The Power of Eyes

Use your eyes! They are the most powerful tool you have at your disposal for getting where you want to go in whitewater. Look where you want to go. It really is this simple. Let your eyes pull you where you want to go. However, the opposite is also true. If you look at the rock, guess what, chances are, you are going to hit it. So then, how do you develop the skill of using your eyes on the water.

Using your eyes effectively requires practice. When on the river, start out by paying attention to where you are looking. At first, do not try to control it. Rather just be aware of where you are looking. It may be surprising. Frequently, this is best evaluated after running a rapid or executing a move. Replay the sequence of events in your mind. Where were your eyes during every moment?

Once aware and conscious of where your eyes are, now start playing with where you look. Try paddling (preferably easier water) and looking everywhere you are not going. While paddling down a small drop, look at the tree up on the shore, the bird sitting on a rock, anything but where you are going. What happens? How does this feel? Continue to use the visualization skills you developed initially when replaying where you were looking. Replay what happened when you were looking everywhere but where you were going. Concentrate on sensations other than just where you were looking. How did this feel in your butt? How did this feel in your knees, your feet, your shoulders?

Now, try the opposite. Formulate a clear plan; pick out points (dots) where you want to be. Now, connect these dots. Upon arrival at each subsequent dot, look to the next. Play with the spacing of these dots and how far you can extend the reach of your look. How far downstream is productive to stretch your gaze? Is there a distance at which it is counterproductive? How far is this? By now, your visualization skills should be developing as well. Again replay and remember what you were feeling after a rapid or move. Further, try to imagine what a move will feel like, where you will be looking and see yourself getting there before executing the move. Following, how accurate was your assessment of how this was going to feel? Were your dots in the right place?

Play with your gaze. Be disciplined and decisive about your dots. Know where they are and go to them. Far and above, your eyes are one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. Once you learn how to use them, it is amazing where they can take you.

This work is licensed by Joel McCune under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.