Growing up I was almost always coached by capable people I respected and looked up to. Alex and Trace, though in small town Mexico, have had exposure to good coaches in all their chosen activities. With Sayulita being the epicenter of water sports like surfing and SUP racing in Mexico, there are more than a few pros and former pros who are out there to provide guidance and advice to the kid athlete population here.
After the kid's SUP race back in April it was clear to me that should the kids want to continue to compete in SUP just going to practice was not going to keep them competitive against their competition. Up to this point, SUP training had only come twice a week for one hour each session. There was very little other structured training outside of practice. At the kid's age I was going to practice 5-6 days a week for my chosen activity so I knew there was room for additional time and effort working on technique and some beginning strength training so I began to look for options.
In the last year a new gym opened in town. Sayulita Fit. There was a membership special this spring so I asked the kids if they were interested in joining. They were both eager to give it a go. I was always training in the gym growing up and working in clubs as an adult so I knew my way around enough to be sure they were doing things correctly and not injuring themselves. Plus we found out some of their SUP team mates were also already training here and the friendly club owner was happy to have more Sayulita youth athletes training at the facility.
A pretty swanky facility that occupies the whole top level of a building at the entrance to town, it offers lots of cardio machines, free weights, machines, spinning as well as various classes. Plus, the gym has AC! The bonus was that a little strength training in the gym would also help their other interests like Trace's basketball and surfing and Alex' equestrian pursuits.
The end of the school year saw the end of the SUP Team for the summer until it picked back up again in the fall when families would be back in town for the school year. What were the kids going to do for SUP training? The Team coaches were out of town and I was really interested in having the kids get an professional analysis of their paddling mechanics and racing technique. I knew there was lots of room for improvement and they were just not getting as much help from their coaches on their specific needs as I hoped. So, I sought out yet another world class athlete in town, former pro surfer and SUP racer, Ryan Helm.
With his signature hat with the brim slightly turned, Ryan is a bit different from the other pros in town in how he approaches training. He is in his 40's, built like a brick house and understands that there are consequences to poor form and technique later in life. Plus, he build athletes that will be strong and be able to maintain good technique longer when fatigue begins to set in. When athletes are younger they can get away with doing things that may contribute to problems down the road months or years later and we didn't want that. We were already seeing Trace having issues with his shoulder due to improper technique and no correction.
After working with Ryan for only a month I can already see a change in the way Trace paddles and he is super stoked to be in the water again without shoulder pain. So happy to see Trace start to get his stoke back for paddling. Alex fortunately had not been injured like Trace but her situation was more about getting more energy out of each stroke. Her technique was inefficient, slow and going into the future that was not going to help her against older competition that she would be up against. She has made some super positive changes too.
So, with school out it has been good to get the kids on a new and better path for their activities of interest. We have a race coming up in the third week in August and we will see how they do and feel about what they have learned and are continuing to learn. Placing is not the goal, the goal is following through on the process and hopefully between the gym and a personal coach they will see a difference if not at this race but at a future race or with their other activities.
The end of the school year saw the end of the SUP Team for the summer until it picked back up again in the fall when families would be back in town for the school year. What were the kids going to do for SUP training? The Team coaches were out of town and I was really interested in having the kids get an professional analysis of their paddling mechanics and racing technique. I knew there was lots of room for improvement and they were just not getting as much help from their coaches on their specific needs as I hoped. So, I sought out yet another world class athlete in town, former pro surfer and SUP racer, Ryan Helm.
With his signature hat with the brim slightly turned, Ryan is a bit different from the other pros in town in how he approaches training. He is in his 40's, built like a brick house and understands that there are consequences to poor form and technique later in life. Plus, he build athletes that will be strong and be able to maintain good technique longer when fatigue begins to set in. When athletes are younger they can get away with doing things that may contribute to problems down the road months or years later and we didn't want that. We were already seeing Trace having issues with his shoulder due to improper technique and no correction.
 |
So, with school out it has been good to get the kids on a new and better path for their activities of interest. We have a race coming up in the third week in August and we will see how they do and feel about what they have learned and are continuing to learn. Placing is not the goal, the goal is following through on the process and hopefully between the gym and a personal coach they will see a difference if not at this race but at a future race or with their other activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments