This year's AGM is taking place on Saturday 28th January at 7.30 (just after the pool session). Taking place at The Lawns Inn, BS37 5BG. For more info see the website.
After Tom had announced he was leaving KJO last week Den and Dan were coaching us. Den had managed to leave his car keys at the bottom of the Themes so the session was structured slightly differently, 3 hours paddling :). Hurley was still on 2 gates even though there has been no rain for weeks. I was working on my blunts as blunting on 2 is very different to the green 3 gates Hurley was on at Selections. It was a really cool training session with some big moves being thrown. At the end Den told us the plan for upcoming sessions. We will be given a plan that will be very similar to the GB team's. This means that our training will be more structured.
Many more paddlers turned up to GB selections for the British freestyle team than I expected on the sunny Saturday morning. This was my first time at selections so I was doing it for the experience. As with all freestyle kayaking events the briefing started slightly late. We were told that we would not get a practice run before our run. Super quick change time! I had half an hour on the water before the squirt kicked the competition off. My practice went well so I got off the water happy before getting a place on the bridge and watching the other competitors. The OC1s were very funny, nobody scored a point but hey, it was great entertainment. In the C1 we were surprised to find David Florence (silver medalist at Beijing Olympics) in the line up. He did well considering he is a slalom paddler and managed to get in the squad. Now it was my turn. I was feeling the pressure but my warm up helped me relaxe and I used the 'Circle of Excellence' to improve my performance. I managed 1 good ride but unfortunately flushed early in my other rides due to a very green 3 gate wave. In the end I came 13th. I believe that I could of finnished about 8th if I had another good ride. It was a brillient experience and I will definitely try my chances agin next year.
Over the half term Jacko invited me to Hurley to have a 1 on 1 training session to help with my posture. Good posture is one of the most important skills a freestyle paddler can have as bad posture will reduce the ability to rotate and control the boat. Luckily Tom who has great posture was around to help. Jacko told me and Tom to copy each other for 10 minutes when walking. It was amazing to see how just a little change can have a big difference. We then got on the water to do the same thing. I always throw some ends after I get on... I should have remembered to put my deck on! A chunky 4 gates with a tricky eddy met us. My paddling improved greatly when I was copying Tom... cartwheels, splitwheels and loops were all much easier. Back at Jacko's house after some cheese on toast Jacko and I discussed how I learnt and the stages of learning a new skill. If I could identify what makes me learn a new skill then moves would take less time to learn.
After all the rain and snow Hurley was up onto 4 gates for today's KJO session, the training was focused more on preparation for British Team selections in three weeks time which many of us are going to. but it was quite hard to practice any wave moves in the 4 gates. I was paddling the best I have had for a long time because of my session with Jacko and Tom working on my posture. All my moves were working well. I tried to put into practice the different training styles we looked at in the last Burners session. This meant that I was paddling at my best for longer than usual.
In the dry session we looked at the video and analyzed why people were making moves that others were finding harder.
After a bit of rain Hurley was up onto two gates so George, Josh and I all headed to Hurley for the first time in 2009. As well as there being more water in the river, it was a lot warmer than last week so everyone was feeling a lot happier about being upside down in the river. The weir was running on a pretty good two gates and my blunts improved loads throughout the session and I almost got a pan-am as well, George also got a really high loop in his new boat with his head at least six inches above the water! All in all it was a really good session and my loops and blunts were generally working much better by the end. Hopefully however it will have warmed up a bit before the next kayakojacko session.
Feed Entries 
After Tom had announced he was leaving KJO last week Den and Dan were coaching us. Den had managed to leave his car keys at the bottom of the Themes so the session was structured slightly differently, 3 hours paddling :). Hurley was still on 2 gates even though there has been no rain for weeks. I was working on my blunts as blunting on 2 is very different to the green 3 gates Hurley was on at Selections. It was a really cool training session with some big moves being thrown. At the end Den told us the plan for upcoming sessions. We will be given a plan that will be very similar to the GB team's. This means that our training will be more structured.
Many more paddlers turned up to GB selections for the British freestyle team than I expected on the sunny Saturday morning. This was my first time at selections so I was doing it for the experience. As with all freestyle kayaking events the briefing started slightly late. We were told that we would not get a practice run before our run. Super quick change time! I had half an hour on the water before the squirt kicked the competition off. My practice went well so I got off the water happy before getting a place on the bridge and watching the other competitors. The OC1s were very funny, nobody scored a point but hey, it was great entertainment. In the C1 we were surprised to find David Florence (silver medalist at Beijing Olympics) in the line up. He did well considering he is a slalom paddler and managed to get in the squad. Now it was my turn. I was feeling the pressure but my warm up helped me relaxe and I used the 'Circle of Excellence' to improve my performance. I managed 1 good ride but unfortunately flushed early in my other rides due to a very green 3 gate wave. In the end I came 13th. I believe that I could of finnished about 8th if I had another good ride. It was a brillient experience and I will definitely try my chances agin next year._20908.jpg)
Over the half term Jacko invited me to Hurley to have a 1 on 1 training session to help with my posture. Good posture is one of the most important skills a freestyle paddler can have as bad posture will reduce the ability to rotate and control the boat. Luckily Tom who has great posture was around to help. Jacko told me and Tom to copy each other for 10 minutes when walking. It was amazing to see how just a little change can have a big difference. We then got on the water to do the same thing. I always throw some ends after I get on... I should have remembered to put my deck on! A chunky 4 gates with a tricky eddy met us. My paddling improved greatly when I was copying Tom... cartwheels, splitwheels and loops were all much easier. Back at Jacko's house after some cheese on toast Jacko and I discussed how I learnt and the stages of learning a new skill. If I could identify what makes me learn a new skill then moves would take less time to learn._20913.jpg)
After all the rain and snow Hurley was up onto 4 gates for today's KJO session, the training was focused more on preparation for British Team selections in three weeks time which many of us are going to. but it was quite hard to practice any wave moves in the 4 gates. I was paddling the best I have had for a long time because of my session with Jacko and Tom working on my posture. All my moves were working well. I tried to put into practice the different training styles we looked at in the last Burners session. This meant that I was paddling at my best for longer than usual. 
After a bit of rain Hurley was up onto two gates so George, Josh and I all headed to Hurley for the first time in 2009. As well as there being more water in the river, it was a lot warmer than last week so everyone was feeling a lot happier about being upside down in the river. The weir was running on a pretty good two gates and my blunts improved loads throughout the session and I almost got a pan-am as well, George also got a really high loop in his new boat with his head at least six inches above the water! All in all it was a really good session and my loops and blunts were generally working much better by the end. Hopefully however it will have warmed up a bit before the next kayakojacko session.