Category:Orienteering exercises
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Exercises sorted by Exercise Type
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| 1st control training | Many courses with only start and one or two controls. Several people start together (minimum of two), and the goal is to locate your position and run to the first control as fast as possible after turning the map around. | Overspeed orienteering, Sprint orienteering |  |
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| Attackpoint identification training | A special course is made in OCAD in which the area around the control is whited out. The runner must identify an attackpoint outside the whited out area, use the compass to get through the whited out area and into the control circle, and then orienteer accurately the last part to the control location. | Compass, Attackpoints, Inside the control circle |  |
| Book reading while running | The best orienteers read the map at close to maximum speed. They also have a high map reading frequency, i.e. they look at the map very often. Reading a book or a comic (or even a map) while running is a good exercise in order to train map reading frequency. | Map reading |  |
| Brown map | A course on a contour-only map (brown map). The runner must focus on the contours in his/her orienteering as this is the only information on the map. Many variants are given. | Contours, Map reading |  |
| Build contours in sand | Build the contours contained in a map either in sand or snow in order to show that you understand the concept of contours. This is a beginner exercise. | Contours |  |
| Circular contour map | Course on a circular contour-only map without north-lines. As the map is without north-lines, the runners can not use the compass to adjust the map to north, and thus it is necessary to concentrate more on reading the contours. | Contours, Map reading |  |
| Circular map | Course on a circular contour-only map without north-lines. As the map is without north-lines, the runners can not use the compass to adjust the map to north, and thus it is necessary to concentrate more on the map reading. | Map reading |  |
| Compass between paths | Compass-training in which the legs to be run are between two roads/paths. This makes evaluation easier as you can easily measure how far you are from the control. You also avoid big mistakes / a lot of searching. | Compass |  |
| Compass training in pairs | The front runner has a white paper with only the course. The runner behind has a normal map with the same course. The front runner shall run on compass while the runner behind controls where they are. Exchange maps at each control. | Compass |  |
| Control picking | Run a course consisting of a lot of short legs with many changes in direction. | Compass, Map reading, Flow |  |
| Corridor orienteering | A corridor is drawn on the map, and the runner is to be inside the corridor at all times. The difficulty of the exercise can be adjusted by varying the width of the corridor, the terrain, the intensity etc. It is best to use GPS for evaluation of the exercise. | Compass, Map reading, Flow, GPS evaluation |  |
| Course planner for competition | Take the job as course planner for a competition. | Route choice, Theoretical exercise, Route planning |  |
| Downhill intervals | Run fast uphill and orienteer downhill while you are tired (overspeed). There are many variants - some of them are described below. Also called Sævig intervals in Norway. | Concentration, Overspeed orienteering |  |
| Downhill orienteering | Run a downhill orienteering course in overspeed, i.e.faster than you normally would do in a competition. | Flow, Overspeed orienteering |  |
| Draw simplification map | Draw a simplification map of a leg / a course. A simplification map is a map containing only the details which are necessary to use in the orienteering. There is also a variant involving map memory. It is instructive to run the course on the simplification map afterwards. | Map memory, Simplification, Theoretical exercise |  |
| Fast relocation | A group of 3-6 runners run together. Only the leader is allowed to read the map. When approaching the area around a control, everybody is allowed to look at the map, and shall relocate and find the control as fast as possible. Take turn on being the leader. | Map reading, Map memory, Relocation, Terrain memory | |
| Fog training | The map is removed in most parts of the course - only some circles of the map is left in some places. The runner must use the compass to get between the areas with details. There may/may not be map inside the control circles. | Compass |  |
| Follow the contour | Course where only a single contour is shown between controls (or between some of the controls). Good to use GPS in evaluation of the training. | Contours, GPS evaluation |  |
| GPS Distance evaluation | Build up an accurate feeling for distance evaluation in different terrain types using your GPS. Try to run a specified distance in the forest (without looking at your map or GPS), e.g. 100 meters, and check your GPS when you think you have run this distance. Repeat in different terrain types / on paths etc. | Distance evaluation, GPS evaluation | |
| Indoor orienteering | Orienteering race indoors, typically in a gym. Good exercise if it is not possible to run outside - also a good exercise for beginners. | Map reading, Concentration |  |
| Keep the pen running | Take any map, and draw your planned route choice while keeping the pen running all the way from start to finish - never stopping even for half a second, planning your route as you draw. | Route choice, Flow, Theoretical exercise, Route planning |  |
| Leg splitting | Run a course with several long/half-long legs. Before leaving a control, have your attackpoints for the leg and your route for the leg ready. Method: For each leg, divide the leg into parts by identifying your attackpoints, i.e. the points on the leg which are your safe points where you need to be 100% sure about where you are. Mark these attackpoints mentally. | Attackpoints, Route planning |  |
| Leg splitting - theoretical | Take a course with several long/half-long legs. For each leg, divide the leg into parts by identifying your attackpoints, i.e. the points on the leg which are your safe points where you need to be 100% sure about where you are. Mark these attackpoints on the map, and then continue with drawing your planned route for the leg. Repeat for all legs in the course. | Simplification, Route choice, Theoretical exercise, Route planning |  |
| Line orienteering | A line is drawn on the map, and the runner is to be on the line at all times. The difficulty of the exercise can be adjusted by varying the terrain, the intensity etc. It is best to use GPS for evaluation of the exercise. | Contours, Map reading |  |
| Map memory | The runner gets a map showing the next control, and must memorize the leg. At each control, the runner gets another control. | Map memory, Concentration | |
| Map memory duo | Map memory exercise in which two runners run together. At the start, the first runner memorizes the leg to the first control - then gives the map to the second runner. The first runner then runs to the first control - the second runner memorizes the leg to the second control while running behind. At the second control, the first runner gets the map again. Continue this way through the course, never stopping at the control. | Map memory, Simplification | |
| Map surveying | Map surveying is a good exercise in order to understand properly how a map is built up. | Map reading, Theoretical exercise, Distance evaluation, Map understanding |  |
| Map without paths | Make a course on a map from which all paths have been removed. | Map reading, Map contact |  |
| Mass-start legs | You have a normal orienteering course. A group of 3-6 runners run together, and at each control there is a new mass-start. The goal is to be the first to the control each time. For 4 runners, you can e.g. have a scoring 4-2-1-0. Restart as soon as possible. | Overspeed orienteering, Pressure handling |  |
| Micro | A normal course is made, but for each control, there are several other controls within the control circle. There is no code on the controls, so the runner must decide which control is the correct one by studying the map and the control description. Some kind of penalty (penalty loop running, time penalty etc.) is given for each wrong control. | Map reading, Simplification, Attackpoints, Map contact, Inside the control circle, Control description |  |
| Multi-mass-start relay | Relay with very short legs, in which there is a new mass-start for each leg. Each runner runs 4 legs, and there are 3-4 runners in each team. The first team coming in on each leg gets 4 points, the second 2 points, the third 1 point - the rest zero points. Points are added for the team. The next leg starts when the second last runner returns from the previous leg. Very intensive relay training with a lot of pressure on the runners. We usually get several DSQ'es as the runners do not tackle the pressure. This relay training is a lot of fun! | Overspeed orienteering, Pressure handling |  |
| Never stop | Run a normal course, but you are never allowed to stop! That is, you have to keep running all the time. If you don't know where to run or need to relocate, you have to keep running on the spot (but this should be avoided, you should rather run more slowly ahead of this point). | Map reading, Flow, Sprint orienteering, Map contact, Speed adaption | |
| Night orienteering | Running at night with limited visibility, is a very good map reading exercise as one has to be more exact in ones orienteering. Compass is also more important at night than in daytime. A normal course will do, but e.g. a corridor is even more interesting. | Compass, Map reading | |
| No-map compass training | A course on a white sheet of paper with only the course drawn (no details at all). | Compass, Distance evaluation, GPS evaluation |  |
| One man relay | Several courses from the same starting point - one runner runs all courses. Mass start. Typically some parts of the courses overlap. | Concentration, Overspeed orienteering | |
| Orienteering intervals | Several short courses (alternatively parts of a long course) which are run at high speed, with a pause between each course. Several variants are described. | Concentration, Overspeed orienteering, Speed adaption |  |
| Play Catching Features | Play the computer game Catching Features. | Map memory, Theoretical exercise, Mental exercise, Terrain memory |  |
| Prolong the control | Focus on making each control easier by "prolonging the control". Prolonging the control means to find features close to the control which are wider than the feature the control is placed on, i.e. you can have a larger error in your compass course and still find the control easily. There are several variants of this training - also a theoretical exercise. | Simplification, Theoretical exercise, Attackpoints, Inside the control circle |  |
| Reduced map compass training | Make a course on a reduced map, where the reduced map is made by removing many details in such a way that the compass is the only option for orienteering. For example, you can have a map with only black details left. Use this for compass training. | Compass |  |
| Reduced map training | Make a course on a reduced map, where the reduced map is made by removing many details. For example, you can have a map with only vegetation details left. | Map reading, Map understanding, Map contact |  |
| Remove map between controls | Exercise for compass orienteering in which the area between controls is erased using OCAD or drawn black using a covering marker pen. You need to relocate with the features available when you come into the part with map. | Compass, Relocation |  |
| Route choice testing | Course with many long legs with route choice alternatives. The time for the different routes are compared. See below for several variants. Comparing GPS tracks after the training is a very good way to evaluate the training. | Route choice |  |
| Route to Christmas | The Route to Christmas series gives you a lot of Route Choice cases to solve. You first get to see a leg without routes, and then the routes of the runners. | Route choice, Theoretical exercise, Route planning |  |
| Run on simplification map | You get a map in which only the details which are needed for the orienteering are included. This exercise should be followed up with comparison of the full map and the simplified map, and an exercise where you shall draw your own simplification map. | Simplification |  |
| Small circle - Big circle | A course is given, and for each control in the course, there is a small ring denoting the attackpoint. In the forest, the attackpoint is marked by an orienteering flag, and the real control is only mared using a piece of paper. The runner shall run with relatively high speed to the attackpoint, and then continue carefully to the control. | Simplification, Attackpoints, Inside the control circle |  |
| Step counting | Distance evaluation through step counting. Measure a distance on the map (e.g. 100 meters), and run the same distance in different terrain types and count your steps. Repeat until you get familiar with how many steps you need for a certain distance. | Distance evaluation, GPS evaluation | |
| Straight line orienteering | Straight lines are drawn between objects on a normal map. Use compass to go straight between the controls while reading the map along the line. For skilled orienteers, run at high intensity. Both compass and map reading exercise. | Compass, Map reading |  |
| Traffic light orienteering | Run a normal course with varying difficulty. Before starting on each leg, have a plan ready for the coming leg in which you categorize your route into three categories: Green for the parts where you can run without much attention to the orienteering, orange for parts where you have to give some attention to the orienteering and red for the parts where you have to put a lot of attention to the orienteering (e.g. probably slow down significantly, based on your technique). Run the leg according to this plan. | Concentration, Inside the control circle, Speed adaption |  |
| Traffic light orienteering - theoretical | Pick a course, and draw your planned route in three colors: Green for the parts where you can run without much attention to the map, orange for parts where you have to give some attention to the map and red for the parts where you have to put a lot of attention to the orienteering (e.g. probably slow down significantly, based on your technique). You can also continue with a practical part in which you run the same course either on the map with your planned colorful route drawn, or on a map without planned route. | Simplification, Theoretical exercise, Speed adaption |  |
Pages in category "Orienteering exercises"
The following 49 pages are in this category, out of 49 total.