My name is Jonathan Males, but I’m generally called Mally on the river. I’ve been paddling since 1975 and I still love the sport as much as I did as a fat 12 year old who couldn’t run. Whitewater is special for me, whether I’m running a river, trying to make a playboat go in 3 dimensions, or racing slalom. I work as a sport psychologist and executive coach through my company Mezzana Partners www.mezzanapartners.com so I’ve been fortunate to learn from a lot of great paddlers over the years too.
Now I’m past 50, and I know there are lots of other people out there like me who are trying to keep on paddling as long as they can. So I want to offer a different voice in the world of paddle blogs – one that explores what its like to keep paddling into the middle years of life, that explores the psychological challenges of paddling whatever your age, and draws out the lessons for enhanced performance whatever you do. If you want to keep in touch, I’ve also started a Facebook page that links to this blog – just ‘like’ and you’ll get a notification of new posts and can easily take part in discussions. https://www.facebook.com/DiaryOfAMiddleAgedKayaker
I’ve written about performance psychology for canoeing and kayaking in my book In the Flow (http://performance.sportscene.tv)
Or follow me on twitter @jonathanmales
See you on the river!
