The Paddling Programme The number of factors to be considered in
developing a Dragon Boat Training Programme is immense.
Obviously the more time a team spends practicing, the greater
the difference in performance. The amount of training an athlete
must undergo within a season depends greatly on the goals and
objectives set out early on in the year. For example, to obtain
high performance challenging world record achievements, an
athlete today must expect to commit 1,000-1,500 hours of
training time a year (that’s 3-4 hours a day!); at a national
level one could expect 600-800 hours (1 1/2 - 2 hours per day);
while at a local level one should realize that a minimum of
300-400 hours of training is required if you want to be
successful competitively, which translates to 1 1/2 - 2 hours 3
to 4 times a week, year round. The formula for high performance,
however, demands quality time and the winning team is not always
the one which practices the most. Training time must be
carefully managed in a ‘Training Programme