My top 10 lessons learned after a decade of kayaking

I had just turned 20 years old when I flew to New Zealand to live there for a year. I was determined to make the most of such an incredible opportunity and say yes to every new experience offered whilst I was there. Which is how I found myself signing up to an introduction to kayaking pool session with Auckland Univeristy Canoe Club. A year later and having taken many swims out of a kayak on the rivers of New Zealand, my visa ran out and I had to return to the UK. I moved back to Nottingham and was delighted to find out that Nottingham had it’s very own white water course and quickly signed myself up as a member.

Since that first pool session in Auckland, I have been obsessed with kayaking ever since. I have spent countless hours out on the water over the last decade, improving in my skillset and gaining experience in that environment. I recently celebrated my 30th birthday and realised that I had been kayaking for 10 years now! I have learned a lot of lessons in that time and I wanted to share my ‘top 10 lessons learned’ with you in this article.

1. Who you paddle with is more important than what you paddle.

I have been lucky in life to have met a huge number of incredible people through kayaking and even luckier that some of those people went onto become regular river friends. When the rain comes and the rivers rise, the first thing I do is find friends who are free to go paddling. The people I contact first are not necessarily the ‘best’ paddlers I know or the ones who’ve paddled the ‘hardest’ rivers, but rather anyone that I know I will enjoy spending a day on the water with.

I ask people who are nice. I ask people who are easy going. I ask people who I know just want to have fun and won’t mind what rivers we end up on. The best days that I’ve ever had whilst paddling have been spent on a range of rivers, both well within my capabilities and right at the top of them. All of those days have been with people I have felt very comfortable around and happy to spend time with. This first lesson is about understanding that the joy of kayaking relies much more on the people you’re with and less about the rivers you’re on.

2. ‘You do you’.

You do you. I absolutely love that phrase and use it regularly in my kayaking and non-kayaking life. The idea that the choices we make are based on our own wants and needs and there to benefit ourselves is such a healthy one. I was on a fun Scottish kayaking adventure week a number of years ago and when we got out to scout a particular rapid, one of our group immediately said ‘not for me – I’m going to portage.’ My lovely friend Jake replied to this ‘Sure thing – you do you!’. There was no judgement being made about this person’s decision but simply the recognition that it was their decision to make and that decision would be supported.

I’ve learned that no one really cares if you portage something or if you choose to not join for another lap. Nobody minds what decisions you make about your own kayaking and that realisation was such a positive one to come to. ‘You do you’ is my go to response now when somebody shares a personal decision with me and I can tell that they are nervous about people judging them for it. Being able to make decisions for yourself about your own paddling is an important skill in itself and you will find that the majority of people will support you in your autonomy in making that decision. (Unless it’s a stupid decision like choosing normal fries over sweet potato fries, in which case you would hope good friends would call you out on it!)

3. Kayaking is meant to be fun!

I will scream this sentence until I am blue in the face because that is how important I think it is. KAYAKING IS MEANT TO BE FUN. Fun might take different forms for different people and it might take different forms for you over time.

For example, when I started kayaking, fun to me was about making as much progress as possible. When you first start a new skill, you make noticeable progress very easily and so it feels rewarding. I had a piece of paper stuck to my wall on which I recorded every trip I made to HPP (my local white water course). I recorded the number of laps, swims and rolls. As the weeks went on, I could see the number of rolls increasing and the number of swims decreasing. I could see the progress I was making and that was really fun!

It was a similar experience when I first bought my playboat or my white water stand up paddleboard. I could feel myself making progress with every session and so it was fun. As your progress slows however, I found it was less fun and my motivation to keep up training (sessions aimed at improving certain skills) decreased.

What I currently find really fun is river running again. I am absolutely loving being able to enjoy the journey down a white water river, being immersed in nature, and having fun by being active. I’m loving surfing waves again but that is about as much ‘playing’ as I’m currently motivated to do. I am sure that my focus will move back to progression again at some point but my fun at the moment comes from just being on the water and I’m okay with that!

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What I am trying to say is that whatever focus you currently have – it doesn’t matter so long as you are having fun! If you are not having fun, I would suggest having a think about why is it that you kayak and what is it that you enjoy about kayaking. If you are not doing the things that you enjoy about kayaking – maybe try doing those things more!

4. Get some coaching if you can.

I often get people reach out to me on my social media asking for my advice on how they can improve their kayaking. My advice – get some coaching! I have had very little coaching in my decade of kayaking and it shows! I learned through following leaders at University clubs, lots of peer paddling and trying to copy the slalom kids at HPP. I progressed quickly simply because of the hours I was putting in and found that I had built a really tall pyramid of skills. However, my pyramid was incredibly wobblily because my base of that pyramid was very narrow. Those easier beginner skills were not consistent or even there at all. For example, I was rolling on grade 4 rapids because I have never learned how to brace.

I have had some coaching experiences now (odd weekends or longer trips away over the years) and gained some crucial skills because of those experiences. I wish I had invested more in quality coaching at the start of my kayaking journey as I think I would have less bad habits if I had done so. I cannot change it however and so now must work to rectify those bad habits instead! However if you are reading this and are still quite new to kayaking – take my advice and get some coaching!

5. Push yourself – when it is appropriate to do so.

Now I know that this lesson is going to clash a little with what I wrote in lesson number 3 but here goes! Pushing yourself can be a good thing but there needs to be certain conditions in play.

Firstly there is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone but within your capabilities. When I first started, I would always give things a go. Go surf in that hole? Sure thing! Go first down that rapid – absolutely! But as I gained more experience and my skillset improved, I became more cautious and more conserved on the water. That in itself isn’t a bad thing as it massively reduced my number of injuries whilst paddling! However, it did become a bad thing, when I would use my fear to talk myself out of doing things that were way within my capabilities. For example, I wouldn’t go surf in a hole at HPP. Or I would walk a fairly simple grade 3 rapid that I had run many times before.

I had a period where I stopped going to HPP at all because I’d convinced myself I just wasn’t ‘good enough’ to paddle there. I would go and be super nervous the entire time. One day my husband was trying to convince me to go surf a feature which I really didn’t want to and said to me ‘I would not ask you to do something that I didn’t think you couldn’t do’. Something clicked for me because he was right. The absolute worse thing that could happen from me surfing this hole was that I fell over, flushed out and swam. That was it. So I went for it. I fell over immediately and then…. rolled up!

I still have days where I feel nervous at HPP but I try to remind myself that the worse thing that can happen is that I swim which really isn’t so bad. And the best thing that can happen is that I have fun. So I push myself to go and push myself to go play in the features even if I don’t want to. I don’t always push myself very hard and sometimes I just take the approach to be kind to myself and accept that it is going to be a gentle day. But whatever happens on the day, I remind myself to make sure I come back and try again next time and not give into the fear.

The second kind of pushing yourself is when you push yourself to the top of your capabilities but within your comfort zone. Pushing yourself to try harder moves on easier water is probably the best environment to actually make progress and I am sure that many coaches will agree with me here.

I had a lovely weekend at the Tryweryn with Ross from New Wave many years ago. I was so nervous as I found the upper Tryweryn terrifying at the time. So imagine my surprise when we spent the entire Saturday morning practising our skills above the start of the actual white water. Embedding a new skill without having to worry so much about the environment made things much easier! When we then moved onto the upper Graveyard section (grade 2) in the afternoon to apply those skills, I was really able to push myself to apply them without feeling too stressed as it was still an environment that I felt very comfortable in.

Finally the third kind of pushing yourself is when you push yourself out of both your comfort zone and to the top of your capabilities. This is okay to do so as long as you consider the whole situation. For example, where it is you are doing this and who you are surrounded by? What is the worst thing that could happen and do you have the capabilities within your group to deal with it? Check with your group before you commit and make sure everyone is on the same page. I won’t write too much on this one but I will just leave you with this example. Having a swim on the Upper Dart (just an example of a fairly committing, very remote river) when paddling with a very capable group might not be pleasant but will probably be okay. Having the whole group swim on the Upper Dart on the other hand because every single paddler is on a river beyond their capabilities would be disastrous.

6. You can’t always put kayaking first and that’s okay.

I used to absolutely hate making plans on weekends on the off chance that ‘there could be rain’ that weekend and I would have to miss out on kayaking. Years ago we attended a family event for my great aunt’s birthday. There was a huge series of storms that weekend and every single UK river was up. I checked my phone regularly that weekend to see what the rivers were doing and what levels I was missing. The Saturday evening and Sunday had my social media channels filled with videos and photos shared my friends of their epic days out on the water. I loved my great aunt and enjoyed her birthday weekend but I still felt like I had missed out.

What really helped me to deal with my FOMO (fear of missing out) was strangely the Covid lockdowns. The long winter lockdown of 2020/2021 was very wet and there were many rivers up but of course we couldn’t leave home and so were unable to paddle. I made the decision over the lockdowns to step back from social media. I stopped scrolling and I stopped checking the river apps for levels. I knew because of the excessive rain we were having that there must be rivers up but I didn’t know which ones and so I didn’t dwell on what I was missing. I cared less. I took joy in getting out on my local river the Trent and I didn’t worry about what others were able to do when I wasn’t.

It was a healthier approach and one that I tried to uphold post lockdowns. I am more comfortable in making non kayaking plans now and tried to commit myself to enjoying those plans and not worrying if it means I miss something else. Kayaking will always be important but I think realising it didn’t have to always come first was a really useful lesson.

7. Kayaking helps you to prioritise how you spend your time.

When I was 18, I used to be a bit of a party girl. When I started kayaking, I was still a bit of a party girl. It was when I left University and started working full time though, that I reassessed my life choices and decided on my priorities. I suddenly found myself with much less free time than I was used to whilst at University and knew I couldn’t do everything. And so I choose kayaking. I was working long hours but I realised very quickly that I needed to keep paddling or I would actually lose my mind. So I made decisions that meant I could prioritise my free time to the pursuit of chasing rivers.

I had a colleague once ask me why I wasn’t going on a staff night out that Friday. I replied that I had a 5am start that Saturday so I could get up and get over to North Wales to be on time for a kayaking course I was booked onto. He responded by telling me that I needed to ‘get a life’ instead of doing that. I could of get angry but instead I asked him how he was going to spend his weekend to which he replied ‘go to the pub of course’. I smiled politely and quickly found a way to exit our conversation.

The next day as I paddled down the beautiful river Conwy, cold water splashing in my face, I thought again of this conversation. I don’t have anything against people who drink or party, but the idea that I could ever go back to a life where I prioritised that over getting outdoors where I could climb mountains, wild swims in lakes or paddle rapids was laughable. In that moment I was full of adrenaline, bursting with happiness and just felt so alive. Everybody dies but not everybody lives. Give me a wet weekend out on the water any time over one spent in a spoons!

I discussed this with a housemate on the Sunday evening when I got back who replied ‘yeah but kayaking is what you live for isn’t it’. Yes it is! Time is precious, choose how you spend yours wisely.

8. Be friendly, be polite, be kind.

Being a nice person doesn’t take a lot of effort but it can make a big difference to the people around you. Don’t underestimate the effect that you make on other people. Try to make it a positive effect if you can.

9. Give back when and where you can.

Think back along your kayaking journey and everyone who has ever helped you. Anyone who ever took the time to help you on the water by leading you, coaching you or being a friendly face. Anyone who made the effort to show you how to get into and out of your kayak or loaned you gear when you didn’t have any. Anyone who ever offered words of encouragement or support. Now see if you can do that for someone else.

This community is incredible. The time, energy and support that people are willing to share is overwhelming. I have tried to be a part of that from the day I started. At the start that looked like helping others to carry their boats, bringing river snacks for the group and just being as friendly and positive as I could.

In recent years that looked more like offering my time in supporting people on the water through coaching and leading, helping to run and organise events and sharing good causes and good people through this blog. I am very passionate about young people and at the time of writing this, I am preparing to help run a kids camp for GB Freestyle kayaking for the next week. There will be many other volunteers like me helping to ensure that the young people attending this camp have the best week possible. It is an amazing community – be part of that if you can.

10. Go to events – they are fun!

My last lesson is that attending events are really fun! Attend, don’t take yourself too seriously, give things a go and aim to get into the spirit of the event as much as possible. That is the recipe for having a really good time! Events bring out some of the most wholesome parts of our sport and are always incredibly joyful. I love the atmosphere on and off the water at them and always leave feeling very full filled. The next event I’ll be attending is Euro Open here in Nottingham – do come join me if you want to!

The End

So there you go! Another long article from me (I’m sorry! Once I get into the swing of writing, the words just keeping coming!) But hopefully you’ve enjoyed it! Don’t forget – these are the lessons I’ve learned over the last decade. Please do comment below with your own lessons that you’ve learned during your kayaking time. I would love to hear them!

Happy paddling everyone!