Strengthening Your Weak Side

[mamero]

Most of use have a dominant and weak side of our body. Any good tips for strengthening and improving our weak side? Obviously practice is crucial. However, I am wondering if people have something deeper to offer beyond simple practice.

I am going through a challenge with my waterstarts at the moment. Here in Vancouver winds are usually cross shore westerly. This means 99% of my beach starts are on the same tack (my dominant side). The other side gets very little opportunity for practice simply because of the angle of the beach and wind. The techniques used in Beach Starts are closely related to those used in Waterstars. As such, I can pretty much nail 99% of my waterstarts on one side, however, the other side is maybe 10%. Waterstarting and getting up and away on my weak side is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I generally can clear the rig even on the weak side. It's the up-and-away that is being stubborn.

Tacks, Gybes, Beach Starts, Waterstarts etc. Most core moves in Windsurfing have a Startboard and Port side version. For most of use one side will be easier to learn than the other. Thoughts?

[manuel]

Well the funny thing is that once a side is doing pretty well it's not nearly as much work to learn the "other" side.

Sailing various sites help a lot just simply by offering a different perspective. So I'd encourage sailing other venues. Forcing yourself to use your weak side, throwing the ball with your other arm, swinging with your other side, etc. Just try things at home the reverse way you are used to doing it.

It's just good practice anyway, keep our brain busy!

[coachg]

I would guess many people don't have multiple, ideal sailing spots & all the spots I have sailed don't have parallel wind & swell. The swell tends to either favor port or starboard tacks, not parallel so some maneuvers can only be done one way.

Coachg

[akrausz]

I have strength issues with my weak side where it is physically weaker, which I try to focus on when I go to gym. Are you interested in strengthening the muscles on your weak side, or just your skill?

[grantmac017]

I need quite a bit more wind to waterstart when I'm left foot forward (I'm right forward for most board sports). I think it's a combination of timing and hip flexibility more than strength.

[isobars]

Strength and coordination are not due just to muscle bulk; they also heavily involve the electrical signals sent to each muscle fiber and their individual responses to those signals. These can be improved by repeatedly using all our muscles in exactly (not gym simulation) the same way (same speeds, loads, angles, etc.) they are used in our sport(s) and by seeing how fast we can move our muscles in no-load scenarios (e.g., setting a machine's ... seated elliptical, stationary bike, etc. ... resistance on zero and seeing how fast we can move it).

My entire right side has always been highly dominant, but then I don't care. In windsurfing I do different things on port vs starboard. Since I'm out there for fun and not trophies, it doesn't matter that I jump more securely on port and slash the swell better on starboard, for example. Is that due to swell direction relative to wind direction? Don't know or care; it is what it is, and while I do work on ambidexterity in my skillset, it's not something I worry about. It's like throwing a ball; only when my right shoulder is injured do I care that I throw like a girl with my left. (No, mac, that's not a sexist comment; it's an anatomical comment.)

[PeconicPuffin]

Practice overcomes what's "natural" in my experience.

I was better on everything on port until I went to Aruba to learn to jibe. The setup there had Dasher in a spot we approached on starboard, and for 20 years now my jibes are stronger on starboard. Years later going to ABK clinics in Bonaire where the approach to the instructors was on port, the moves I worked on (backwinded jibes, switchstance sailing, donkey jibes etc) are stronger in that direction.

Without a clinic to force me to work against my natural inclinations I find it challenging to work the "wrong" tack. I desperately need to learn to jump on starboard, but because I wimp out (2-3 attempts in a session versus dozens on port) I have poor results.

[konajoe]

One of the great things about this sport is the symmetry. This isn't snowboarding, where the heel side is different than the toe side. And it isn't tennis, where the backhand and forehand are completely different. As long as the sea state is generally aligned with the wind, port and starboard are going to be the same. If you're better on one tack than the other, your teacher is on board. Pay close attention to what you are doing on your better side.

[dllee]

Every spot we sail, we have the opportunity to fall, and thus waterstart, on both sides pretty evenly.
So practice is actually about the same, on both sides.
And we learn to be more conservative on one side, while more aggressive on the other, whichever way we want to practice.