Difference between men and women kayakers of the same size
Let me rephrase: What makes women kayakers different than men other than size and balls? Why are there about 100 male kayakers for every 1 female kayaker? (good odds - not complaining, but would like to see some more badass chicks to boat with)
Aggression. I have taught many women how to paddle. And most of the time when they are first starting they beat the pants off their male counter parts. Flexibility and timing are huge when you are learning, but those inherent traits only go so far. From there on out the biggest difference down the road is aggression and confidence. To progress as a paddler you constantly have to try new things in order to progress quickly. I see a lot of women you figure it out and are rock star boaters when they start. They become comfortable with where they are at, and it takes all time for them to want to step out of that comfort zone. I think that is huge. I'm mainly a freestyle boater, and most of the people out there don't understand how easy these new freestyle moves are. Ya they look hard but if you break them down they aren't that though. You just have to understand what minor changes in body position will do. It is that easy. Minor tweaks. Yet I meet so many people that say they would love to learn new moves. Yet every time they get back in the hole that flat spin and cartwheel. I can not even count the number of times I have really broken down a trick for someone, and they say wow that's cool. And they never ever try it. You always going to fail at first nothing comes that easy, but five trys down the road and you will be really close to nailing that fancy new trick. So my advise to you. IF you wish to progress, change your thinking. The easiest way to do that is get on a river you are comfortable with, and run lines that you have never done. Be creative on that section of water. This will increase your comfort level on all type of water. It will also give you insight on how to run rapids you are scouting. You will learn so much. Same thing goes for freestyle. Try tricks you have never done. You will be astonished at how good you will be if you constantly pursue new goals. New be satisfied with where you are. That will make paddling keep your attention. In turn it will take you so many place that you could never have dreamed of.
I agree about the aggression, which must be from three things: testosterone, evolution and nurturing. whitewater is one of those sports that 'looks' like it might hurt, be extreme, whatever. these sports always have more men for the reasons i mentioned. i don't think this will change much - you just have to keep looking for those bad ass chicks.
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I hope in the future Americans are thought of as a warlike, vicious people, because I bet a lot of high schools would pick "Americans" as their mascot. -Jack Handy
Boys have penises and girls have vaginas and Jesus freaks taste like chicken.... hmmmm....
I have never heard any of that before - that was revolutionary. What about men have muscles and women have style? Anyone ever given a thought to how women compensate for generally not having as much bulging muscle as men? I would have to say that we use more finesse and style....
There are a lot of differences: Our center of gravity is in our butts and hips while a man's is in his upper body. This makes putting a boat on edge more challenging for women -- so it's not just that women aren't trying new freestyle moves, it's that most of them need more in-depth edge control training to do so. Physical aggression is another difference -- men are more physically aggressive than women so men are more likely to push their limits. Women have a different stress response than men and women really like strong group support. If you tell a woman: "Just follow me." Or 'Just try this." Or "You'll be fine." Don't expect her to want to push her limits or to want to paddle with you a lot.
There are a lot of differences -- too many to go over in this forum. I've mentioned a lot of this in my columns in Kayak Session -- you should check them out. Or get a copy of Girls at Play. Or just boat with more women -- you'll notice a difference.
Sorry, but if size is the only physical difference between men and women you've heard about, you haven't been having enough fun in college.
Sounds like If I had to go to college to find that out and he had to go to med school to find that out then we should have spent our money on sweet kayaking gear instead of a worthless education....
On the note of women having a different stress response and more of a sense of self-preservation - do you think this is the same for women who paddle with only men as for womeon who paddle with other women? i.e. does being around dudes rub off on a woman? or, does paddling with other women give women more confidence?
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