FCE 1
A practical foundation for coaches learning how to see, understand, and coach freestyle paddling.
📅 Dates: 16 -17 May 2026
📍 Location: Holme Pierrepont, UK
🧑🏫 Course Lead: Coach Jacko
🎯 Style: Supportive, nurturing, and confidence-building. Focused on
developing capable, thoughtful freestyle coaches through clear
frameworks, practical tools, and guided application.
🧠 Coach Level: Open to anyone with a genuine interest in freestyle coaching — from those at the very start of their coaching journey to highly experienced paddlers and world-class athletes looking to deepen their coaching understanding.
🛶 Type: Freestyle Coach Education — Level 1 (FCE-1)
👥 Spots Available: Maximum of 8 coaches
📦 💷 Cost: £450
📌 Before Booking:
All prospective coaches are asked to book a short call with Coach Jacko before confirming a place.
This ensures the course is the right fit and gives you the opportunity to ask questions and understand how FCE-1 will support your coaching development.
Simply complete the enquiry form and we’ll be in touch to arrange a chat.
Course Format — Freestyle Coach Education 1
Learning to See. Learning to Decide.
FCE-1 is a practical, river / classroom-based coaching course designed to sharpen how freestyle coaches see and how they make decisions.
This is not a theory-heavy qualification.
It is a live coaching system built around:
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Clear observation
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Accurate diagnosis
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Intelligent task design
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Real-time decision-making
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Structured reflection
The course blends short classroom sessions with extensive on-water application, allowing coaches to test ideas immediately in real freestyle environments.
At the heart of FCE-1 are four interlocking lenses that help coaches understand what is happening on the water — and what to do next.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
The Four Lenses of FCE-1
PRE-COURSE
Two Online Pre-Course Workshops
•Introduce the core frameworks and shared language
• Set expectations for how the course will run
• Establish observation and reflection habits
• Provide context for the FCE approach
Course Resource Pack
•Core models and coaching frameworks
• Observation guides and learning tools
• Structured materials to support preparation and application
The pre-course ensures the in-person weekend can be practical, not introductory.
The Weekend
Two-Day In-Person Coaching Intensive
•Short, focused classroom sessions linked directly to river application
• Live feature reading and boat behaviour diagnosis
• Guided observation and coaching practice
• Constraint design and task building in real time
• Group reflection and structured debriefs
Coaches work in real freestyle conditions — not simulations — learning to make decisions under genuine environmental pressure.
This is where the lenses come together. Observation, diagnosis, and design are tested live on the river.
Post Course
Learning does not stop when the weekend finishes.
Mentored Coaching Sessions
• Two mentored coaching sessions within 12 months
• Observation, feedback, and guided reflection
• Support focused on continued development as a freestyle coach
• Application of FCE frameworks within your own coaching environment
• Structured reflection to strengthen clarity, judgement, and decision-making
Ongoing Online Support
• Continued dialogue with Jacko
• Space to test ideas and refine coaching decisions
• Support as your coaching evolves over time
FCE-1 is designed to create capable, thinking coaches — not just qualified ones.
Small Title
Pitch · Yaw · Roll Framework
A clear, practical model for understanding how the kayak moves.
Designing Learning Tasks
Move beyond drills and learn how to design tasks that support real freestyle learning.
Post Course Mentoring
Ongoing guidance to help embed learning, answer questions, and support continued development.
Reading Freestyle Features
Learn to see what the water is doing and how features shape coaching decisions.
Coaching Language
Use clear, effective cues that support movement without overload.
Pre-Course Workshops
Two guided online sessions to prepare coaches with language, models, and expectations.
The Five
Energies
Understand how posture, trim, rotation, frame and dynamic connectivity work .
Constraint
Design
Apply coaching ideas through supported, real-world freestyle coaching scenarios.
Post-Course Sessions
Post-Course Mentored Coaching Sessions. Supported, real-world sessions supporting continued development.
Who FCE-1 For
Freestyle Coach Education 1 is for coaches who want to understand freestyle more clearly and coach it with confidence and structure.
It is not about copying sessions or memorising drills.
It is about learning how to see —
the boat, the feature, the paddler,
and the coaching decisions that link them together.
FCE-1 provides a shared language, practical frameworks, and guided river experience that help coaches:
• Make better decisions in real time
• Build effective learning environments
• Support meaningful progression in others
• Develop their own coaching judgement
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is clearer seeing, sharper thinking, and stronger freestyle coaching.
