To download the transcript for this episode click here.

Andy Kettlewell has been on the water since he was nine years old — one six-week intro course and he was hooked for life. From early days jumping into every boat he could find, to a decade of mastering slalom racing at the top level, Andy’s swapped racing gates for raw adventure.

These days, Andy’s all about chasing the fun — big rivers, bigger drops, and even bigger adventures. Now a proud, sponsored paddler for Palm Equipment, he’s transferred the precision of a slalom racer to the wild side of white water, sharing stories from epic expeditions and the lessons learned along the way. 

In this episode of the Coaching podcast, Andy talks with your host Georgina Maxwell about those learnings he’s transferred between the two disciplines and some insight into learnings a white water kayaker can take from that.

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

In this episode of the Coaching Podcast, your host Georgina Maxwell discusses All Things Coaching with Lowri Davies. 

Lowri has been working at the cutting edge of white water coaching and guiding around the world for almost 20 years. Her North Wales-based company, FlowFree, runs the full spectrum of white water and freestyle courses as well as some exciting overseas trips to places such as the Zambezi and Norway. Lowri's passion for helping each paddler to unlock the most joy from their paddling experiences has led to a strong reputation for her work on mindset and confidence, as well as in the fields of advanced white water and freestyle. She combines all of these aspects on FlowFree's renowned "Grade 3 shenanigans" and "Play the River" courses. She's also the lead organiser for DeeFest - a festival that focuses on inclusivity, community, silliness and above all good fun! 

In this episode, Lowri and Georgina discuss the evolution of coaching, emphasising the need to move beyond rigid rules towards a more progressive culture that encourages confidence in learners. Lowri advocates for teaching concepts and variables rather than fixed strategies, allowing paddlers to explore and adapt to dynamic water conditions. She highlights a key element of performance and confidence is connectivity and proper boat outfitting, stressing the importance of maximizing body-to-kayak contact to ensure comfort, control, and effective power transfer. Lowri’s current focus is on maintaining a playful mindset in kayaking and enjoying the learning curve of her new venture into surf kayaking.

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

Richard and Georgina discuss the importance of personal experience in coaching and leading expeditions, as well as risk management in remote locations and the necessity of contingency and repair kits due to the increased probability of equipment failure over time. Richard also distinguishes between the roles of a leader and a guide, and introduces the 1, 2, 3 Mentoring model to foster growth and shared knowledge. 

Richard Harpham is an Adventurer, Author, Speaker and Social Entrepreneur.  His lifetime of adventures include over 15,000 miles of expeditions in wilderness locations by ski, bike, kayak, canoe and SUP.  

His adventures include canoeing the Yukon, sea kayaking 1,000 miles from Vancouver to Alaska, London to Marrakech by bike and kayak, as well as sea kayaking the channel 3 times. The New York Spare Seat Kayak Expedition won the international travel marketing award valued at 1 million dollar PR campaign and was shared with over 200 million people.  Richard has paddled over 100 UK destinations to research and compile a new book, Great British Paddling Adventures. His latest adventure has been to build an off-grid farm house and farm to restore orchards.

Richard has featured on regional TV and BBC1 on many occasions covering his adventure exploits and speaks regularly to schools and national shows about building adventure and the great outdoors into their lives.

Richard has explored much of the UK hiking, biking and paddling, seeking out hidden gems and forgotten trails in his spare time, whether wild camping or embracing van life, he is often found well off the beaten track with his four dogs in tow.

Rich and his wife Ash run Canoe Trail, A Paddle UK Delivery Partner, watersports, expeditions and adventure business with 20 instructors and coaches. Canoe Trail has several staff who are providers of Paddle UK qualifications including Paddle Sports Instructor, PSRC, PSL, Touring Leader, SUP Instructor and the Guide Modules. Canoe Trail run 14 expeditions a year plus the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme . See more here www.canoetrail.co.uk 

www.richadventure.com

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Doug Cooper has worked as an instructor, coaching and guiding for over 35 years, with a passion for sharing knowledge in a way that empowers others to develop their skills, experience and confidence to achieve their outdoor goals. For the last 25 years, a focus of Doug’s coaching has been paddlesport coach/leadership development where he provides training/assessment courses to support future instructors. His specialism is sea kayaking and in this he has published Sea Kayak Handling and Rough Water Sea Kayak Handling, both books designed to support paddlers to develop their skills; this to hopefully take them on trips they aspire to achieve. Doug’s passion is sharing knowledge and doing this by taking people to good places, to do good things when sea kayaking!

https://scottishseakayaking.co.uk/

Paddling smart – the technical and tactical consideration for working with your kayak and the environment to make life easier.

This podcast conversation will use turning in the wind as the basis to explore the concept of how if we ‘listen to our kayak’ and ‘feel what our kayak’ wants to do and how it is interacting with the environment, it will help us become more efficient in our paddling. This, done by considering how things like speed, trim and timing can be used as tactics to make turning in the wind easier by helping the kayak do what it naturally wants to do in the wind; then considering which technical strokes we can then add to aid this further. Having explored this as a concept, we finish the conversation by considering how this can then be taken into other environments, perhaps rock hopping, tide or surf; and maybe adding further tactical considerations of angle, positioning and edge while always listening and feeling what the kayak wants to do and then adding technical strokes to help it. It’s all about understanding what works and then ‘paddling smart’ to hopefully make life easier!

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

Georgina Maxwell hosts the first episode of series 7 of the Coaching Podcast, chatting all things River Play with Chris Evans.

Chris grew up paddling on the Thames where slalom and freestyle kayaking were all the rage, at the age of sixteen he was taken to a ‘real’ river and the rest is history. Twenty six years later and he’s not only keeping the slalom and freestyle in his river paddling but he’s now coaching the movements as part of his work as a full time paddlesport coach. Chris is also part of the British Canoeing Awarding Body EQA team.

Georgina and Chris discuss –

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Chris is officially handing the podcast to Georgina Maxwell for the next 12 months!

Georgina will be taking the microphone and interviewing a whole host of different guests focusing on the technical and tactical elements of coaching different paddlesport disciplines.

Georgina lives in the north of Scotland and is predominantly a white water paddler but comes with a whole range of paddlesport experience. Georgina is also a winter mountaineering climbing instructor and has a diverse range of knowledge to bring to the podcast.  Having worked at Glenmore Lodge, Plas-y-Brenin, with the British military amongst a whole host of other paddlers, clubs and groups, Georgina is a well known and well respected paddler and coach.

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

A big thank you to Chris for the last 12 months. All of his previous episodes can be downloaded here if you need to catch up:

https://britishcanoeingcoaching.podbean.com/

Ray Goodwin is back for part two of his conversation with Chris, talking about his extensive experience of coaching paddlers.

Ray Goodwin is a world-renowned canoeist, coach, and author. He has been paddling for over 50 years. Ray has coached paddlers of all ages and abilities and is known for his patient and encouraging approach and his ability to help paddlers overcome their fears and reach their full potential.  Ray is a true pioneer in the world of canoeing, he has helped to shape the sport and has inspired countless paddlers around the world. He is a true legend and his legacy will continue to inspire paddlers for generations to come.

The topics discussed by Chris and Ray include:

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

Ray Goodwin is the guest for this episode talking to Chris about his lifetime coaching paddlesport.

Ray Goodwin is a world-renowned canoeist, coach, and author. He has been paddling for over 50 years. Ray has coached paddlers of all ages and abilities and is known for his patient and encouraging approach and his ability to help paddlers overcome their fears and reach their full potential.  Ray is a true pioneer in the world of canoeing, he has helped to shape the sport and has inspired countless paddlers around the world. He is a true legend and his legacy will continue to inspire paddlers for generations to come.

The topics discussed by Chris and Ray include:

To download the transcript for this episode click here.

Gareth Wilson is the guest for this episode talking to Chris Brain about Raft Coaching.

Gareth Wilson is a Level 4 coach, has an MSc is Coaching from Loughborough University and the interim head of slalom operations. Whilst a majority of Gareth's coaching over the last 16 years has been in the world of canoe slalom, he has also coached white water rafting on the international stage. He's explored his practice across a number of paddlesports and is a qualified basketball and a trained Co-Active coach. He loves discussing coaching over a cup of tea or whilst out for a long run and relishes the opportunity to learn from other people, practices and professions. 

The topics discussed by Chris and Gareth:

To download the transcript for this episode click here.