What It Takes To Become A Great Instructor!

The last few years most of my work has been coaching and training aspiring SUP instructors. This post answers questions I have had about what it takes to become a great instructor - and also what to look for if you are looking for a great instructor, guide or paddle coach.

First off - Become a great learner. Learn your skills well. You don’t know what you don’t know. And you don’t find out what you don’t know and need to know as a paddler or an instructor unless you learn from the experienced guides and instructors already out there.

If you feel you have the skills, only then are you ready for instructor training and certification. Few if any self taught paddlers have the skills or knowledge to effectively or safely instruct and guide. Instructor training and certifications hone your skills, teach you how to teach, and perhaps most importantly subject you to the review and evaluation of some of the most experienced instructors out there. If you are scared of subjecting yourself to the scrutiny of an instructor course, if your ego can’t take it, then you are just simply not ready to be an instructor.

Next up - purposeful time on the water AKA ‘practice’. Taking courses is a great start but to be a great paddler and a great instructor you need to practice practice practice. Hone your skills and understanding on the water. Just “going out for a paddle” counts little toward the experience or skills needed to be a great instructor. I have in my paddling career done hundreds, probably thousands of eddy turns on the river. I practice almost every time I go out. Make practice into play. Your skills, your understanding of your environment, your ability to help your students gets better. Practice with purpose - all the time. Never stop.

And lastly - becoming a great instructor requires humility and compassion. Instructing isn’t about you. I look at instructing and guiding as a great privilege and responsibility. You are helping people achieve their goals and live out their dreams. If you are in it to ‘be’ an instructor, to ‘be’ a leader then you are in it for the wrong reasons.

To me that’s what it takes to be a great guide and instructor.

Authors:
Neil Gilson
Paddle Canada River 1 and 2 Instructor Trainer
Coach and Mentor to CANRVRSUP's Head Instructor Reta Boychuk