Using gates to enhance your paddling program.

Adding gates to your paddling program can provide a new dimension to a sometimes stale activity. Those familiar with the American Red Cross text Canoeing and Kayaking will note that it recommends using gates as a means of developing paddling skills. Gates can also be used for testing the skills of young paddlers and for providing them with challenge and enjoyment. Both recreational and instructional programs can be developed around the use of gates and recreational slalom courses. An awards system can even be developed to recognize camper achievement.

Gate construction

Gate construction is easy [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]. Small buoys work best. They are affected less by the boat and they need less weight to stabilize them.

Clean out a plastic quart oil container. Bore a hole in the cap and sandwich it with two nuts on an eye bolt. Shoot the container full of insulating foam found at the hardware store. Immediately screw the cap back on the bottle. The foam will help lock the cap and eye bolt onto the buoy. The buoy is now unsinkable.

Fasten the buoy with nylon twine to a cinder block or concrete weight with an eye bolt imbedded in it. The secret is to have the connecting rope short enough to keep the buoy half submerged in the water. This will keep the buoy taught. Buoys should be placed approximately four feet apart. For beginners, buoys can be placed further apart; however, when gates are placed too far apart, the challenge disappears.

Course construction

To construct a slalom course, use four or five gates in an area about the size of an olympic-sized swimming pool. Position the gates in a rectangular fashion with one pair of gates in each corner of the rectangle. An optional fifth gate may be set at an angle in the middle of the course. [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED].

When designing patterns for your campers to paddle, you need not use all the gates. You may also create longer patterns of eight to 15 gates by using gates more than once. Try to limit the time needed to complete the course to a couple of minutes. Other options include paddling a course in reverse and letting campers design the paddling patterns for the day.

English Gate

The English Gate is a one-gate slalom course. The use of the English Gate offers several advantages when integrated into a camp program. First, it is a standardized course and test of a camper's skills. Next, in order to successfully negotiate the first two phases of the English Gate, campers must utilize most of the common strokes, and they must be able to combine those strokes. Third, since the English Gate consists of only one gate, all gates on an existing multi-gate course may be used simultaneously. Last, an awards system can easily be devised around the use of the English Gate.

Running the English Gate consists of paddling its four phases. The phases are symmetrical. Phases 1 and 3 are the same and Phases 2 and 4 are the same. The difference is that in Phases 1 and 2 the paddler paddles forward through the gate and in Phases 3 and 4, the paddler reverses through the gate. Since the gate sequences are symmetrical, beginners should use only the first two phases.

The diagram of the English Gate provided in Figure 3 is for a right-side solo paddler. It is designed to minimize the distance through the course and to let a right-side paddler turn into the gate on the paddling side in Phase 3. A left-side solo paddler can make a mirror image of the diagram. In tandem paddling, a right-side stern paddler should use the diagram pictured; a left-side stern paddler should use the mirror image.

Awards

The English Gate lends itself to an awards system which documents the individual achievement of each camper. A three-tiered awards system can easily be constructed (novice, intermediate, and expert paddler). The awards system can recognize both solo and tandem paddlers. Solo recognition emphasizes the development of individual skills. Tandem paddling awards should recognize both individual skills and the development of team work.

An English Gate - Novice Paddler should be required to successfully negotiate the first two phases. This level requires the camper to demonstrate the forward stroke, inside and outside pivot turns, the compound back stroke, the ability to stop and start the canoe or kayak, and the ability to combine strokes to create fluid motion. No more than two minor touches should be allowed on the gate. Depending on the type of canoe or kayak used, the first two phases should be completed in two minutes or less. Also, campers should be rated on stroke mechanics to reduce strong hackers from qualifying by powering their way through the two phases.

An English Gate - Intermediate Paddler should be required to successfully negotiate all four phases. This level requires the paddler to show more precision by paddling the canoe or kayak backwards through the gate during Phases 3 and 4. No more than two minor touches should be allowed on the gate. The four phases should be completed in three minutes or less.

An English Gate - Expert Paddler should be required to successfully negotiate all four phases but with greater precision and speed. No touches should be allowed at this level. Experts should complete the four phases in one minute 45 seconds or less.

Equipment

The English Gate award system needs to be customized for each camp and its equipment. The type of boat used will make a profound difference in the time needed to negotiate the gate. An expert paddler can negotiate the English Gate in an 18-foot aluminum canoe with a lake keel with an equal amount of precision as someone in a 14-foot whitewater slalom boat outfitted with thigh straps. The difference is that it takes eight strokes in the aluminum canoe to accomplish the same thing as one or two strokes in the whitewater canoe. This difference is reflected in a slower time.

The use of gates is an excellent teaching tool to develop paddling skills. During instruction students may paddle courses, or they may use the gates individually. Gates are easy to construct and provide the basis of an awards system to recognize camper achievement. They are an instructive and fun addition to any paddling program.

References

American Canoe Association. (1989). Canoe Camping Wall Chart. Newington, VA: Author.

American Canoe Association. (1989). River Canoeing Wall Chart. Newington, VA: Author.

American Red Cross. Canoeing and Kayaking. Washington, DC: Author.

Kauffman, R. B. (1978, May). Keeping Up with the Changes. Camping Magazine (50) 7, 13.

Kauffman, R. B. (1976 and 1980, January-February). The Use of the English Gate in Canoe Instruction. American Whitewater Journal.

Kauffman, R. B. (1977, February). The English Gate. Camping Magazine (49) 3, 15.

Robert B. Kauffman, Ph.D. and David W. Mason are Red Cross and American Canoe Association instructor trainers and paddle recreationally. Dr. Kauffman was responsible for the movies Cold, Wet and Alive and Heads Up: rescue for river runners. He received Camping Magazine's Golden Quill Award in 1989 and 1990. He is the recreation program coordinator at Frostburg State University, Md. Dave Mason is past commodore of the American Canoe Association and assisted with the American Camping Association's Camp Boating: Program and curriculum guidelines.