Review by Klas Karlsson on Confident Orienteering Book
Getting feedback from highly experienced, top-level athletes is such a privilege! It’s incredibly rewarding to see how the ideas in the book are being put into practice. Positive comments like these aren’t just encouraging—they’re a real motivator to keep going.
I’m happy to share that Confident Orienteering: Book 2 is already in the works.
A big thank you to everyone who helped bring Confident Orienteering: Book 1 – Fundamentals to life!
Aleksandr Alekseyonok, November 22, 2023
Review by Klas Karlsson
"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"
November 15, 2023
Confident Orienteering Book 1 is also available in French, Ukrainian, Danish, Polish and Italian.Links to these books can be found here.
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