From what I have witness in all my years of paddling is that the paddler that is more "talented" will most likely lose to the paddler that trains hard. Unlike certain sports like surfing and most sports the paddler that is more experienced doesn't stand a chance against a paddler that rains hard. so what does having "talent" give you? NOTHING! Paddling is a sport unlike most others as you can not get by just by talent alone. You have to put in the time. The interesting part is when conditions are less that ideal, sometimes the guy or girl with "talent" can overcome the "trainer" but it's rare. The fact of the matter is that the person who trains hard eventually becomes "talented" and that negates the whole argument of the experienced paddler who has gotten by on talent alone. There are a few exceptions like Kea Pai'aina who can drink beer for beer with a pilute like me and still show up and mop the competition on any given day. Basically what I am saying is I salute those who train hard and make great strides. Everytime I am in a race I am reminded of these type of individuals. Their dedication and day to day effort to exceed in this sport does not go unnoticed at least to me. Like today, there was a race and I heard that 5 to 10 guys where planning a one man run tomorrow. I will be sleeping while these warriors will be building their base. All I can say is keep it up and you will be the men that will bring the title back to Hawai'i (Molokai). I just wish I had the wherewithall to do what you do. I would like to see what other paddlers think. What is better? Talent or Training.
Aloha
Submitted by kekoa on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 12:33am
In paddling and kayaking, talent to me is the feel for the water. Knowing how to properly apply your power in the water is something that is innate, very difficult to learn, almost impossible to coach.
Physical and mental ability, technique, toughness all that can be learned whereas the actual feel for the water, coordinating your paddle, body and boat to the water is something intangible. Almost like voodoo. You got it or you don't. In my mind you can be pretty damn fast without a good feel for the water but if you have it, you'll beat the pretty damn fast guy.
poops
#71 Wed, 12/19/2007 - 9:56pm
Poops you got it absolutely right. "Feel for the water".
I paint movie sets for a living and have hired a lot of painter artists over the years. There are always "green" guys, and when you put a brush and the colors in front of them, they seem to have a knack for what looks right. They don't know much about technique yet, but they have "it", they are the ones with minds like sponges, eager to soak up all there is to know. They are the ones who try new roads and do the things you are not supposed to do and come up with new tricks which will be what's taught in the future. That's talent. Then there are the ones who've been to all the wood-graining, marbelizing , and faux-finish classes and their work still doesn't look right and you know it never will. Don't get me wrong there's room for everyone, just like in paddling.
my perspective.
#72 Thu, 12/20/2007 - 7:29am
Talent= Vantage one man
#73 Fri, 12/21/2007 - 7:36am
vantage one man = deese
therefore it follows that
deese = talent
#74 Thu, 12/20/2007 - 8:07am
I don't know what this comment from Rocket means:
Talant= Vantage one man
Thanks for thinking i have talent jc90 but I am just a buoy to pass in the long course races for the elite paddlers. True talent is the elite paddlers like Karel Jr., Kai, Pat Dolan, Fotis, Aaron Napolean, Danny Ching, Mike Judd, Kea and probably a few others that I missed. Those guys could beat most everybody on the one man on a big windy downwind run with no training and drinking the night before. They will surf by you and you will think your boat is full of water or something. It is pretty amazing because you will be full on surfing without hardly any stalls but the will fly by you. The funny thing is they will surf by you with the paddle down. You can really learn a lot from those guys if you follow behind them as they pass you and watch how they ride bumps.
#75 Thu, 12/20/2007 - 8:37am
Many opinions about what 'talent' might mean.
How about:
impressive ability
It does not matter how/why your ability has become impressive, it is or it is not.
And then, it still matters if your coach thinks that you are 'talented' or not; think about crew selection and talent; it's the same in all team sports.
#76 Thu, 12/20/2007 - 10:45pm
I just meant the vantage was a fast boat, kidding around Deese!
#77 Thu, 12/20/2007 - 11:27pm