Burners: Hurley

So it may have been Valentine's Day, but we were still kayaking nonetheless!

Although the car park was fairly empty, I didn't expect the eddy to be completely empty as we arrived. With selections approaching, our focus switch more from learning new skills, to piecing together competition rides and refining the moves that are almost there. Therefore, we started the morning with three rides, and our best two counting. As well as the usual physical warm up, we also did some mental warm up, concentrating on mindfulness and being in the "here and now". 

As I dropped in for my first ride, I felt a little slow and almost too relaxed, and after just two spins flushed off. So for my second and third ride, I woke up! In these rides I managed spins both ways and a blunt, as well as a both round houses in my second ride! 

At last, all the hard work seems to be paying off!

I spent the rest of the session "ramping up" my blunts and also continuing to try back blunts. The eddy remained unusually empty for most of the day which allowed for lots of rides, and more risks to be taken when trying new moves as the queue was short. 

We headed back to Jacko's to watch our competition rides and analyse some of our moves. Being able to actually see what you are doing really helps me identify and understand what areas need work. 

In the afternoon we began with another three competition rides. This was great to continue to develop rides and practice our competition state. A few rides later, I did one of the best blunts I've ever done, and an accidental Space Godzilla in the middle gate (which landed and retained). 

This kind of sparked some crazy energy as Charlie began trying to loop in the middle gate, and then we all began trying to pistol flip and it all resulted in trying loads of new moves! It was so much fun and allowed for progression in lots of other areas that are normally pushed to the back of the mind. 

With selections round the corner, I am feeling really positive and excited as I can't wait to get back on the water after such a fantastic session. It was also awesome to see the whole progression of wave boating in the UK as moves that few people were doing back in October, everyone seems to be throwing! By having a competitive focus on a wave has lead to massive step forward for freestyle!