Every year from March to September, I use the K1 trainer for approximately 20 hours per week to coach elite to club level paddlers. As a coach, the K1 trainer is excellent in teaching a paddler as it allow you as a coach to break down the paddling technique into different parts without the paddler worrying about maintaining their stability. As a consequence, this allows the paddler to learn the paddling technique faster than when compared to only coaching the athlete on the water.

 

By performing a coaching session in a consistent indoor environment, the K1 trainer provides a way for me to monitor an athlete’s progress overtime through time trials or boat speed without having to take into consideration environmental conditions such as wind or tide. During the cold winter months, it also allows my elite athletes who are preparing to travel internationally to continue training in comfortable environment away from the harsh weather conditions. In terms of reliability, this 21 year old K1 trainer has only had two parts replaced, one bearing and one front pulley.

 

"The value of using the K1 trainer within my coaching is shown in the success over the years of our athletes at state, national and international level in both flatwater kayaking and surf life saving".

 

In flatwater kayaking, I have coached over 45 athletes onto the Australian Junior, U23 or Senior Flatwater Kayaking team including 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Men’s K4 1000m paddler David Smith. At the 2011 Flatwater Sprint Kayaking Championships, I coached two Junior and one U/23 athletes onto the Australian Flatwater Sprint Team. During the 2010/11 surf life saving season, I also coached two Nutrigrain Ironman athletes (Ali Day and Maddison Prior) and five athletes in the Men’s Open Single Surf Ski Final at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.