![\"Learning](\"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1.png\")
<\/a>Learning to paddle something this short!<\/p><\/div>\n
The LPS is fantastic. Not because I came home with a boat, but because it\u2019s the only weekend like it in the kayaking world. In a male dominated sport, a weekend of female-oriented coaching and networking is great for our confidence and development as paddlers. It\u2019s also a great weekend away in itself, full of laughs and good times.
\nKayaking can teach us a lot about ourselves. When I started learning in 2013, it was the first time I\u2019d taken up anything new in about a decade. I came to it after a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, as part of a recovery process. It quickly became obvious I was shy about getting things wrong, didn\u2019t like making mistakes (especially ones that led to swimming!) and put huge pressure on myself to do things right as fast as possible.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Early days, learning to roll it\u2026<\/p><\/div>\n
The sport has built my confidence and taught me a few valuable lessons along the way, including ones about my concentration, patience, and empathy for others in a group. Paddling definitely demands a less self-centered outlook than we might otherwise have. What I really like is that the stuff it teaches us applies to life outside paddling.
\nThe LPS manages to capture all the elements of this great sport and brings them together in one weekend. The fantastic set of talks on the Saturday night in 2014 covered everything from boat design (built for average male measurements) through to Deb Pillinger speaking on the paddling ethos – surmising that if bankers were paddlers, the banking crisis wouldn\u2019t have occurred.
\nFriends were made, and I reckon everybody headed home with a smile on their faces.
\nSince winning my Jed, I\u2019m certainly happier spending a lot more time upside down, and indeed getting thoroughly trashed in waves. And after all, if it comes to it: \u201cif you\u2019re not swimming, you\u2019re not trying hard enough.\u201d So a huge thank you to Pyranha, a huge thank you to the LPS and all who make it happen, and bring on LPS 2015!<\/p>\n