Adjust your technique to the terrain

Matt Ogden. March 2017.

Last weekend was the first AOS of the year and we were fortunate enough that it was held on arguably Auckland’s best map and on an immaculate autumn’s day. Waioneke has definitely been a crowd favourite in the past and, on many occasions, undone even the most conditioned technicians. With Oceania and World Masters fast approaching, I wanted to bring to attention a key skill required in orienteering which was very pertinent to the challenges you faced last weekend and will be essential in the forthcoming competitions – adjusting your technique depending on the course and terrain.

Consider three parts of the course from Red 3 on the weekend – three very different areas, which required runners to change aspects of their orienteering; including running speed, map reading frequency and focus. What different styles of orienteering would best suit each section? Do you feel you adjusted appropriately and what are some good ways to ensure you are always under control?

First and foremost is to recognise where the course/terrain is changing and therefore when you must appropriately change something. I like to employ a risk based approach – for example, on legs 4-5-6 the young pines reduce visibility and the numerous contour features mean that this area is more risky, increasing the likelihood for making mistakes. After identifying this, it would be prudent to slow down, concentrate on accurate bearings and read the map as much as possible. In contrast, 16-17 offered fast open running in the nicest part of Waioneke. Here the risk is less due to the increased visibility and larger, more obvious hills. Here the focus should shift to looking as far ahead as possible, finding an obvious high point and then running full speed!  

Orienteering is rarely homogenous, you must constantly react to a changing environment – sometimes you need to focus heavily on the compass, other times on the features in the terrain, but in all cases it is about knowing when to change and where the greatest risks are!

See all courses and draw your route on route-gadget from the weekend.

http://rg.orienteering.org.nz/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=499

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