Jury/Course Designers and Pole Heights

[HaRVey]

An excellent example, which illustrates exactly my point.
And hence why we need to provide guidance to our volunteers, to ensure Course Designers and Jury, tackle these issies together.

I Note the 2013 GB Selection policy, has this exact concept addressed and written into it. So I assume it would be good practice to convey this guidance/information to all members of our sport.

?

[Silver C1er]

Referring to the original point of this thread, i.e. pole height affects run time; I'm surprised you felt the need to time this as the reverse action (lowering the poles) would obviously cause a slowing of run speed on a course.

Perhaps it might be time to reconsider the placement of compulsory reverse gates at lower division races. For those under a certain age, reverse gates were signified by an 'R'; so you could have a reverse downstream or upstream gate. I suggest this as a way of 'requiring' younger or less experienced paddlers having to develop a wider range of water skills and manouvres. I'm not suggesting to go overboard, say one or two gates at say Div 4 and Div 3 slaloms. At higher ranking events I'm sure course designers can (and already do) locate gates that favour a reverse approach, the classic reverse spin to change direction for instance.

Zipping down a course and dipping and diving all over the place is great, but there surely is more to our fine sport.