>> I would then teach bracing and rolling in parallel, for two reasons. A reliable roll gives paddlers the confidence to truly commit to a brace, as opposed just sitting up right and making token slaps at the water with their paddle. Bracing and rolling are also overlapping skills in that a sweep for a roll is essentially a dynamic brace, just done from underneath. I would emphasise that bracing is preferable to rolling, and that not being unintentionally in a situation where you need to brace is even more preferable. (In a true crisis, one thing is better than presence of mindłabsence of body!) >> I quite agree. I taught myself to roll so I could practice my braces without worrying about capsizing. But I taught myself to roll by practicing my braces from lower and lower positions until I could brace up from underwater. From there it was a short step to a full setup and roll (which, after all that practice, succeeded on the first try). So for me learning to roll made it much less likely that I would need to roll! I taught my wife to roll the same way, and we both think it is the best, if not the fastest, way to learn. I call it "learning to roll from the top down." Now we roll for fun, and when we practice our braces, we literally throw ourselves at the water. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Dec 09 1998 - 13:55:52 PST
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