Etiquette | FSDBC

Boat/Racing Etiquette

Dragon boat is the ultimate team sport—where the "power of one" is replaced by the "rhythm of many." Success on the water depends as much on mutual respect as it does on physical strength.

Here is a comprehensive guide which leads to a high-standard culture for our club.

Training Etiquette

1. Punctuality IS Performance

The 15 min Rule:

Practice starts at 6:00 PM, that means the boat is leaving the dock at 6:00 PM. Aim to arrive early to warm up, help with the equipment and boats, and socialise with your crew mates.

Where you can't make it or are running late, it's OK. Just message your coaches to let them know.

The "Empty Seat" Effect:

Missing crew members disrupt the coaches ability to plan sessions to work on boat/crew performance and race strategies.

We understand you will have other life priorities sometimes.... and that is perfectly okay. However, we ask you to respect your coaches and fellow crew members by indicating your availaibility for training on Teamapp at the earliest opportunity. A "NO" is just as valuable information as a 'YES'.

2. Silent Boat, Focused Mind

Sweep’s Command:

The Sweep of the boat has a huge responsibility each time they take a boat out. They need to perform some or all of the tasks below, often simultaneously.

Conduct a session plan
Steer the boat.
Navigate water traffic.
Manage the conditions.
Instruct the crew to implement.
Anticipate other potential risks.
Ensure everyone's Health and Safety.

There is a lot to manage and the Sweep requires the crew to be alert and responsive to their commands.

The "Grasshopper" Effect:

While not all crew members are coaches, most are leaders. We have to remember that new crew members will look to assimilate themselves into whatever seems accepted practices. That is our collective responsibility to set and manage expectations by our own behaviour.

As Mister Myiagi once said...

"No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do."

3. From tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow

Performance starts with intention:

They say time is often more precious than money. You can't get any time back. So it makes sense to take full advantage of the time you invest to your health/wellbeing and technical development. That includes the small things such as..

Warms ups and Cool Downs
Relaxed paddling at minimal effort.
Backpaddling or any other technical skill/drill.

Some say...

"Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation."

4. Keep Calm and Keep Paddling

Trust your sweep:

Very often during training the boat may become inundated with water from adverse conditions or wake from river traffic.

This is a common occurance and the coaches and sweeps are accustomed to dealing with the scenario.

It is imperative that all paddlers keep paddling unless instructed by the sweep to do otherwise for the following reasons.

A boat that is moving is more stable than one that is stationery.
If paddlers stop paddling or move around it can cause imbalance in the boat which is exacerbated by the water sloshing around inside.
If crew members become focussed on the situation it becomes contagious and becomes difficult for the sweep to manage.

The same is true for any other scenario. The sweep is unable to control a boat if it is not under power.

Racing Etiquette

1. Marshalling

The 30 min Rule:

Coaches spend considerable time managing crew lists and boat configurations. They have to submit the final crew list to race control 30 mins before each race. It is an already stressful time without wondering whether a crew member is actually going to turn up and being forced to make last minute changes.

Assist your coaches and put them at ease on the day by turning up as early as possible.

Synchronicity:

Each crew member should be aware of which race crews they are in. Don't rely on coaches and sweeps rounding people up like a school trip. Sometimes paddlers may have to race in more than 1 division which may mean back to back races.

Know your races and look out for your teammates. It helps...

Improve team cohesion and togetherness
Reduce the burden of organisation on coaches and sweeps.

2. Focus and Control

Switching on:

The race does not start at the start line.

There are 2 other key moments where crew members must show their intent.

The Warm-up - It is obvious what crew members intend to bring by their attitude to warm up. The warm up is crucial preparation for the body to cope with the first race.
The Paddle to the start line - A coach can tell how focussed and synchronised a crew is by the paddle up to the start line. It is usually a good indicator how the crew will perform during the race.

Startline Stress:

Sweeps have a lot to control and require full attention and focus of the crew. Crew members can become easily distracted by other teams, the race officials or delays and not be attentive to the commands of the sweep. The crew may need to perform paddling strokes to maintain the boat position.

Over Exuberance:

Sprint racing is an explosive, high energy activity where crew members may have pent up emotions that spill over in unintended ways. Each crew member must be able to control their input to the race. Energy spent making calls or encouragement is effort wasted.

Calls or lifts required during the race are solely the Sweeps responsibility.

Finish it off:

Races are won and lost by fractions of a stroke. The last ten metres are crucial as your body in now in the red-zone and you don't have much more to give. You are tempted to scan for the finish line and hope your team mates will finish the job off.

Paddle through the line not to the line.

Don't drop the boat:

Its tempting to see where you are in a race. However, looking across to other boats mid-race or close the finish can be disasterous. Placing is somewhat irrelavent anyway, most championships are based on the best time you set. While crews are interested in who they beat, coaches are interested in how well the crew executed the race and improvements in time.

Looking across at other boats can mean several strokes may be short on power or length. Losing power and synchronisation introduces imbalances in power, produces speed wobbles and kills boat speed. When sprint races are determined by less than 1 sec (equivalent to 1 stroke), that matters.

Instead, focus on executing the best technique you can and staying locked in sync with your crew.

Sportsmanship:

Win or lose it is important to be a good sport. However, between the finish line and the shoreline, the sweep is still in total control. This is the zone where most boat accidents occur.

All calls or congratulations are at the discretion and capacity of the sweep.
Leave all other celebrations, comiserations, to the shoreline or the team debrief.

One Task Mentality:

There may be occasions during races where crew members become aware of a diversion from plan. Such as..

Potential collision with other boats during 1k/2k races during overtake manouvers.
Your boat or competitors boats moving out of their lane towards you.

Corrections and post-mortems happen on the shoreline post-race, not in the boat. The sweep is in total control. It is their responsibility to keep the crew safe. The crews job is to keep paddling until instructed otherwise by the Sweep.

3. Together as one

No Heroes:

Relying purely on power (a "muscle-only" approach) leads to rapid fatigue, poor boat balance, and, most importantly, inefficient transfer of energy. An unrefined stroke dissipates force sideways, upwards, or in front of the boat, rather than pushing the boat forward. The relationship between power and synchronisation is explained here.

A coach would rather select a weaker paddler who stays in time, than someone who trys to muscle through.

Rating - Trust your strokes. Don't push the rate up. Paddlers entering the water at the Catch before the crew member in front, are often themselves missing the Catch, finishing the Power phase of the stroke early into the recovery phase.
Timing - A paddler out of sync with the boat is effectively a double negative. Not only does the boat lose their effective power but they act as drag on the rest of the boat.

Debrief:

Mistakes happen..... Everything goes to plan.

Nothing is as bad as it seems, and nothing is as good as it seems either. It;s just clouded by the emotion of disappointment or excitement.

Hence the importance of coming togther after every race to share thoughts and feelings and recalibrate for the next race/oportunity.

After each race crew members should expect a group debrief once they have stepped out of the boat.

4. Honesty of Effort

Empty the Tanks:

At full race pace you are in what is known as the Anaerobic zone. This is "borrowed time." Your body is burning fuel without enough oxygen. You can only stay here for about 60–90 seconds before the muscles "lock up." As you cross the finish line your body will be in severe oxygen debt and your lungs will be burning. You will not have the capacity for any task other than getting the boat back to shore.

Your recovery should be your sole focus and priority.

Fremantle Swan Dragon Boat Club