Orienteering is a unique individual challenge. We are all on our independent journeys to navigational excellence and, as in a race, we all share the same start point. We all once picked up a map for the first time, stepped out into the forest, and tried to navigate around a course. This pag...
Orienteering is a unique individual challenge. We are all on our independent journeys to navigational excellence and, as in a race, we all share the same start point. We all once picked up a map for the first time, stepped out into the forest, and tried to navigate around a course. This page and the Coaching blog are intended to help you on your journey. We will point you in the right direction, share tips from the experts and let you know about opportunities to develop your orienteering skills.
The orienteering journey requires progression through navigational skills. All orienteering events provide for this progression through colour coded courses starting with white (beginner), yellow, orange then finally red. White courses will always follow the features in the terrain that are easiest to navigate by, such as tracks, or streams. These features are known as handrails, in your orienteering uncertainty you can reach out and grasp them for support! Red courses are designed to be as difficult as possible. How hard this is depends on the terrain. Forest maps are always the hardest due to the limited visibility. Sand dune forests are the most common type of orienteering terrain for championship events in New Zealand
Orienteers normally begin their journey at events on nearby parks and reserves, then move onto local farmland events, then regional or national level events. The stage of your journey, when all the locations and terrain are new is a really exciting time. There is the opportunity for orienteers of all ages to seek out the ultimate orienteering challenges around New Zealand, such as the gold mining terrain in Central Otago, or the sand dune forests north of Auckland, and indeed around the world; the karst of Slovenia, the vast moraines of Scandinavia or the sand dunes of Portugal. Experience gained at any level of progression will be useful for these challenges ahead. See examples of different types of orienteering map below.
Orienteering is a map sport and, when a level of navigational competence is achieved, a running sport. It is that unique challenge of keeping your map orientated, then interpreting map to ground, and ground to map, that hooks people to the sport. A good orienteer can read a map and create a 3D image of the terrain in their mind. As you gain experience in orienteering, review your maps regularly, start building these images for yourself. At events start taking satisfaction from knowing what is around the corner before you get there – staying one step ahead of yourself as you move smoothly through your course.
As you progress through your orienteering journey, and learn from your experiences, and the experiences of the people you meet, particularly those in your local club, you will pick-up more techniques to cope with the new navigational challenges. A compass can be a good tool, as can be techniques to master your speed and thought processes. Some of these are summarised in the Little Book of Orienteering Techniques (included in Resources section). Remember every orienteers journey is unique. With events ranging from 10 minutes to 24 hours long, and in all sorts of terrains, from cities to some of our wildest terrains, there is a challenge for everyone.
Check back into the Coaching blog regularly, and also fire us your questions or thoughts. Remember, we all started in the same place, stepping off the start line into unknown terrain trying to read a map for the first time. This is our common reference point we can all build on.
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News & Blog Posts - Coaching, Training, Race-review
Below are the most recent News/Blog posts that have been tagged "Coaching, Training, Race-review". To view all news or blog posts start at the homepage.
News Items
ONZ Compass Point – October 2020-Member news & views S p o r t Notes from the GM View from the chair Nationals 2020 New Zealand Secondary School Team named Junior O camp What does a Convenor of Selectors do? Temu Rd quiz answer M a p p i n g Mapping committee Bulletin H i g h P e […]
High Performance News #70 – October 2020-And so it came to pass….after a 9 month gestation the baby that was the 2020 ONZ Championships was finally born, and what a weekend it was. Even without the trimmings of split times, results boards, social etc. etc, the general feeling seemed to be that everyone was so glad to actually have a major […]
NISS 2020 Orienteering Championships Report-The North Island Secondary Schools (NISS) Orienteering event was held over the weekend of 16th and 17th October 2020. Counties Manukau Orienteering Club (CMOC) hosted this secondary schools event and with everything that has been happening in 2020, and after two event postponements, the club was very excited for the participants to finally attend and […]
Video: North Island Secondary Schools Orienteering Champs 2020 – Long Distance-Day Two of the North Island Secondary School (NISS) Orienteering Champs Long Distance event was out in Waiuku Forest, South Auckland. Commentary by Orienteering NZ’s Devon Beckman. https://youtu.be/NmTYi8netKo Video work by The Stream Shop on Sky Sport Next YouTube channel. Event hosted by Counties Manukau Club.
Juniors Year 5-8 Summer O Training Camp | Nelson December 2020-Year 5-8 Orienteers are invited to an orienteering training camp in Nelson, Friday 18th evening – Monday 21st afternoon December 2020. Orienteering coaching will be available for all abilities from beginner to experienced. There will also be a chance to enjoy swimming in the beautiful Nelson rivers and beaches. Cost for accommodation, food and maps $185 […]
ONZ Junior Camp 2020 Update-ONZ asked parents of Junior Camp attendees to hold off purchasing travel until Monday 12th October when a decision would be made about the camp going ahead in regard to Covid. With all of NZ at level one, we are all go and are now asking parents who enrolled their children in the camp by […]
ONZ Junior Camp 2020 Entries re-opened until Friday 16 Oct!-Entries for Junior Camp Re-opened until this Friday 16th Oct 2020! Since applications closed, ONZ has moved to finalise the list of attendees. A handful of those who registered are now unable to attend due to other commitments. Despite receiving a number of emails from clubs and parents asking for their son/daughter to be included […]
ONZ Compass Point – August 2020-GM’s Foreword Hi all, Welcome to the August issue of Compass Point. Orienteering continues to try and function in difficult times. The escalation of Covid19 levels from the level one we were quickly used to has definitely made things more challenging. Tomorrow [Mon 31 Aug 2020] all of New Zealand will be at level 2 […]
Entries for the ONZ Junior & U23 Camps 2020 are now open-Entries for the 2020 Orienteering New Zealand Junior and U23 Camps are now open! Both are being hosted in Nelson in December. Information on each camp can be found below. Please read the information carefully before completing the application form. RegardsChristo [email protected] ONZ Junior Camp 2020 Entries Now Open Below is information for this year’s […]
Controllers Clinic being held in Nelson – August 8 & 9 2020-Nelson Orienteering are hosting a 2 day Controllers Clinic on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th August 2020. The clinic will be run by Marquita Gelderman (an IOF Adviser). We are inviting you to come and join us. This would interest orienteering course planners and controllers that want to start on the path to being an […]
Leg by Leg #16: Brook Heights Urban O and BBQ-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. The Brook Heights Urban O and BBQ was on 19/12/2020. The guest […]
Leg by Leg #15: Canaan Downs Club Event-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. The Canaan Downs club event was on 29/11/2020. The guest is Zefa […]
Leg by Leg #14: Pokapu (Central) Districts Champs Long-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. The Pokapu (Central) Districts Champs long distance was on 29/11/2020. The guest […]
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable-Two reports from the NZ Rogaine Champs in Hanmer Springs 2020. The first report is from Canterbury orienteer Greig Hamilton, who was in the top winning team with Chris Forne, and the following report is from an orienteering junior team, also from Canterbury: The event was held in Hanmer Springs, and this proved to be a great […]
Leg by Leg #13: Pokapu (Central) Districts Champs Middle-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. The Pokapu (Central) Districts Champs middle distance was on 28/11/2020. The guest […]
Leg by Leg #12: Te Rau Puriri Rogaine-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. The Te Rau Puriri Rogaine was on 29/11/2020. The guest is Cam […]
Leg by Leg #11: Slater Road AOS-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. AOS 5 (delayed) was on 15/11/2020. The guest is Alice Tilley of […]
Leg by Leg #10: Riverhead Rogaine-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. Race 1 of the Rogaine Series was on 01/11/2020. The guest is […]
Leg by Leg #9: NZ Champs Middle-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. This race on the Osgiliath map was on 25/10/2020. The guest is […]
Leg by Leg #8: NISS Long-Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. We’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. We aim to cover all levels of experience in the series. This schools race on the Waiuku South / Port View map was […]