Book_1 Reviews

A very thorough and systematic, yet easy to follow and engaging breakdown of orienteering technique, errors, and mistakes, and useful tips on how to minimize them. Written with expertise and passion for the sport. Plenty of practical examples (with maps) that make the sometimes abstract concepts easy to connect to personal experiences (mistakes made in the past and lessons learnt or overlooked along the way.) Although book 1 covers the basics and builds its approach from the ground up, it is a truly insightful reading to even experienced orienteerers. It connects a lot of practical knowledge, instinctively or consciously applied techniques you aready have in a logical fashion, but also bridges planty of knowledge gaps and blind spots, and digs for the root causes of errors. The outlined approach provides solid foundations for how to simplify the maps to the elements that support easy and fast positioning on the terrain, how to choose routes to minimise chances of doubt and confusion, and take controls confidently. It also provides a more thoughtful framework for post-race analysis of your own errors and mistakes, helping you to more specifically get to know your weak points, understand the reasons of why you got lost, get a better sense for your margins of error and address these in training. The clearest benefit of the book is that it will make you more conscious of why the errors occur, how you actually make mistakes. This can really help you minimize risks, and to equip you with the tools that you can use to avoid leaving it blind luck when you approach controls. I’ve read the book in three sittings, it was so exciting to see the foundational elements come together. I’m sure I will go back to this as a reference time and time again. I can’t wait for book 2, that will focus more on the mistake minimising techniques. I’m sure it will help me fix or improve some of the orienteering issues that I have kept struggling with even as a senior athlete. Thank you for writing this book. This is BY FAR the most practical and detailed guidance I’ve ever encountered on this topic. Gabor Valyi, Hungary

I'm relatively new to the sport of orienteering and made the assumption that my frequent inability to navigate to a control point with pinpoint accuracy was something only I experienced. But after reading Confident Orienteering, I realized that many of us fall victim to the same types of errors, whether they're personal, process, or equipment ones. This book helps us understand why and offers strategies on how to minimize their impact. We all err. I'm thankful for the ideas presented in this book and look forward to reading Book 2 when it comes out.

An impressive piece of work! Short introduction of myself: I have run orienteering for 45 years now. I was very promising as a Junior, and after a bit of struggling as a senior reached the Swedish A-team on a few occasions. However I never managed to make top results. During that time I was most interested in winning, not to the same degree on HOW to win. I thought that by practicing a lot I would eventually succeed. However, that changed over time. Nowadays I am very focused on understanding the keys behind successful orienteering. Yes, I am a nerd. I have written many texts about different topics myself, and I have had thoughts about writing a book summarizing what I have learned in my way. However, after reading this book by Aleksandr, I can only lift my hat and conclude, there is no need for my book any longer! Aleksandr has very high standards when it comes to describe what really constitutes the nature of navigation. He describes different types of inaccuracies, mistakes, methods and pitfalls while navigating, all supported by examples along the way. Personally I find this beautiful, even though I fear some more “get-to-the-point” readers will lose interest along the way. I am amazed by the structure of the work, and can only imagine the effort put into all the examples. Very impressing! To me there are three main takeaways, but I am sure others will find their goodies. (1) There will always be uncertainty! This conclusion should affect your actions. Some understand this intuitively, other just ignore it. By this book you get the possibility to learn it and adjust to it. Do that! (2) I like Aleksandr’s division of the navigation into two systems. One primary system leading the way, and one backup system identifying whether everything goes according to plan. Even though each of them may suffice in theory, balancing them is the key for fast and accurate navigation. (3) The “navigation model” as presented is new to me. Even though I, by experience, “see the same thing” directly from the map, this model is a good one for e.g. analysis of navigation strategy, and maybe shortcutting learning (so you don’t end up being too old when you finally get it… like myself) This first book is labelled as “fundamentals”, and for the first parts this is really the case. First half of the book builds up a theoretical understanding, and as I said earlier, may be a little bit tedious for some readers. However the second half starts to reveal insights that are more tangible for someone eager to get results. From what I can see of book 1, including the description of book 2, I can hardly wait for it to be released. Thanks Aleksandr, for putting all the effort into this work! /Klas Karlsson, IKHP, Sweden