?

• Have everyone repeat back to you, “No signal, no move,” so they know what to (not) do when you’re not present, or not signalling.
• Whistle: “6 is ‘Emergency’ but 1 is come on down”. I’ve Googled a bit and found some conversion on this point… But I think it’s ok to do 1 for attention, and to signal ‘come on down.’

 Two Eddies …Clarification of one coach’s terminology

• ‘Leader Eddy.’  Somewhere where you will sit (not for them to come into) where you’ll push them away from a hazard and towards an eddy they can recover their senses in.
• ‘Collection Eddy.’  They’re aiming for this one.  Somewhere to gather the group, hopefully big enough for everyone.

 Fluid Movement Strategies

• Use a “Follow me everyone.”
• All go.  Nice and quick for easy sections.
• 1s+2s+3s numbered and, “Follow your partner.”. Pair up good ones (keep a pair to look after) or pair up the good with the ‘need helps’.
• Paddle in smaller groups. This is more controlled than everyone paddling at the same time, but still quick.  Look after the weaker group.
• One at a time. Great for when you want to look after just one paddler on a more challenging rapid.
• Eddy hop.  Useful to slow things down and maintain control and line of sight.  (Leader at the front.)
  • Head to the eddy as someone leaves it vacant. 
  • In smaller groups, hop into the same eddy, then again to the next.
  • Leapfrog – go past & into the next eddy.
• 3 in front to lead us down to an identified eddy… and 3 behind you for those you want to keep close.
• Play tennis ball ‘tag’ – ball hits you, so get it and throw it at someone; easy sections are enjoyed and not stressed over.
• Play ‘Tag’ as you follow down where the IT hits the rear of a boat – tagger moves on to that next person.
• Have a game-paused signal and the rule that you, at the front, are always kept in sight.  Easier sections are enjoyed & kayaking is fun.   🙂

 Ropes

Remember to pull the rope away from the river so a fall / trip would be safe.

1. Boat.
   Clip bag on boat, and pull the rope. A simple 1-way pulley
2. Tree, boat.
   Clip bag to tree, put through the kayak crab and back to you to pull. A 2-way pulley.
3. Boat, tree, boat.
   Clip bag on boat, to tree crab, to boat (or a knot (knot, no-knot, or prussic) on the rope if you can’t reach it) and back to you to pull.  A 3-way pulley.
4. “4-way roaming” or “Pig Rig”.
   This uses an additional rope or tape, on to the rope holding the boat steady, to gain a resettable 4-way pully.   
   A rope capture (prussic on main line) and the anchor (tree) are pulled together via a 3rd carabiner. Go and Google it!
5. You can add an additional ‘vector pull’ to all these by simply clipping a bag to one of the ropes heading out to the kayak, trying to slide it halfway out there, and pulling at 90° to everything.  

You can convert no.1 to no.3 easily. 
You can convert no.2 to no.4 easily too.  
But you can’t make a 4-way roaming from no.1 or 3.

 Rescues

• It’s likely that these won’t be asked of you if they happen during the day!
• Remembering that the group knows they should get safely into an eddy if you’re rescuing someone. 
• (I think you need a WWSR course within 3 years of the assessment.)
• An assessment would cover these rescue scenarios.  

1. Self rescue. Can you get someone back into their boat without going to the bank?
2. Swimmer.  Prioritise the person and have them behind you or up river and away from your rock-squashing potential of a boat.  Rescue the person first, then the equipment to the bank.  
3. Unconscious paddler – stabilise them.  Lots of possibilities here but you’ll likely be asked about first aid too. 
4. Trapped paddler – pinned in their boat or stuck on something on the river bed, then stabilise them.  

Thanks.  Simply writing this up and editing it so it makes sense has helped me review, remember, and learn.  Perfect since my leg is up and on ice for a torn calf muscle and I can’t currently paddle!!  🙁 

I’m not a coach.  Just someone who’s paddled a bit, attended a course and is sharing thoughts.  Rip it to pieces please!

 

Julian Thomas