Some comments in another thread about how limited TOW has a negative effect on progression and maintainence of skill made me think that a thread on other activities that contribute to sailing skills might be useful.
General fitness and strength is obviously an asset, esp for females or guys with poor upper body strength etc, so general weight training is going to help
If you look at an expert or pro level slalom sailor, you see a lot of movement of the legs, but the upper body and rig is nearly motionless, and very stable.
Developing that independence between upper and lower body is really key to maintaining balance on a small board or sinker esp in lulls or during tacking/gybing manouvers.
I have had a lot of fun using unstable surface training to help with this. I have a couple of small inflatable biconvex gym ball type thingies, about 30 cm in diameter and 20cm or so high. Just standing on them is exercise. Standing on one foot is harder again, then progressing to doing squats and one leg squats. You find your legs can jiggle and shake quite a lot, while your upper body needs to stay quiet.
A progression on that is to use a large gym ball and learn to first kneel on it, then progress to standing upright on it.
Now, I have to say, that is not easy, and it's wise to have a soft surface with lots of jump-off space when first attempting, but if you manage it, standing on any size windsurfer will never pose a problem ever again.
Any other suggestions for cross training in the quiet months most of us are currently enduring ?

I troll

i like to eat.

one of my mates in noosa has been doing slingshot bungee'ing.

From all my research, the best single exercise that makes you stronger (core strength), faster (if you want to sprint faster) is the DEADLIFT.

All you need is a barbell and weights. It is considered the best single weight exercise that employees the most muscles.

The aim is to start with a low weight, and progressively work up to, say, 2x or 3x your body weight. (An elite female sprinter, Allison Felix, can deadlift 136kg even though she weighs 55kg).

Refer to a book "Power To The People" by Pavel Tsatsouline. It is one of the key exercises in his book.

Cheers!

ripsticking is the go for balance,i can do a few tricks.the video is not me.

Gestalt said...

one of my mates in noosa has been doing slingshot bungee'ing.

now there's a proper excuse for boardies over wetsuit

There's a bunch of yoga asanas with a high balance component. They are all pretty static though. Still its testing and you can do it just about anywhere. Your kids wont want to be seen with you though :)

What about that balance board thingo (I forget what its called). It's a board that you lay over a cylinder and stand on and wobble about.

Oh and don't forget your Powerband :)

It's what we are suffering through at present.

pedro e said...

Off-season? What's that?

^^^ looxury...

zippyblue said...

off season training is when you spend a sunday afternoon, all by yourself, in a cold grey lake in 10 knt winds, waiting for the wind to pick up to 15 kts, as forecast by seabreaze.

Gradual loss of feeling in both hands and feet sets in before the wind does.

bad idea practicing waterstarts with no wind.

still worthwhile though...in 4 hours...I got planing exactly once, wohooo!

I'm SO glad I now have a big floaty board that I can do that on & not have to waterstart.. down side is that its made me a whoose with my small sinkers..I dont want to have to waterstart in icey wtaer..!I can identify with the one plane & whoohoo!

Ah, but health professionals (of which I am one) often have incredibly conservative positions on physical exercise and are often not paragons of physical virtue themselves. There are still physios who think that weight training is "bad for you". Humpfh !!!
They are also often see only the injuries, not the people having fun.
As to standing on a gym ball, I bet that you can do it, if you put your mind to it.
I bet you can. Start by kneeling on one, that's not so hard, but still hard enough.

sboardcrazy said...

When I was at the chiro yesterday I mentioned balancing on the balls & she was amazed people could and when I mentioned Ripsticks she rolled her eyes & said " I've seen lots of injuries from those!"

Ken Ho said -
If you look at an expert or pro level slalom sailor, you see a lot of movement of the legs, but the upper body and rig is nearly motionless, and very stable.
Developing that independence between upper and lower body is really key to maintaining balance on a small board or sinker esp in lulls or during tacking/gybing manouvers.
In that case Skiing and horse riding must help as you have to have that independence.

KenHo said...

Yes, there a whole bunch of activities that train independence and general proprioception, as well as specific spinal proprioception (joint position sense) as well as balance training. That is the whole thrust of my OP.

Horse-riding requires different things in the different gaits. A trot builds legs big-time, whereas a canter requires your lower abdo and legs to move with the horse, while your torso stays quiet, which is what you were referring to I think. I suck at that.
Ski-ing is just plain awesome, but I'm not sure it trains balance for sailing, as skis are actually quite hard to fall off, having such a large base area.

Ther are 2 types of gym ball I've used. The big one you are describing, and some little flatter ones, which I'll post some pics of later.
You have staretd by sitting on the big one, which should be pretty easy, but some people do have trouble. I used to use one as my chair at work, and I had some Korean kids one day who were fascinated by it, and wanted to try. One girl nearly killed herself just sitting on it.

Next step is to kneel on it. I don't have one a resent, btu I was going to get one, so I'll post some pics. Once you are feeling comfortable kneeling, it's possible to move to an upright standing position. Not easy, but certainly doable. Lots of core ability required.

Riding requires core stability and to absorb the motion with the lower back / torso especially sitting trot . Your body to stay quiet while your legs and arms work independently to give the aids..I'm not brilliant either. Cross country skiing requires more balance and technique than downhilling..try doing Telemark turns in off piste backcountry cruddy snow..No fore & aft stability like downhill skis..
Mind you I havent been for 6 years & my skis are 90 versions.I believe the new XCD gear is getting more like downhill gear and easier to use.

I still have a couple of young horses, but I don't ride much anymore.
Never did see the sense in a sit-trot. Turns your liver to much for nowt. Sounds like you might do dressage.
My thought was that sitting balance is not as useful for sailing as standing balance, but it's all good.
I've not really done any X-country or Tele ski-ing. I'm a downhill and off-piste hog and my wifelet is rabid.
Sorry to hear that you were injured in a big crash.
One thing I learnt trying to loop, is that it actually hurts less than a normal catapult, as you are not hooked in.

sboardcrazy said...

KenHo said...

Yes, there a whole bunch of activities that train independence and general proprioception, as well as specific spinal proprioception (joint position sense) as well as balance training. That is the whole thrust of my OP.

Horse-riding requires different things in the different gaits. A trot builds legs big-time, whereas a canter requires your lower abdo and legs to move with the horse, while your torso stays quiet, which is what you were referring to I think. I suck at that.
Ski-ing is just plain awesome, but I'm not sure it trains balance for sailing, as skis are actually quite hard to fall off, having such a large base area.

Ther are 2 types of gym ball I've used. The big one you are describing, and some little flatter ones, which I'll post some pics of later.
You have staretd by sitting on the big one, which should be pretty easy, but some people do have trouble. I used to use one as my chair at work, and I had some Korean kids one day who were fascinated by it, and wanted to try. One girl nearly killed herself just sitting on it.

Next step is to kneel on it. I don't have one a resent, btu I was going to get one, so I'll post some pics. Once you are feeling comfortable kneeling, it's possible to move to an upright standing position. Not easy, but certainly doable. Lots of core ability required.

Riding requires core stability and to absorb the motion with the lower back / torso especially sitting trot . Your body to stay quiet while your legs and arms work independently to give the aids..I'm not brilliant either. Cross country skiing requires more balance and technique than downhilling..try doing Telemark turns in off piste backcountry cruddy snow..No fore & aft stability like downhill skis..
Mind you I havent been for 6 years & my skis are 90 versions.I believe the new XCD gear is getting more like downhill gear and easier to use.