Two-buoy practice is enhanced by alternating onside with offside turns around the markers. Adding a rope between the buoys gives more opportunities for fine-tuning. Again, using sculls, push-aways, draws and prys, you can practice moving abeam, either toward or way from the rope. Pointing the bow or the stern toward the rope and using the same strokes helps you practice moving sideways. The rope can also act as a virtual dock, letting you practice landings and stop turns without fear of ramming the shore.
Slalom courses are also easy to lay out.
Buoys that zigzag or double back on themselves can make for hours of fun, allowing you to spin around the markers paddling forward, in reverse, or alternating. Another exercise requires suspending a large Hula-hoop from an overhanging tree branch or pole. Place your head in the in the middle of the hula-hoop, and then execute a series of onside and offside pivots keeping your head inside the hoop. The object is to spin the boat smoothly and precisely in place without skid. Many find that spinning to the offside is harder than an onside pivot.