The
Little Book
of
Orienteering Techniques
Jean Cory-Wright
NZOF Coaching Director
March 2000
How many red course orienteers actually have a "Little Book of O Techniques" hidden away in
the back of their mind somewhere? How many orange course orienteers have "read" or had
explained to them the first half of this imaginary book? How many yellow and white course
orienteers have had instruction in the basics section from this book? I am asking these
questions because I feel that we don't consult this imaginary book often enough. To help
people know what I am talking about, 1 am writing a series of artices on these techniques and
together they should form the basic "bible" for any orienteers and coaches. I tell the National
Squad that they should be able to do all of these techniques at any time, even if the techniques
are not something they would use in their orienteering generally. Also, if they run a race and
they just go for it, they should have the words "go by the book" etched on the back of their
mind so that the rules of the book can pull them up short before the errors happen.
This " Little Book of O Techniques" is just as useful for the general orienteer.
Even if they are not something that you use in your normal orienteering, it is good to master
them as a back up. I suggest that you try and deliberately practise one or two of them each
small event that you do. Even those techniques applicable to the white course are useful to red
course people!
I have tried to go right back to basics and put the list in a vague order getting progressively
more difficult. Please feel free to add any of your own and let me know what they are!
Section 1 Basics
1. Map setting or orientation.
Make sure you are holding the map the same way as the ground features. This means if
there is a large hill to your left and a paddock to your right on the ground, then the
corresponding hill and paddock are on the left and right of where you are on the map. Maps
are only held with the writing the right way up when you are facing north as most maps are
drawn with north at the top.
You can do this using the ground features as described above, or by using the compass.
All you need to do when using the compass is to turn the map so that the magnetic north lines
on the map run the same way as the floating north needle in the compass and that the red end
of the needle matches the magnetic north arrows on the map. There is no need to turn the
compass or the compass housing to do this.
- a must for everyone
- use compass and features
- map and compass in same hand recommended (ie use a baseplate like a thumb compass
or use a thumb compass. Map Guide compass ideal for white course)
2. Map Folding.
This is often over looked by people but is essential for a smooth run. It is good to have
your map folded small so that you can get your thumb on to the place that you are located.
You also need to have a method that allows you to run over the folded bit of the map and not
lose your place. I suggest using a double fold so that one fold is beyond a control so that the
control is visible, but when you get to the control swap to fold before the control so that the
original control is still on the visible bit of map.
- devise a system that complements the way you hold the map and compass
- it needs to be flexible to allow for long legs and courses
3. Thumb on map
- Have some means of keeping your location in view on map...compass edge, thumb etc.
This requires good map folding.
4. System
- Have a system that you apply to every leg, eg
C ontrol A ttack point R oute Exit
5. Relating map to ground
This means looking at all the features around you and seeing if you can pick them up on
the map and vice versa.
- Do this as often as you can without wasting time
- Beware of relating parallel features which look like the ones on the map but are actuary
somewhere else.
6. Observation
- Relates to above
- Look all around you as often as possible
- Vegetation boundaries often made more visible by looking up (very relevant in
European broadleaf forest
7. Handrails
These are an essential part of any route. It is worth going a bit out of your way to folow
them for basic and intermediate level orienteering. They can be tracks, edge of vegetation,
mapped fences, streams, clearings etc. You can link point features together to make a line.
- easy line features to lead you on your route (A)
- can be lines (eg track) or points linked together (B)
8. Attack points
- large or obvious features near control
- safest version is the crossing of two handrail features
- advanced example is a special shaped knoll in amongst many knolls
- use as preview to finding control
- advanced technique may use 2 or more attack points eg a huge knoll
about 1-200m from control, then a reentrant on the side of the knoll, then
the pit that is the control feature
Back to the Little Book index.