FRONTS: The front seats of the boat are quite tight and better for smaller paddlers. Lighter paddlers with very good timing are best used in this section of the boat as the timing of the rest of the boat comes from here,

MIDDLES: The middle seats of the boat are best kept for your taller and stronger paddlers. They will be more comfortable and better able to use the space. Keeping your heaviest paddlers in the middle of the boat also helps with keeping it balanced.

BACKS: The back seats of the boat are a mixture. The water in the back of the boat is moving quite quickly and is very difficult to paddle in; therefore a selection of technically good paddlers is important for these positions.

The steersperson keeps the boat on course and is responsible for the safety of the crew and the boat.  It is their job to ensure all safety equipment is on the boat and the boat is water worthy.

At any time the steersperson can take over the boat for safety reasons. This applies to both drummer and coach. The crew must be absolutely clear on this fact.

A good steersperson is easily identified by the stable stance they assume and that they always keep their head up and look where they are going.

The drummer beats out the heartbeat of the dragon for all paddlers to follow.

Drummers control the boat.  When the drummer says something the crew must be conditioned to respond as a unit.

The drummer coaches the crew through the workout, calls technique reminders and keeps the crew motivated.  The toughest job for the drummer is learning what excites and what calms the crew, then using each when appropriate.  It is essential that the drummer attend as many practices as possible to learn all they can about the team and each individual paddler.

The strokes are the front two positions in the boat, and set the rate for the rest of the boat.  They work as a pair, left and rights with one being dominant for any given workout or piece.  Strokes must be able to maintain the stroke rate without tiring.

Your strokes also need to be very confident and able to gauge when the boat is working well. 

The coach’s intent is to get twenty inexperienced paddlers doing the same stroke at the same time. The second challenge is the duration of the sport. The majority of domestic racing occurs at the 500m distance and last between 2 and 4 minutes. She must:

• Act in the best interest of the athlete’s development as a whole person
• Recognize the power inherent in the position of coach
• Is aware of their personal values and how these affect their practice as a coach
• Acknowledge the limitations of their discipline
• Accept the responsibility to work with other coaches and professionals in sport.

These individuals are elected by the team to act as their spokesperson and official liaison with the Coach. To facilitate communication between the team and support staff and the Coach, they are responsible for contacting the team members with information.

Very often the feedback from the team is greatly enhanced when it is routed through the team Captain.  The honesty of feedback is much better as well.