Training hard enough?

Are you training hard enough, it’s not all about the hours?

We all know the virtues of training hard, every time you look for motivation. You are inundated with quotes about pushing the boundaries, “To train without pain is to train without gain” and so on. All these quotes are relevant and have a very good basis in that they all allude to having to work hard.

Hard work is exactly that, it is hard to do! There are so many sailors who spend so much time training but they do it all in their comfort zone. To be able to improve, our training needs to be intense and structured. Even if we do have to have breaks to freshen up and re hydrate more regularly. The level we train at is the level we will race at, it is our default setting. On the racecourse we cannot perform at a higher level than what we know and can physically achieve.

So the priority when we train is quality intensive sessions, working through the all the manoeuvres and skill sets required on the racecourse and emulating those requirements as closely as possible. If we have a specific goal to compete at a certain event we can orientate our training towards the likely conditions at the venue. Although it is still important to cover all the bases as when dealing with the vagaries of wind and water, it doesn’t always go to plan. I am amazed at the number of regattas which get atypical conditions after all your previous planning has led you to believe in the words of the local “this always happens, you can set your clock by it”.

How often should I train? As often as possible. It can be difficult in these days of hectic lifestyles to find the time to train. Plus sometimes our plans are changed through factors outside our control, the weather in particular. So we need to be fairly flexible with our schedule and able to take advantage of good conditions when they arrive. Strong winds should not be an excuse, I think in class racing you should become adept in winds at least 5 knots above your class limit. This will make sailing competently in class limits relatively comfortable, and who knows you may find yourself racing in these conditions if the wind builds after the start. Sometimes in smaller dinghies this may need to have some extra safety requirements if you are sailing out of a club that has a policy on these matters. In terms of light winds it’s easy, if you race in it, you train in it!

Intense training is all about mastering a skill, so the key is to do repetitions until you have success. If you want to improve your shy to shy gybes, go out and do ten in a row, pausing only when you need to modify the routine. When satisfied then do ten more. Have a little break and then do another drill you may have worked on and then come back and do ten more before you go in. Next time you train even on another drills, throw in ten repetitions to make sure you are still ok with that skill set. You need to leave the shore with a plan. To develop a level of mastery where it becomes instinctive is how we develop the tools to play the game we want to excel at.

Weather not right, time limited. We can always do something to make our boat go faster. Exercise is the obvious one, but remember we are training to race, so go hard! It hurts when we are hiking up the last beat after a multiple race day in heavy breeze. You need to stay on that hiking bench or push out those crunches until it hurts more than that scenario. Once again if we train above the level we race at, it will benefit us more when we are actually racing.

Another advantage of forceful training at sailing is our subliminal learning, this is very important when sailing in a new environment. The most difficult place I have sailed was Biwa Ko in Japan, a crater lake in the mountains. When we first arrived and sailed we were completely baffled by the almost black water and the completely random wind patterns that seemed to defy logic. Our Japanese crew were telling us post regatta that they could see our bewilderment early and noticed a gradual but significant improvement, to the point where we fell just short of taking out the regatta. One anecdote I can recall early in this regatta (Japanese Mini Ton Championship) was one of our main rivals and a very good sailor tapping me on shoulder after a very inauspicious race by us and saying “Biwa Ko, always North, North, North” in his limited English. Later in the regatta after we pipped him up the last beat I had the pleasure of tapping him back at the yacht club bar and exclaiming “Biwa Ko, South, South, and South”. Caused much merriment and he took it very well. But the point was with time on that waterway, we came to terms with that venue without even realising. This innate learning is also greatly enhanced if we treat it as if we are racing. Rather than just sail around looking at the sights, sail the shifts and puffs with the same intensity as we race and the learning curve will be steeper.

So in summary the level we train at is based on the level we aspire to. This goes at every level, the Olympic aspirant who spends whole days on the water, in the gym or on the bike. Or the club racing crew that want to do better. So look at where you want to go, the appropriate skill level you need to attain and work back from there.

The boat that always beats you is just training harder.