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Paddles Ready is your go-to podcast for everything happening in the world of paddle racing.
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โI'm going to London. Ooh. Rule Britannia. So what's Hando's take on coaching and where it's at and where it's going?
Some of these great paddlers, they want to become coaches. You got some of the biggest names in the outrigger world like-
How, how often are teams training nowadays?
Do you have a, an opportunity where there's a tactical race where inside the dragon boat there's a booster jet and you're only allowed to use the booster jet?
Like the Formula Ones.
Yeah. You still want to balance the boat as a coach. 100%. And coaches should know how to do that, and if they don't, learn. They've got the World Outrigger Sprint Games in Singapore.
Do you think we're too obsessed with the tradition of dragon boating, and we're not putting enough obsession into the entertainment side of dragon boating?
Paddles ready
This is Paddles Ready, the global voice of paddle sports. Live commentary, race coverage, athlete stories, and expert analysis from across the world of paddling. From dragon boat racing to ocean ski, this is where the competition, the culture, and the stories come together. Let's get into it
Hey, Nico. How are you, mate? Hello. We're back again- We're back ... for another episode, and welcome- Of Paddles Ready. Welcome ... and thank you all for subscribing and liking.
Yeah, we went a bit, uh, hard on that, the, the last ones just saying, you know, @paddlesready. No, it's good. But it was good. It
was good. It's
great.
We've got to be. It, uh,
we- we- Being a social butterfly 100%. We, we, we, we need them- And we're worldwide ... because, mate,
you know- We're worldwide, and, you know- We're global ... the, the, the news that we're going into China, it's, uh, it's all big. It's
pretty exciting.
It's all exciting. It's
pretty... And, and some of the guests that we've had on.
Well, the guests- You, you can't- ... have been phenomenal. The guests have been phenomenal, and I thought today, l- l- let's get into a bit of coaching. I mean, you're a coach here. Bit of
coaching?
Okay. You're, you're a coach here in Brisbane. You've been coaching for a long time now. Well, not so much in, in, in, in, in, in
Brisbane- Not, not here
now, but you, you were.
Yeah
Um, you know, so over in Dubai and stuff. So I thought let's, let's touch on where we're going, the future, what's working as a coach at this point of time. Um, we- we're now seeing a lot of gyms that are getting stuck into the rowing, not just your traditional rowing machine that we've all used over the last 30 years.
I wanna get your take on the... And Dougie's, Dougie's Ready, 60 Seconds with Dougie, sorry, um, we talk about fitness and te- technique. Yeah. Some people say fitness, some people say technique. What's Hando's take on coaching and where it's at and where it's going?
Um, great question, thanks. You know, and, and, and obviously- My coaching started, like, sort of forced into it.
I, I w- I was a tennis coach, so we started dragon boating in '93 with the Diggers all the way up, still to this day with the Dubai Diggers. But for me, uh, the coaches have got to adapt of... Are we, are we g- are we gonna talk about the transition from when I did it right up to today, or where they're doing it and how they did it?
Well, I, I mean, touch on a little bit of what you, you, what you have done over the years. 'Cause it's...
Yeah, 'cause
there's so many- But what you're seeing now, I mean, you, you're- Yeah. Okay ... we, we're, we're seeing, uh, the coaches now. Um, you know, every time we go down to regatta every weekend, every second weekend, we're seeing what they're doing.
They're probably doing things now that you've never done- Oh ... because your coaching was back in the '90s. So give us a bit of a thing on your coaching back in the '90s, early 2000s, to where coaching is now.
Yeah. So look, the, the, the technique obviously, uh, it, it was more about everyone getting in time and hitting that, hitting that catch and hitting the positive angle and, and collecting that water so you had the most amount of water on the blade to push to pull the boat forward, to move it forward.
The training, going back then, now we're all obviously still, you're all shapes and sizes. Yeah. And I think some of our, some of our guests that are head of the federations now, they are all coaches-
Yep ...
as well, and they've got some great insights into the sport. So what I'm seeing now from a technical sp- perspective is how they're selecting teams, not only national teams, but even, uh, y- your state teams or provincial teams fr- fr- fr- from Europe to North America to Australia.
You, you, you touched on the, the rowers with the ergos. Yep. And then they've got the paddle adapters. Um, I've got a, a champion paddle adapter where, you know, they're, they're, they're... And it, it obviously it's not like you're testing on the water. I l- I love what, what Tommy said about there's nothing better testing, um, a paddler's ability to paddle an OC1.
Yep.
But, but sometimes dragon boaters Get in an OC1.
Yep.
And, and they're, they're off if, if they're doing- They're gone ... if they, well, they, they're not used- They're gone ... to steering it with their feet or they're steering it with a blade, oh, steering it with the feet, so.
Yep.
But from, from a coaching perspective, what I saw many teams, the coaches would get there, and then the following year for the sport to grow, the experienced paddlers would then go and start their own team.
Yep.
Especially I saw that in, in Dubai, Hong Kong, uh, you know, history of it. But es- especially in Dubai when there was only five or six teams, and then create the next teams and the Filipinos have a massive contingent over there-
Right ...
with it. And, and the, the experienced paddlers would, would, would learn from coaches.
Yep. And, and we'd sometimes have coaching clinics and courses, but they'd watch different teams, and they'd form different clubs. Yeah. And those clubs, like I've said before You know, it's great to be a good coach if you can have 20 people and manage 60 personalities. Yeah. But what I'm seeing now, uh, and, and I think Deb Moran from the AusDBF, she had a coaching clinic up in, up in Queensland.
She's got a new four-year, um, tenure with, uh, AusDBF.
Yep.
They're getting biomechanics, different, different, um, formations of, of, of how to paddle, what's the right technique for them.
Is there a lot of, like rugby league and like, um, I guess football, soccer as we call it here, is there a lot of video work done?
Absolutely.
Go- nowadays, like, you know, the coaches are there doing a lot of video work. Yeah. We've seen it for years, probably since the late '80s in rugby league- Y- yeah. Well- ... um, and rugby union. But
yeah ... Muffy, Muffy with, with rugby league, with Sportsdata, the vision. Yeah, yeah. So- But that's where I learnt getting, when the phones came available-
Yep
in, in, in Dubai, that's, that's all I'd, I'd do. I'd, I'd take it and we'd have the, actually we'd have the video cameras-
Yep ...
and then we'd play it back on the computer because you'd see different paddlers. There's nothing like getting vision.
Yeah. Gotcha. '
Cause you can, you, you can see the setup. I- is there symmetry?
Is it, is it used for us- Is there symmetry? Is everyone's arm in the same place? Is everyone's legs, everyone knee? Yeah. Like I, I, I, I love, I love it, I love the stability in a boat. I don't like the, the fulcrum. I don't- Yeah ... I
don't like hinging. You don't like that.
But- Yeah ... but, but some people do.
Yeah.
Uh, some coaches do.
They all have their own different ways to try and get that edge.
Yeah. Gotcha.
You know?
What, um, we're seeing now around the world, there's, you know, in particular, um, our good mate Aiden up there in Brissie, um, he's hoping for us to, uh, catch up with a gentleman over in Toronto there, um, Afterburner Performance Gym, Andre.
Um- Oh, Andre with the gym.
Welcome to the channel, mate. Um-
Hey, Andre. Welcome. We're gonna come to
you soon ... we, we, we hope that, uh, we can get you on, uh, very soon. Um, and that's a gymnasium that is just for dragon boaters.
Just for paddlers. And I think it's got a great history. I think there was breast cancer.
Yeah, there was- Um- Yeah. And we'll let Andre tell about the history of the boat- Yeah ... of the history of the, uh, gymnasium. Um, we'll let... But isn't it fantastic how you can go to a gym, you know, a bit far for us being here in Australia and Andre's in Toronto, but a purpose-made gymnasium for dragon boating. A, a, a- How good
Andre, a paddles ready, a paddles ready gym.
Yeah.
There we go. Yeah.
But, um- But
that, that-
That's just taking it to n- this is now the future of the paddling, that's taking it to the next level.
Yeah. And, and I think not only, look, that, that's obviously specifically for dragon boating.
Yeah.
But when you talked about paddle sports- You know, that, that can be for the outriggers, for your, for your canoeists
Yep, 100%
a- and all that. But yeah, that, they're taking things to a different level with that. But with the, with the, with the paddle adapters which they flick across so you've got your left and your right, and then you think about what you're talking about, I suppose coaching.
Yeah.
You got some of the biggest names in the outrigger world, like the Danny Chings of the world-
Mm-hmm
that we found out, you know. Danny- Yeah. Oh, yeah, Tommy ... we'll get you on soon with
Tommy.
Tommy, yeah,
is filling
us all in. Um, he, he's been in the Dragon Boat USA team for years and, and one of the most, uh, prolific, uh, uh, coaches. I used to get the links from Danny Ching and, and, and, and the Californian and the Hawaiian links for my team-
Yeah
back in the, the early mid-2000s to go back and look because when you're coaching you sometimes learn different drills.
Yep.
And, and, and you adapt and, and you have all different types of, uh, well, technique. Where do you put your load on the blade? Look, I, I, I love, I love coaching. I always have loved coaching, and seeing paddlers progress when y- uh, you know, as Claudio once said, you hop in the boat and have fun.
Yeah. You learn, you get better. Then, then y- you're talking about it actually does- Uh, it, it, it, it collates from being a great paddler and what's the pathway next? Some of these great paddlers, they wanna become coaches.
Yep.
So in all the different federations and I, y- you know, I know in, in, in, in, in America and, and Europe they probably have different ones, but Australia they have...
You, you Dragon Boat Queensland, uh, or Dragon Boat Australia, I think it's governed by the AusDBF, you have your courses, you have your sweeps courses-
Yep ...
and, and, and you can become an accredited coach. And obviously there they follow guidelines of what technique's good, how it is, and, and yeah, look, the, the, the collaboration that I see amongst coaches, as we've touched on before with Gary Quartermaine-
Yep
back in the, the, the late '90s, I loved just ringing up and texting him about
things. And just picking the brain type thing. Yeah. And- Just getting that, trying to... A bit what I do to you when I interview you on the Hot Takes, try and just get- Oh ... whatever is up there and get it out. And you don't, y- y- and, and, and- You don't even know what's up there half the time
everyone, you
don't know what's up there, but, but, but yeah, look, that's,
that's- We talk about the crossover and with Danny and that, um, for those of you who are watching, I got to go up to Singapore the other week and, um, caught up with AusChamp and caught up with a number of the other teams up there. The
German-
So- The
German
team
I caught up with Lillian from AusChamp.
Yep.
I caught up with Lily, I caught up with Chris. Chris arrived in a K1. Wow. Lily arrived on her pushbike. Lillian turned up on a pushy. Um, but I, I probably get this wrong, but Lily is, um, German Senior B- Right ... Dragon Boat-
Right ...
team. Um, Chris was in her K1. We went round to, we were over at the, um, nursery where all the boats are-
Yes
down there in Singapore, and we went for a walk around to another place where the K1s are dragon boating. They actually rent the dragon boats out, so you can go and rent a dragon boat. How cool.
Yeah. Wow. And y- you went to night, you went to night-
So they had the night racing, they had the Dragon Sprint Regatta on the Friday night, and that's when they had all of the lights, and then on the Saturday they had the 100 meter sprints, I think, from memory.
Wow.
Um, but down on the foreshore there it was just coaching clinics, face painting for the kids, you name it, they had all this.
Wow.
It was unbelievable. But, uh, girls, we went for a bit of a chat and then they took me to the second place around from the nursery. There was these juniors there.
Mm-hmm.
When I say juniors, I'm gonna say university students, you know, maybe w- They were doing beep test training.
Right.
Not with running. Chin-ups.
Oh, so that went viral from, on Dragon Lover and Paddles.
Yeah I, well, I was the one who put it up, 'cause I filmed it. Oh. It was the Paddles Ready film. I filmed it. And I said to Lily, I went, "What is this?" No, I said to Lily, I went, "What's, what's going on here?" And at that stage I didn't...
I'm thinking, oh, they're doing chin-ups. And then I heard the beep, and Lily says, "It's a beep test in chin-ups." Yeah. You should have seen. I mean, for those of
you who are- How many do you
do? Yeah, mate. As if, as if. I'd be struggling to jump up on the bar. But they were doing it before they went out paddling.
Unassisted?
Unassisted.
Wow.
And you just keep pulling up, the beep goes, you drop back down. Up, down, till you drop.
I wonder if they've got that at Afterburners.
Oh, they'd have... Oh, for sure. For sure. But, uh, to Lily and, Lily and Chris, thanks for hosting me over the weekend. It was lovely
to meet you. And Singapore.
And the old dens- And Singapore ... from Singapore Paddle Club. Yeah. So it's a shame you didn't get a chance to get up there, but, um, yeah, back onto the coaching and the crossover, um, part of AusChamp was
Pras.
Yep. He's, uh, head of the va'a, which is the outrigger. They've got the World Outrigger Sprint Games in Singapore, so- Really?
you've got the outriggers from all over the world converging.
Going there.
So let's go back to your point about coaching and technique.
Yep.
Do I think... Sorry, go.
No, no, no. That, and that's the big thing. That's what we're saying. Technique or fitness. Mm. I mean, we talk about it enough in a couple of our- Yeah, yeah
on a couple of our, um, things.
And I love it as a, as a coach when we're at the Diggers, and, and Izzy and, and Daniel Wood and the Diggers now, 'cause they're, they're preparing, or they, it's, it's, they, they, they're going to Hong Kong- Mm ... as well, again, from Dubai. Yep. Loving it going back. But they, they, they do their testing, uh, uh, on an outrigger with a dragon boat paddle.
Yep.
Even though they do the outrigger paddling You've got certain people in the world saying that the, the outriggers pull more water-
Yeah ...
and, and, and they're better paddlers. I don't know whether they're better paddlers. Is there, is the shape of the blade different on an outrigger and the catch different, yeah, and, and they pull a longer stroke.
You have some people, again, coaching, techniques, timing, rating.
Yep.
You know? Y- i- it's that ability to get your boat up and gliding. Um, and I know, Tommy, I said hit and glide, but I, but I love now, I loved what he said about you don't wanna, that's not to say hit. It, it's, it's getting there and getting the most amount of water in that catch and then using your, your, your pull muscles, your back muscles.
'Cause you see from a lot, lot of the OC, the Hawaiians, the David, uh, Vaha, if, if I've got it right, but some of these amazing traditional, um, Tahitian, sorry, outrigger coaches. Yep. And the power of the top arm and the, and the press and the push, and then just using that, the, the pull with their lats and the big muscles in their legs.
They're using the power.
Yeah, yeah. And,
and- It's, it's, I mean, if you've got the power and then you pull the technique-
And, and, and- ... that always shows ... and it just feels relaxed.
Yeah.
I love a relaxed, quiet, um, stroke.
Stroke.
And, and then you, you've, you know, you've got the rating of the Chinese, the Indonesians, the Thai- Yeah
the old Miramar teams, which is huge. How- But, but that's a great, that's a great question-
Yeah, but how, how- ... for all you viewers ... how, how often are teams training nowadays? If you're, if you're, w- you know, we're off to the wo- Are competitive? We're off to the worlds, who, and teams that are competing, um, you know, people who are fair dinkum, what are they training?
How many days a week? One day a week? Two times a week?
I-
More?
You, you, you'd have to be minimum three times a week on the water.
Yes.
I said if you're training for a world title, um, you know, we'd, we'd be four or five times on the water. And, and sometimes- Right ... it's single craft.
Yep.
You know, if, if you're in, say for example, here in our neck of the woods as an Aurora, and there's, there's, there's testing now for next year's Aurora Games.
Like, it's not just, oh, they pick a team.
Well, how do they pick that? I mean, where-
So re- rigorous testing ... I just, you know what I mean? Yeah. There, there's, there's benchmarking that needs to be done.
Are they doing a start, like 100-meter starts? I, I mean, is-
It, it's everything from fitness, from pull-ups, from benches, from bench pulls- Yep
uh, to, to, to sit-ups, push-ups. Then they'll be, then they'll get invited to camps with the Aurora. So Deb Moran from AusTBF, so let's talk about our own backdoor.
Yeah.
You know, not giving, um, too things, too many things away. But, um, she's doing some amazing things here. And, and a lot of the, the young and, and also experienced Typhoon paddlers that obviously did very well in the, in the, in the, the Queensland state titles and the national titles, they're all competing to get in that national team.
Yeah.
Can a national team Paddle every day in the same boat? No. But that's where different camps are set upon and they go for training camp and then there's certain criteria. You know, i- it's on the ergs- What a- ... it's on the paddle ergs, the timing.
What about weight distribution and, you know, keeping the w- obviously, you know- Oh my goodness, yes
you got, you gotta be as fit as a fiddle to- No, that's an art ... to be racing with. And that's what I'm saying. The, to be in the Auroras, the boat balance, weight distribution- Very
important ...
tell me about that.
The, the trim of the boat. Yep. So, you know, i- i- from a different, um, coach's- L- looking at it from my side, I love a well-balanced boat front and back.
Yeah. Split it up, whether it's a, you know, 750 to 810 boat, depending what it is, on a 20-man boat or a small-man boat. But you want the, the, the front and the back, so the helm and the, and, and the, um- The bow ...
the
bow pretty much-
Well, you definitely don't want the bow downwards ...
it, it, well, uh, uh-
You know?
I'll have to get a heavier drummer with me on the back, right?
That's why I've, I gotta, I gotta shred down to, to, to under 88 if I'm gonna go back with the, uh-
Is that why you used to put me in two left, just to bring the bow down a bit?
That's it. A- a- and, but, but it's also, you know, without all the, the, the technology you've got to know with, with Excel, w- with, with programs, but I'd have to do it on race day and, and someone would miss out or someone got injured, and you just can't swap one to left.
Yeah. "Oh, well, he's 10 kilos." It throws it all out. It throws it out, 100%. You have to take one off that, one off that- Yeah ... switch it that. And then sometimes, I was talking with Blair, as a coach, they're good to put, where do you put the paddlers that, that can make the boat run a bit better with the trim?
Yes.
Gotcha.
You know? And then also, I've seen over the years, I've looked at ra- mixed boats and gone, "Oh my goodness, like there's seven men on one side and three women."
Yeah.
And the power distribution is, is different. Yeah. Everyone's strong.
Yep.
But coaching for me is everyone's got to be together. Your eyes together, your legs together, your hit, your catch, everyone's arm at that same.
That, you don't want to drop it down too far.
Yep.
You want your elbow below the gunwale so you're hitting the catch. Yep. 'Cause as soon as you're paddling and someone, oh, that, that's half a second gone or hundredth of a second gone. Whatever it is. Yeah, gotcha. But 100%, you want that balance, and some people don't know how to balance a boat.
Yep.
They can be told and taught, but they don't know.
They don't get it.
Like, remember that Sintac team I talked about, the Ch- they were all 6'1", the same weight.
Just, and they're set- ... set, set beau- beautifully.
Oh my goodness. Like that's your, you know, when you go to these elite teams, and even, not even just your, your festivals-
Yep
you still want to balance the boat as a coach.
100%.
And coaches should know how to do that. And if they don't, learn.
Yeah.
Explore, collaborate,
you know? Mm-hmm. What's the old saying? You, you don't know what you don't know.
Oh, yeah.
Anyway, there we go. Now I'm a philosopher. Nick, thank you so much. I want to do a- We
could talk about
coaching
and technique for years I know you could talk about coaching for years.
That's why- Sorry, guys, it was all about me today ... the system, I was just like, pull it out of your head, pull it out of your head. And I know, you know, Tommy and Julie and all that over there, they- I know, I know ... they'll be listening to, you know, your s- not spin, but you know how you see it as a coach, um, especially back in the '90s and where we're at now.
So thank you very, very much, mate. Um, let's get onto the next thing, which is I'm going to London
Ooh. Rule Britannia.
So we're taking the show to London.
We're taking the show. Paddles Ready
on the Thames. Paddles Ready is going to London, so, uh, looking forward to catching up with a few teams-
Yes ...
um, when we're up there, and we're gonna get, uh, plenty of content.
So I'm coming to a club near you on the Thames River or wherever it may be. Coming
to a club near you in the UK.
So we're gonna have producer Billy, he's gonna be making some phone calls, and we'll be getting some, uh... We'll just be inviting ourselves, basically. But, um, w- w-
well- Hang on a minute.
There was some royalty that paddled.
There was royalty. Oh, that's coming up. L- Let's not... Let's save that because that's coming up.
Goodness me. Mike Haslam, we love you.
Mike Haslam gave us some, I mean-
Unbelievable insights ...
it's not a scoop, but it was just a, uh, just a story that happened with some, a royal couple. Princess. Yeah. Pr- Princess, um, so that's coming up later on.
But anyway, so I'm off to London. We're taking Paddles Ready there. We're doing 60 Seconds With Dougie. We're taking the
flag.
Taking the flag.
Tell me- Hang on a minute.
I nearly-
When you arrived in Singapore-
I nearly got arrested ...
Dougie, can... I'm reverse hot taking.
No. Okay.
Tell me
about that. So you told me to take the flag up.
The
Paddles Ready fla-
absolutely. The Paddles Ready flag that you see in 60 Seconds With Dougie. Yes, yes, yes, yes. "Take the flag up." And I was like, "Oh, God. Okay, yeah, I'll take the flag up." So I get there and get to the airline, Qantas. Oh, you've got to go to oversized baggage. So I put my tag on, go to os- oversized baggage.
I got to Singapore Airport- Yeah ... and I went and got it from the oversized baggage. Okay. And I'm walking through the terminal with that. I was accosted by this security guard, um, customs. She thought it was a gun, or she thought it was- Really? ... a spear gun.
Oh, no. W- were, were the boys and family with
you? Yeah.
No, no, they just... The boys were, and she goes, "Oh, no, speak to you. You go." And so then next thing you know- This
is in Singapore ...
in Singapore. You
didn't have chewing gum on, did you?
No. But anyway, it went through, and then I'm trying to explain to her that it's a advertising banner. She wasn't having anything.
She wasn't- Wow ... having anything to do with it. Well,
I suppose it's good that they can pick that up. Must be, must be vision and-
So when I opened it up and she saw it was a flag, it seemed like she was disappointed that it was a flag. Oh, no. But I had a hat and a stubby cooler in there, so I gave it to her.
She didn't take it off me.
Oh, no.
So anyway, I had to pack up my flag. I made it through Singapore customs, but jeepers.
But it didn't make it back.
It got m- m- I don't know. It, it must've ripped or something in the hold, or the dragging it around- Or maybe
they just-
Maybe they stole it ...
maybe they went back and said, "Ha."
So anyway- There we go ... I thought even before I arrived in Singapore I was on a Qantas flight back home, but I wasn't. I opened it up and, uh, it was a fake. So that's my story about being, uh, accosted in Singapore. Wow, we
started off about technique and coaching, and now we're talking about our Paddles Ready banners not being anywhere near us.
Well, listen, let's get on with We're gonna wrap it up here. This has been a great podcast. Thank you once again for your coaching tips- Ah ... and all that information.
Lot of coaching tips, but the best thing is, you know, we love hearing your views. It is good. And there's so many comments coming through to us, so please-
Yeah, keep going.
And if there's
anything
that
you- Keep going, keep subscribing, keep liking ...
anything that's working for your team when it comes to coaching, let us know.
Tell us about it. And we
can tell us about it, and we can put it out there.
Yeah, yeah. Um, you know? Well, well look, uh, and it's, it's not new. We've got people, head coaches and federations, and we're gonna be bringing on-
And they're on
and, and, and we- and they're bring- Julie from Canada. Tommy from the States ... they're, they're br- they're bringing some special guests in. We've got some special guests coming in here.
Yeah.
We- we've got James and Ben from Sunny Coast, two Auroras-
Yep ...
coming in-
100% ...
very, very soon. So, um, you know, there's James Matthews-
So yeah, so if you've got any of that, any of that s- coaching tips or anything, let us know.
Put it out there. We'll throw it up on our socials. We'll put it up on Instagram. If you've got a drill that you wanna y- you, that's working for your club, video it, send it to Hando and I, and we'll get it out there for you. We'll share it. We'll share it. We'll share it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, and while you're doing that, also tag in, @paddlesready.
You know, it's, uh, we're loving doing this. We're loving bringing the show to you. Absolutely. But we need your help on the other side, so @paddlesready, as I always say. Nick, thank you very much. Coaching... What would you call that? A coaching expose. It's not, it's not a coaching clinic. A coaching clinic. So thank you very much.
I'm Dougie. I'm Hando. And we're Paddles Ready.
We're down here still in Singapore with Eileen from AusCham, and this is 60 Seconds with Dougie. Eileen, worst excuse you've heard for not turning up to training?
Um, I slept in. Uh, my alarm didn't turn on.
Downwind or grind?
Downwind.
Early morning training or sleep-ins?
Sleep-ins.
What's more important, fitness or technique?
Technique. Carbon fibre or wooden paddle?
Carbon.
Coffee before or after training?
No coffee. Coffee's bad for you.
Biggest talker on the boat?
Andreas.
Sprint or distance?
Distance.
Beers or lemonade after a regatta?
Protein shake.
Favorite regatta you've competed in?
Uh, CCWC Ravenna.
Advice you would give to a new paddler hopping in a boat for the first time?
Consistency.
And if I wasn't a paddler, I'd be?
I would be a cyclist burning my money through Lycra.
Eileen, thank you very much. That's 60 Seconds with Dougie.
Well, Hando Dougie It's that time of the week, Hando's hot take. I'm good. This is a good one today.
Is it?
Yeah, I was just, uh... I let my fingers, I let my fingers do the walking and, Hando, do you think Do you think we're too obsessed with the tradition of dragon boating and we're not putting enough obsession into the entertainment side of dragon boating?
You know, it's all good to be loyal and to show, you know, the tradition of it, but I just came back from Singapore. The lights, camera, action, what they're doing up there, the fanfare on the s- on the shore. They have people coming from everywhere, families. It's fast, it's dramatic, it's unreal. I'm not seeing that around the globe.
I'm seeing this tradition, which I'm a big fan of, the I dotting and all that, but we can be s- I believe we can be so much better of bringing this sport up to where it deserves to be.
See, that's awesome, and I, I saw some of those photos, and I've been seeing it in Asia where they're going through the Foshan and, and through the canals.
Yeah. And the lights and the night dragons. You're still keeping the tradition, but yeah, I... Absolutely. Could there be night races on the Brisbane River, or could it, could it be entertainment where the corporates get really behind it, where it's not the elite- That's what I mean ... yeah, the el- the elite level Get this sport.
It, it is a fast sport ... a- and you, and you tie in to the en- entertainment of that night where it goes. Absolutely. I think that'd be phenomenal.
I just feel we- we're, we're, we're hamstrung here as a sport, and I'm all for tradition, but how... And if we're part of that picture, you know, we're doing live broadcasts, there's another thing, how well it works when we broadcast and we l- like, we get the crowds involved.
And, and, and you get the TV, the viewing, the, the- 100% ... the, the social media.
I just feel- The people, all that ... we are getting too obsessed with the tradition and not obsessed enough with getting the entertainment out there, and that's what I wanted to get your thoughts.
Oh, I'd, I'd, I'd love more entertainment.
Um, how we do it? Is it, is it the smaller boats? Is it faster?
We,
we- Is it, is it innovation into boats?
100%. We, we, you know, have this- Do, do you
have them on the hydrofoils?
Ha- Something like that. Exactly. You know, changing of the boats. Um, a night, Friday night sprint series. I, I can just see it. No matter where you are on the globe, a Friday night sprint series, um, come down with the family, fast action, lights, as I said, lights, camera, action.
Food, camera, action, watching other sports. Hey, go out for a paddle for a race.
Yeah. So what, what's your thought? Let's wrap it up quickly.
Well, well, you, you could have it, and look, the Aussies love competitive, the Aussies love betting on things. Yeah. In China, it's a full-on competitive professional circuit.
Why couldn't you have a entertainment circuit here. And I don't, I don't know the answer, Dougie, but I think it does need to be. We're elevating- Well, we're- Hopefully we're helping elevate it globally- Yeah, exactly. We're hopefully
doing our bit here ... with the sport
Great question. Send the views in. Send us your thoughts.
Yeah. Uh, are we too bunkered down in tradition? Are, are we not putting enough into the entertainment and the spectacle side of the sport? I don't believe we are. I think it has a long way to go. I'd love to be part of that planning.
Do, do you have, do you have a, an opportunity where there's a tactical race where inside the dragon boat there's a booster jet, and you're only allowed to use the booster jet?
Like the Formula 1s. Yeah. Well, anyway, thank you for that. I just wanted to run it past you and see what your thoughts were, 'cause I know what I've been thinking over the last couple days, and that's why I wanted to put that question to you. That's it.
Awesome. Thanks, Dougie.
No worries, Hando. So that's Hando's Takeout.
Hot Take, sorry. Hando's Hot Take. Um, and speak to you later.
Bye for now.
Well, Hando, another one down, another one, uh, another show complete.
Another super, super effort, Dougie.
Mate, how was the Hot Take?
How's the superlatives?
So the Hot Take, outrigger. Then we went outrigger, dragon boater. And then I've taken it down the surf lifesaving- Surf ski
the clubby, the clubby- Stand up Stand up. That was a lot of fun, that one. Um, but mate, great show. For everyone at home, @paddlesready, you know what to do. Um, we can't do this without you guys. Help us share. Share it. You know, come on, subscribe onto the YouTube channel, subscribe onto the website.
That's
it.
You get onto the subscriptions, especially on the website, you're going to get a little bit of more back-end stuff, and you get the newsletter. You get all that. Hando and I love bringing this to you every week. We hope you're loving it as much as we do. Um, get it. We're going international. Everyone knows we're going to China, so that's coming up soon, and we're gonna be bringing East versus West.
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