Teaching Kayaking At a Summer Camp

The first time I got into a kayak I was about eight or nine and somehow I knew I was hooked. I was blessed with this experience from my summer camp in Vermont. I think my parents to this day most likely say why didn’t I fall in love with a normal sport like soccer then whitewater kayaking. I am so glad that I am in love with a sport that is not your typical sport. Now that I am no longer camp age and my skills have progressed quite a bit I always like to come back to my camp for a day or so and teach a little bit. One of the things that really helped me when I was just starting to kayak was to be comfortable under water so before we even get into our kayaks, we all play a game that I learned at Keeners called the rock game. Its basically when you hold a heavy rock and walk under the water in till you have to come up. It is a super fun game that eases every one into the water. After this I like to do a ton of wet exits and T-rescues so the kids feel safe. The next most important skill I learned was good paddling form. If you do not have a good forward stroke, back stroke, sweep stroke your going to be using more effort to get your boat where you want to go. My camp is based on a lake so it is a great area to practice and we ran tons of races. To make the time more fun we played games like having a sponge toss, keep away, and tons of others. Everyone did such a great job and I can not wait to see them all on the water again.

See you on the River
Emery