I always said he’d come to no good / In the end your honor.
If they’d let me have my way I could / Have flayed him into shape.
But my hands were tied, / The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with laughter.
Let me hammer him today! – p. floyd
Leon Somme is one of the most talented, creative and most importantly, inventive coaches I know. He’s obviously getting a bit frustrated with self-appointed experts as of late. Aren’t we all!? Every bonehead on the planet has a Youtube out there showing the “proper” this, that and the other.. Bah! In a recent short commentary for
Adventure Kayak Magazine , Leon writes about a really bad idea and asks, “What is an expert in Paddlesports?” Then he goes on to say that “Peer review is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep up standards and to make sure disseminated information is worthwhile. Peer Review”, he continues, “advances new ideas and methods and moves the sport forward at a faster rate..” Peer review? Can we pause there for a moment?
Now, I’m not going to disagree with Leon (I’ll save that for when we run into one another again & I’ll bring the scotch!), but I would like to add my spin. For what its worth, I agree that self-appointed “experts” are dangerous. I hear that. I’d personally like to b*tch-slap a few kayaking YouTubers out there myself! At the same time, old school “experts” aren’t much better. What’s more, tribunals of officious “peers” lording it over the great unwashed has never worked that well either. (No one expects the Spanish inquisition!!) I came into this sport at a time when innovation was flourishing, when a new style of teaching was just showing up in the fringe. Leon and Shawna were major instigators!! Now we call it “experiential” learning. (New to sea kayaking anyway!) Not so long ago it was called, “What the hell is that coach doing?!?!?!?”It was not long ago either that a paddler could not use their Greenland/traditional paddle in their coaching or paddling certifications. The arguably most original sea kayak paddle was seen as nothing more than an archaic curiosity with no value in “real” kayaking. Only a couple of years ago I listened to a well-respected coach tell a class that they MUST feather their paddles, period. Many rolling classes would only teach C to C rolls regardless of their students abilities, talents or needs… Some still do, to the detriment of many-a-paddler out there. We won’t go into variations on rescues and the many other inventive and creative techniques brought to us by an amazing array of creative and inventive coaches and paddlers in just the last 10 years. Sea kayaking has also given way to a plethora of new floaty things, rec boats, stand-up boards and more.. If the renaissance is now dead, the corpse is still mighty warm.
The point being, that there was a lot of entrenchment in the psyche of America’s paddling elite. Leon speaks to this in his commentary. It’s been only very recently that this has changed. It took a lot of folks who were willing to challenge sacred cows to get there. (I’ve got a t-shirt from some west coast kayaking school to that effect actually!) The experts were in charge and stagnation had set in. We had to take a lesson from the BCU and other groups that were already learning that there was more than one way to cook rhubarb. We had to inculcate the concept of “safe, efficient & effective” into our paddling society and be open-minded toward what others were doing. This “new way” has moved the world of kayaking and coaching ahead in leaps and bounds. Now are we saying it’s time to set up judges and tribunals who will decide the official doctrine once again? Well, obviously that’s not what Leon means.. but the suggestion of official peer review does come with risk as well. While we don’t want anarchy, we don’t want dictatorship & stagnation either.
In our world today, ideas are shared almost the instant they’re hatched. They’re photographed, blogged, Twittered, Facebooked and Youtubed around the planet. Paddling is not heart surgery! Anyone can do it. The peers of our modern world are all of us. No group, panel or tribunal will ever stop a good idea. In fact, they’d be hard pressed to stop a bad idea if it becomes popular. The cows are out of the yard. I feel we simply have to stop thinking in terms of “experts” all together. Experienced paddlers and novices alike come up with great ideas, and awful ones. We want to hear them all. Then, we’ll try them out. The vast society of the web, symposiums, clubs, print and yes, official groups will take it from there. The good ideas will stick, the bad ideas and bad coaches will in the end be called out. (Great coaches will be the first by-the-way, to acknowledge their own bad ideas!) What we can do is encourage students and those new to the sport to keep an open mind. To use discernment and wisdom when taking on new ideas. We can let them know that none of us are experts. We can show them why we do something personally, while at the same time telling them there are many other ways. They need to try everything once, and the things they like twice! Find their own way. “
Safe, Efficient & Effective” is the only dogma they’ll ever need . And whatever they do.. don’t ever think they have become an “expert”!
What do you think?
Related Posts:
If they’d let me have my way I could / Have flayed him into shape.
But my hands were tied, / The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with laughter.
Let me hammer him today! – p. floyd Leon Somme is one of the most talented, creative and most importantly, inventive coaches I know. He’s obviously getting a bit frustrated with self-appointed experts as of late. Aren’t we all!? Every bonehead on the planet has a Youtube out there showing the “proper” this, that and the other.. Bah! In a recent short commentary for Adventure Kayak Magazine , Leon writes about a really bad idea and asks, “What is an expert in Paddlesports?” Then he goes on to say that “Peer review is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep up standards and to make sure disseminated information is worthwhile. Peer Review”, he continues, “advances new ideas and methods and moves the sport forward at a faster rate..” Peer review? Can we pause there for a moment? Now, I’m not going to disagree with Leon (I’ll save that for when we run into one another again & I’ll bring the scotch!), but I would like to add my spin. For what its worth, I agree that self-appointed “experts” are dangerous. I hear that. I’d personally like to b*tch-slap a few kayaking YouTubers out there myself! At the same time, old school “experts” aren’t much better. What’s more, tribunals of officious “peers” lording it over the great unwashed has never worked that well either. (No one expects the Spanish inquisition!!) I came into this sport at a time when innovation was flourishing, when a new style of teaching was just showing up in the fringe. Leon and Shawna were major instigators!! Now we call it “experiential” learning. (New to sea kayaking anyway!) Not so long ago it was called, “What the hell is that coach doing?!?!?!?”It was not long ago either that a paddler could not use their Greenland/traditional paddle in their coaching or paddling certifications. The arguably most original sea kayak paddle was seen as nothing more than an archaic curiosity with no value in “real” kayaking. Only a couple of years ago I listened to a well-respected coach tell a class that they MUST feather their paddles, period. Many rolling classes would only teach C to C rolls regardless of their students abilities, talents or needs… Some still do, to the detriment of many-a-paddler out there. We won’t go into variations on rescues and the many other inventive and creative techniques brought to us by an amazing array of creative and inventive coaches and paddlers in just the last 10 years. Sea kayaking has also given way to a plethora of new floaty things, rec boats, stand-up boards and more.. If the renaissance is now dead, the corpse is still mighty warm. The point being, that there was a lot of entrenchment in the psyche of America’s paddling elite. Leon speaks to this in his commentary. It’s been only very recently that this has changed. It took a lot of folks who were willing to challenge sacred cows to get there. (I’ve got a t-shirt from some west coast kayaking school to that effect actually!) The experts were in charge and stagnation had set in. We had to take a lesson from the BCU and other groups that were already learning that there was more than one way to cook rhubarb. We had to inculcate the concept of “safe, efficient & effective” into our paddling society and be open-minded toward what others were doing. This “new way” has moved the world of kayaking and coaching ahead in leaps and bounds. Now are we saying it’s time to set up judges and tribunals who will decide the official doctrine once again? Well, obviously that’s not what Leon means.. but the suggestion of official peer review does come with risk as well. While we don’t want anarchy, we don’t want dictatorship & stagnation either. In our world today, ideas are shared almost the instant they’re hatched. They’re photographed, blogged, Twittered, Facebooked and Youtubed around the planet. Paddling is not heart surgery! Anyone can do it. The peers of our modern world are all of us. No group, panel or tribunal will ever stop a good idea. In fact, they’d be hard pressed to stop a bad idea if it becomes popular. The cows are out of the yard. I feel we simply have to stop thinking in terms of “experts” all together. Experienced paddlers and novices alike come up with great ideas, and awful ones. We want to hear them all. Then, we’ll try them out. The vast society of the web, symposiums, clubs, print and yes, official groups will take it from there. The good ideas will stick, the bad ideas and bad coaches will in the end be called out. (Great coaches will be the first by-the-way, to acknowledge their own bad ideas!) What we can do is encourage students and those new to the sport to keep an open mind. To use discernment and wisdom when taking on new ideas. We can let them know that none of us are experts. We can show them why we do something personally, while at the same time telling them there are many other ways. They need to try everything once, and the things they like twice! Find their own way. “Safe, Efficient & Effective” is the only dogma they’ll ever need . And whatever they do.. don’t ever think they have become an “expert”! What do you think?
Related Posts: