Too Burnt Out For Hard Paddleboarding

Last Wednesday I told my paddle coach Jenna that I didn’t want to learn much on our day out in Llandudno.

I’ve been in hard core learning mode lately with my climbing wall instructor training and I felt a bit burnt out. What I wanted was a lazy day on the water – gentle paddling, chatting, letting my nervous system settle and maybe some gentle learning.

Jenna agreed, or rather she pretended to.

Easy Paddleboarding

She created a sense of ease and safety first. We paddled and we chatted for a couple of hours in easy conditions. And then she took me round the Great Orme.

Sneaky Learning

Jenna didn’t warn me it was going to get hard, but she did keep reassuring me that we could turn back at any point.

What followed was about an hour of sustained, hard paddling in tidal conditions. I was scared almost the entire time. I could barely stay on my board. My body was working flat out, my brain was too busy coping to analyse anything.

And that was exactly the point.

Using The Environment and Conditions to Teach me Paddleboarding

Afterwards, Jenna explained that teaching me techniques wouldn’t have worked that day. My brain was already overloaded. But putting me in those conditions meant my body learned anyway – adapting, responding, figuring things out in the moment.

Jenna has an MSc in advanced sports coaching. She knows what she’s doing. And I’m so grateful she trusted herself to throw me in at the deep end!

I left the day feeling stretched, improved, and proud of myself.

If I’d had the easy day I asked for, I think I’d have gone home slightly disappointed.