These words were spoken by Sylvan Poberaj, the long-time coach of the U.S. whitewater slalom team. The statement is almost absurdly simple, but Scott Shipley thought it was profound enough to print it in his book Every Crushing Stroke: The Book of Performance Kayaking. Since this book came out in 2001, I've been pondering the deeper meaning.
In just about all great sports, the object is simple. Take baseball, for instance. A player goes up to bat hoping to hit the ball into the field and then run at least as far as first base before the fielders can round up the ball and throw it there. But delve deeper and you find layers of complexity. And the best players see all the many nuances. What pitch to expect when the count is 2-1. When it's better to go for a home run and when it's better simply to put the ball in play. There are many, many things going on at once, and the best players are not the ones who can simply hit the ball the hardest or run the bases the fastest or make the most acrobatic plays. The best players have the mental acuity to be aware of the many variables in play and of every scenario that could possibly unfold from each pitch.
This is very much the case with whitewater slalom, the sport Poberaj is referring to in the quote above. Slalom, too, has a simple objective: paddle through all the gates on the course as fast as you can without missing any gates or touching any poles. But that's just the bare outline of what takes place. When I was racing slalom back in the 1990s, I always felt as though the top athletes were seeing things I simply could not see. Certainly they could all make their boats go faster than I could, but there was more to it than that. They seemed to know exactly what stroke to take at every instant during a race run. When they made mistakes they typically recovered from them with a single stroke. They seemed to have anticipated everything that could possibly go wrong at every place on the course. They knew when to use all their power and when to back off a little.
On the trip I've just completed I participated in my first true downwind race. There, too, the elite athletes were all fast; I expect every single one of them could beat me handily in a sprint on flatwater. And they almost certainly have a high degree of balance and control to keep their boats moving in downwind conditions. But I think they have even more than that. Their movements are informed by a superior intellect. They can read how the waves are developing in front of them and plan four or five moves in advance. While guys like me are sliding backwards off the backs of waves, they are using the smallest of bumps to maintain their speed and are ultimately moving forward in the waves. And they're probably doing other things that I haven't imagined yet.
The top racers are simply... better. And they know more. I mean, duh, but... yeah. Maybe that statement really does sum it up as well as any other.
The top female surf ski racers at the 2018 Gorge Downwind Championships. Left to right: Michelle Eray (5th), Teneale Hatton (2nd), Naomi Flood (1st), Ana Swetish (3rd), Rachel Clarke (4th). Photo by Tom Gomes.
The top male surf ski racers at the 2018 Gorge Downwind Championships. Left to right: Patrick Dolan (5th), Cory Hill (2nd), Kenny Rice (1st), MacKenzie Hynard (3rd), Austin Kieffer (4th). Photo by Tom Gomes.
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