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Trip Report: Lyon Playboating Development Week

Last week we held our third Lyon playboating course, this year using an additional slalom course with even more features to practice on. One of our students, Chris Hull, wrote this report from his experience of the week.

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After weeks of trying in vein to evolve a set of gills and failing to do so, it was time to hop on a plane to France for a week’s playboating with FlowFree. As soon as we made camp at Sault Brenaz slalom course, we got on the water to show Lowri how much work she had to do! Luckily Rhod and I were at the same sort of level: able to surf and sometimes spin. We found a little wave and started to learn to flat spin better. Then moved on to a bigger wave to start on carves. After a couple of days on this course we were feeling good about everything. Most of all, my roll was working 100%!

Rhod carving
Rhod beginning to learn to blunt

By Monday, we had to move campsite as this course was closing due to dam work upstream. On the way to the new course, Saint Pierre de Boeuf, we stopped at Hawaii-sur-Rhone. I was amazed at the scale of the thing!! It was on 900 cumecs on that day, the right hand channel was flushing so we ran it far left. It was even bigger when you’re on the top just about to fly down it!! We broke out to look at the left hand channel: a smaller green wave with eddy service, but still massive compared to anything in the UK. Rhod and Lowri tried to surf it but couldn’t get far enough right to stay on. I was too scared and in awe of the size to even try to get on, but after some goading from Rhod I went for it! I got about 2 seconds of surfing… it was amazing! So I went around again, this time I got munched by the hole just behind the wave and ended up swimming… all on the gopro :(. It was a fairly long swim, but the water was warm and it’s flat for miles downstream so nothing to worry about. Plus Lowri came and saved me!

We moved on to the next slalom course, which was nowhere near as deep as the first course but had a lovely surf wave to practice carves, blunts and more importantly body positioning. There was a bigger wave/ hole (liked to change when you where in it) to hone the skills and get prepared for the speed on Hawaii-sur-Rhone. There were also a couple of holes to practice on and this is where my second and last swim happened, after achieving one of my goals for the week – rolling back up in the hole and carrying on playing. I went back in for a second go but I didn’t roll up as quick as I needed to and smacked my head, on the rock shelf that made the wave behind it. More battle scars for my new helmet.

Rhod nailing his blunts
Rhod getting to grips with his blunting

Surfing top wave
Surfing on the top wave at St Pierre de Boeuf

Lowri showing off
Lowri playing in one of the holes

The following day, we checked the levels at Hawaii-sur-Rhone and they looked good so off we went. Lowri led us down to show where the right place to drop into it was. A quick game of rock-paper-scissors and I was in my boat ferrygliding across the top of this monster, taking big breaths praying for a easy ride. As I dropped in to it I had enough time to say “Holy **** this is a long way down” before hitting the pile and having about a 10 second surf. It was a lot more friendly than I thought it was going to be. Rhod then dropped in to it and the wave looked like it worked him hard, but he held on for a long ride and even got a half spin. The next run though I nail it… Front surf down the pile into the trough. I look to the bank and could see the wave crashing above me. Lowri said my face was a picture. It was the best ride of my life up to that point and all caught on film 🙂

Dropping in
Dropping in, thinking “Holy ****!”

Looking across
Looking across at Rhod filming me. Wow this is incredible!

Big smiles after an amazing surf.
Big smiles after an amazing surf.

Rhod missed the next two goes, so it was back to me. Now what I’m about to say is true, the other two will back (key word there) me up. As I dropped in to the wave and hit the pile my backband popped. “Crap! Just lean forward, Chris, just lean forward!” I kept saying to myself. How am I going to do this without swimming?! I rise up on the pile and get thrown into a backsurf back down the wave. It started to feel like a great run and I started to enjoy it as much as you can with an integral part of you boat not done up. I got the boat into a sidesurf then went for a big sweep stroke get myself into a frontsurf again, and to the edge of the wave which flushed me off. The drama was not over: I still had the wide whirlpool, boil-ridden eddylines to deal with! I fight my way through them and got to the beach. It was by far the best run I ever had. After lunch the level went up and the wave become flushy to catch. I didn’t mind, I’d had the ride of my life and my adrenaline was pumping!

Backsurfing
Proof of the backsurf!

Lowri air blunting
Lowri shows us some air

The triumphant pair!
The triumphant wave riders

For rest of the week we looked at improving carves and perfecting our newly learnt blunts and Rhod was on a mission to learn to flatwater loop. My confidence had rocketed this week and I’ve had the biggest smiles I’ve ever had on my face! I can’t thank Lowri from FlowFree enough for the incredible week I’ve had. Now off on the second leg of my trip… to the Alps.

All smiles

To see more photos from our week in Lyon, check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowridavies/sets/72157630087822114/with/7169367105/

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Ladies Boating & Biking Weekend!

Paddling and MTB coaching from FlowFree & Campbell Coaching
20-21st August : Llangollen

We have noticed that a lot of women are paddling and getting out on their bikes too. So we thought, how about a female only weekend based around Llangollen where you can get some top paddling and MTB coaching tips from two very experienced coaches in their respective fields?

Ally Coaching

Lowri Davies an aspirant BCU Level 5 coach, former European Champion and owner of FlowFree and Ally Campbell CTC Skills and Jumps & Drops instructor and co owner of Campbell Coaching will join forces to deliver an unrivalled female specific paddling and MTB coaching course. They’ll help you to develop your skills and confidence both on the water and on your bike, but most importantly they’ll make sure you have lots of fun too! Female only courses provide a unique environment of supportive like-minded people as well as inspirational role-models for outdoorsy ladies.

Ally Campbell Coaching Lowri Davies coaching

Ally Jumping

The whole weekend of adventures and expert coaching costs just £195! If you want to join us for just part of the weekend, then get in touch.

Want to find out more info? Contact either company via their websites: FlowFree or  Campbell Coaching

Fellas take note: this would make a great present for that special lady in your life!

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Get Your Club Playing @ Tandridge

For a while now we have been running a “Get Your Club Playing” scheme, the idea of which is to enthuse clubs about playboating and show how basic playboating can be introduced at any flatwater session. We provide inspirational demonstrations by GB Team paddlers, expert coaches and a load of demo playboats. This is a little write-up of one such session we ran for Tandridge Canoe Club at Thames Young Marinas.

After introducing our coaches and helpers for the day, our GB Team paddlers put on an inspirational display of flatwater acrobatics to get everyone fired up and to show what freestyle is all about.

We then split into groups depending on experience and ability. The beginner group was all about the first experiences of playboating. Trying lots of boats, playing with edging, enders, tailies, lean-cleans, rolls and some even got on to double pumps!

The more experienced group worked on double pumps, flatwater cartwheels, bow stalls, loops and flatwater pistol flips with Bren Orton and Matty Nicholas. Video feedback was used to breakdown some of the more advanced moves and track progression.

At the end of the session paddlers of all abilities not only had a big smile on their face, but had plenty of skills to work on with a clear idea of how to progress towards their next goal – whether that was consistent tailies or learning the flatwater McNasty.

The following day the more experienced paddlers had a follow-up session on Hurley Weir, where we again split into groups depending on ability and worked on anything from catching the wave and front-surfing up to blunt-to-pistol flip combos!

If you’re thinking that this looks like fun, why not organise a session for your club? Details here.

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French Alps 2010

Earlier this year we spent several weeks in the French Alps, where we had great water levels and super-hot sunshine almost every day 🙂

We ran a variety of trips, bespoke courses and guided river runs around the Briancon / Embrun / Guil / Ubaye area – confidence boosters, white water skills, river leadership skills and playboating days were just some of what we got up to! Here’s a few photos to whet your appetite, a full album of photos from our time in the Alps can be found in our photo section.

Doug on the Upper Guil Gorge

Uber-boof by Bill Norman

Rolling practice

Slides in Italy

Fireworks in Embrun on Bastille Day

Details of next year’s trips will be online soon – so keep your eyes peeled!

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FlowFree at your Club

We are now offering clubs the chance to book us for their own pool sessions, evening meets or weekend trips.

We’ll come directly to your club session so no special arrangements need to be made for the club. We can run flatwater playboating sessions (with demo boats), rolling clinics or any variation of our usual white water or safety & rescue skills courses. Or if you’d like us to display our skills to inspire members (or potential members at an open day), we’d be happy to come and show off 😉

Get in touch for more details.

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Wave-tastic fun in Lyon

Here’s a little write up sent to us by one of our trainee coaches, Fran Kohn.

So after the obligatory long drive, multiple fried breakfasts and dodgy ‘value’ French confectionary, we arrived at our destination of Hawaii Sur Rhone for an Introduction to Big Wave Paddling course with Lowri Davies from FlowFree.

We arrived late in the evening but were keen to see what we had come for, so we went straight to see the wave. In the dark the most noticable thing was the never ending thundering and crashing as about 900 cumecs raced past us, just 10 feet away. In the glow of the street lamps it looked big, fast and exciting and we were all fired up for the next day.

While the clients went back to the comfort of a nearby hotel, Lowri and her Trainee coach (me) bunked down in the luxury of her camper-van.

The next day Lowri talked through where we wanted to catch the wave – ‘the sweet spot in the middle just on the surfers left shoulder of the pile’. We started with a straight forward run through the wave to get our up stream markers worked out, because the massive horizon line obscures your view of exactly where you are on the wave. As we ferryed out it became clear just how big this river was!! On the lip of the drop the surge of adrenaline pumping through your veins is unbelieveable as you are confronted by a river wide 10ft wall of water! We all punched through it shouting variations of “hell yeah” and then fought our way to the get out eddy all excited about our next rides on this awesome wave!!

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Actually catching the wave proved quite difficult. Gauging where you were on the wave using your upsteam markers required a fair amount of balls as you wanted to go far enough river right to catch the wave but not so far river left that you got stuck in the sticky bit!! Both myself and Andy ended up going too far right and both had to battle with the consequences. For me, I firstly felt elation of having caught the wave, and then came the realisation that I was in the wrong place! And stuck! No amount of trying to carve surfers left was working. Both Andy and I got rolled over a couple of times only to roll back up in the meat off the wave! I managed to pull myself out on another roll, whilst Andy’s experience ended with him getting a little bit wetter…. Time for lunch, I think!

The rest of the day was spent working out how to get on that elusive sweet spot, but as the water level rose this proved even harder!!! But by using the techniques like positive thinking and visualisation we each got a few wicked rides on one hell of an awesome wave by the end of the day.

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On the morning of day two we checked the river level and decided it wasn’t ideal for Hawaii-sur-Rhone so making use of Lowri’s expert local knowledge we headed to a slalom course just outside of Lyon which had two great waves on it. We spent the day there with Lowri doing some intensive freestyle coaching to great affect! At the end of the day we were all exhausted.

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It may not have been Hawaii Sur Rhone, but we had had a brilliant day and progressed our wave boating loads.

Day three started a little falteringly as sadly Hawaii Sur Rhone was still not right so we headed back to the slalom course for some consolidation of what we had learned the day before. We then paddled down the course and onto the river Rhone after hearing rumours about another great wave. Sure enough just outside the slalom site another river wide wave WITH EDDY SERVICE!!!

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Usually this wave does not exist but there was construction work on the dam upstream so for the first hour this new wave was rising and falling right in front of our eyes and under our boats… but as soon as work finished for the day the workers left all the gates open, giving us exclusive access for the whole evening. AND IT WAS FANTASTIC! It had everything on it you could want, a hole, a wave with a pile and even a green wave! So we spent our last evening grinning from ear to ear doing all the moves we had learned over the past few days – we were very happy campers.

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Thanks to FlowFree for an awesome trip. If you are interested in a similar trip or some coaching at this fantastic playboating venue – drop them an email on info@flowfree.co.uk. Lowri will be back out there from mid-June to early July or courses for groups can arranged on request – just get in touch to make arrangements.

To see more photos of our trip, check out the photo section of the website!

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Newsletter : April 2010

Hello and welcome to the latest FlowFree newsletter!

Well February and March were very busy indeed here at FlowFree. We’ve run trips abroad, freestyle courses, safety courses, week-long bespoke courses, BCU courses and white water skills courses of all varieties. And our coaches have been just as busy in their spare time: slalom competitions (see below), ski trips, Level 5 development, open boating and much more besides…

New Course Dates Online
We’ve now put all of our course dates for the whole of this year online so you can chose a date to suit you. Of course, if you do not find the course you would like on a date to suit you, just get in touch – we may well be able to arrange (or re-arrange) something for you. Check out our course calendar.

New Confidence Booster Course
Due to popular demand, FlowFree now offers a two-day confidence boosting course for anyone who feels that their inhibitions hold them back on the river. Confidence is a delicate thing and without it, no-one can paddle at their best. Losing your confidence can happen to anyone, of any standard. There may be a trigger – perhaps a you’ve had a bad experience or had a long gap since your last white water adventure – but sometimes you just seem to lose your mojo. We understand how frustrating this can be and would like to help you past that mental block towards happy, relaxed and enjoyable paddling at whatever level you’re at. Low ratios and highly experienced coaches ensure that you will have a very productive weekend, tailored to your needs. For more info and dates, click here.

FlowFree in France this Summer
From mid-June to early July, Lowri will in the French Alps and available for coaching courses, guided trips and playboating clinics. During this time, she will also be running Big Wave courses on demand on the Hawaii-sur-Rhone wave in Lyon. Whether you are freestyle whiz-kid or a river boater who fancies the thrill of surfing a giant standing wave, Lowri can help you to make the most of your time at H-S-R. Our “Intro to Big Wave Surfing” courses have been extremely successful in the past, with big smiles and great feedback every time. Why not come and join the fun? Lyon is perfect if you are on your way to or from the Alps or just fancy a few days of big wave fun as a short break from work.

For more information or to arrange some coaching in France this summer, just reply to this email or give us a call.

Student Boater-X, France
While we’re on the subject of paddling in sunny climes; we’ve just confirmed that we will be sponsoring the 2010 Student Boater-x which takes place on the Durance at l’Argentiere. This event is close to our hearts as our very own Tom Laws was the creator and original organiser of what has become a rip-roaringly fun event. Any Uni groups who will be in the French Alps on 11-12th June should definitely go along. It’s free!

Can we do better?
“To stand still is to go backwards.” – we understand the importance of always seeking to improve. Your feedback is really important to us, which is why we have made it even easier with an online form. If you have recently been on a course with us, please give us any feedback you may have. We take on board anything people take the time to send to us, so whether positive or negative, we want to hear from you!

New Coaching Staff
We take great care in choosing who we employ and have strict criteria: they must be an experienced and passionate paddler who is able to pass on this knowledge, technique and tactics to others through great coaching skills. But most of all, they should be people that we like spending time with and that we think our clients will like too. That’s why we are excited to announce David Fairweather as the latest member of regular FlowFree staff. Dave is an experienced white water paddler who over the past 15 years has paddled in Nepal, Kyrgystan, Morocco, Norway, Italy, India… the list goes on. You can read more about Dave’s adventures and passion for coaching on our About Us section, or check out some of his glowing customer feedback in our testimonials.

Palm Big Paddle
We are proud to announce that FlowFree will be running clinics and will have a stand at the Palm Big Paddle at Symmonds Yat on May 15-16th. If you haven’t heard about the Big Paddle, check out www.thebigpaddle.com – something for everyone!

Slalom Success
After whimsically saying she’d enter a slalom, Lowri realised she had just 4 days back in the UK before she was supposed to race in a Div 1 (for those who don’t know much about slalom, it has leagues like football, which go from Premier down to Div 4 – Premier is for very good people, usually GB Team and those sponsored for slalom who regularly train, so Div 1 is kinda like the best of the rest). There were a few problems with this plan: a) She had been in a slalom boat just twice, ever before b) She didn’t own, nor have access to a slalom boat c) The only rules she knew about slalom were that you had to go through the sticks. In order. Fast.

Luckily, Lowri found a slalom boat, someone told her what the beeping at the start meant and she didn’t miss any gates – resulting in her finishing middle of the field and being granted a rank in Div 1 for future races. Well done!

More Congratulations!
To FlowFree coaches David Fairweather and Lowri Davies for becoming Aspirant BCU Level 5 coaches earlier this month. We wish you luck with your continued coach development!

That’s all for now. We look forward to see you on the water sometime soon!

The FlowFree Team

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Video Feedback

We like to give our clients that little bit extra. That’s why if you come on one of our courses, we not only give you dedicated and expert tuition with plenty of feedback on the day – we also email you full written feedback with a summary of what we covered and a clear action plan for you to work on.

During our courses, we will often use tools such as video feedback and as part of giving that little bit extra, we will put the footage captured together in a short feedback video. This means you can watch back what you did from the comfort of your home / office, learn from your own mistakes and marvel at your triumphs. We will add a few little pointers to the video, which will reinforce the written feedback and allow you to put it all back into on-the-water context.

Here’s an example feedback video, from a recent Intro to Playboating course:

More videos can be found on our youTube channel.

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Booking made even easier!

We’ve made booking with us even easier!

You can now book instantly online using paypal or a credit / debit card. Once you’ve paid, just complete the online booking form on the page you are taken back to and you’re done. No need to print anything off. No need to post anything. No need to even use the phone! You can book yourself a superb day or two on the water from the comfort of your home in just a few clicks.

Of course, if you prefer the human touch – you can still pay by cheque or bank transfer and our printable booking form is still available too.

For full details, see www.flowfree.co.uk/booking-info.

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Ladies Days

Well it’s been quite a while since we’ve put anything up on the blog; but that’s not to say we haven’t been busy! With degrees, competitions and most recently trips to Norway and France the FlowFree team have barely had a chance to catch their breath! To see some impressive photos and read tales from their adventures so far, take a look at their personal blogs.

A few weeks ago, Becky Russell and I ran some Ladies Specific Courses in glorious sunshine on the rivers of North Wales.

Saturday’s Confidence Booster was a particularly fun day on the water, with ladies ranging in experience from just a few beginner rivers to those who’d paddled for years but now felt their confidence waivering. With low ratios, we were able to cater the day around these varying backgrounds and soon had everyone happy, smiling and progressing with their paddling. At the end of the day, almost everyone went for a body-surf in the bottom wave of Mile End Mill – a sign of improved confidence, high spirits and unusually hot weather in Llangollen!


Charlie Gwilliam looking determined

On Sunday it was time to focus on White Water Skills such as driving the boat across eddylines, boofing and using the river’s features to our advantage to make our paddling more efficient and dynamic. Thanks to Tom Wardill for some cracking photos from the day.


Lowri explains the next challenge…

Ladies Specific Courses are always a joy to coach and extremely rewarding as the atmosphere of peer encouragement and a fresh perspective never ceases to provide great progress in the paddling of those on the course.

The next Ladies Confidence Booster is set to be October 10th with a Ladies Playboating day on the 11th. Keep an eye on the ‘Ladies Courses’ page for more dates to be added soon!

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