Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide - Uringa Orienteers Sydney

September 8, 2023December 11, 2023Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Starting an Orienteering Course

Starting an orienteering race is simple but does consist of a few vital steps.

Warm-up

First you need to warmup as you would for any run – hip, knee and especially lower legs need to be primed and ready for the effort to maximise your performance and, most importantly, avoid injury.

Clear & Check

Then you walk to the start area where there are Clear and Check control points, which you use to clear the old data on your Sportident timing stick and check the stick is working correctly.

Choose Map

You then need to pick out the map of the race you’re doing.

On bigger races, there can be quite a range of maps to choose from so you have to make sure you’re picking the right one for your chosen race. Typically the maps are in shallow trays, labelled according to race, and helpers are around to make sure you get it right. This part obviously is key as on any race there will be easy, moderate and hard maps.

On many bigger races too, depending on the type, runners will be released in small groups at 30 second intervals to avoid crowding amongst the starters.

Start

Lastly, walk or run to the Start Control and insert your timing stick into the control to start your race proper. And you’re off!

September 7, 2023December 11, 2023Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Finding Orienteering Checkpoints

September 6, 2023March 3, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – Finish Procedures

When you finish a course, you need to punch the finish control and go the the Finish desk and download your time.

Using the info from your SI stick, the official at the Finish desk can determine that you’ve done the correct controls in order and give you your time and ranking.

Feel free to mill around and have a chat with the other competitors afterwards and compare notes and routes!

September 6, 2023February 24, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – How To Read The Map

Map reading is the defining mental challenge of orienteering. You generally follow a numbered course, connected with red lines to denote fastest route as the crow flies.

Understanding the symbols is key. Guides help understand the specialised symbols involved. Look to the Learning Orienteering map page for explanations and guides to reading maps and the meanings of their symbols.

September 5, 2023February 24, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – How To Get Ready: Registration

At the registration desk at every race you fill in your details and get a map, a description card and SI stick or punch card to log your finding of the controls.

While you can bring along other specialist gear to a race, all you really need in addition to the above items are comfy clothes and running shoes.

September 5, 2023February 24, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – How To Get Ready For Your Start

After you have collected together your compass, the map, the SI stick and your control card, you’re almost ready to start.

Just remember, GPS devices that help you navigate are not allowed (GPS watches that track your distance but don’t show position are fine and very popular).

September 4, 2023February 24, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – How To Use The Compass

Make sure that the map and the compass flat and you turn the map around until the blue lines point north – the same direction as the red arrow on your compass will be pointing. This is called orientating the map.

Thumbing the map is another technique where you use a finger or thumb set against your route to measure your progress. For instance, on a fairly standard 1:10,000 scale map, 1cm on the map means 100 metres on the course, or about the width of a finger.

Folding the map is a common technique too where you fold up the map to just see the part of the course you’re on, making checking the map rapidly and often much easier as you run between controls.

September 3, 2023September 27, 2023Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – Things You Need To Know

September 2, 2023April 27, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Orienteering – How To Speed Up Through Checkpoints

Not stopping at controls/checkpoints is a key part of mastering faster orienteering. It’s about control-flow, or moving through the control smoothly, which is about the approach and planning the exit from the control.

For the approach, you use the symbols in your control description paper to work out the features close to the control and the control’s position relative to them. A control might be close to a boulder, but to the east side of it – and this would be shown in the control description. Of course, you will need to know the symbols denoting this information.

Planning the exit is about looking ahead of the control immediately ahead of you to the next and plotting a direction and something of the route in advance. This route planning and visualising in advance is one of the major challenges of orienteering.

September 1, 2023March 9, 2024Video Tutorials - Beginner's Guide

Route Choice in Orienteering

When starting orienteering, it’s often best to pick longer, but safer routes such as along tracks, creeks and other line elements.

Often direct routes across country can be faster, but they are harder and require more compass work and can turn out to be not worthwhile if you get the route not quite right, or worse, get lost!