Re: [Paddlewise] To Roll No More....oh the indignity!

>>>From: John Fereira <jaf30_at_cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] To Roll No More....oh the indignity!

At 07:55 AM 6/7/00 -0400, LedJube_at_aol.com wrote:<<<
>In a message dated 6/7/00 8:02:55 AM, mkayaks_at_oz.net writes:
>

>Hi all,
>    Matt, I "discovered" this technique quite by accident when I was
learning
>to roll. Since I had no one that could spot me, I "invented" the technique
>for placing a paddle float on the end of my paddle. I continued to develop
a
>learning sequence that worked on the "Hip snap" first then added the sweep
>and finally the capsize into the set up position.

>>>Hey wait a minute.  I thought *I* discovered using a paddle float as a
roll
teaching aid.<<<


What can I say, great minds think alike ;-)

I started teaching rolling using a float on the paddle not too long after I
developed the outrigger paddle float rescue back in 1981 and the float (in
hand) roll soon thereafter. Don't know if I was the first to do it and I
suspect that Eskimos may have also done at least the float (hand) roll and
used a float on the harpoon to roll sometimes. They carried floats on their
back decks to give a harpooned animal something to drag around and keep the
animal from sinking out of reach. I suspect that, much like once I had a
float fixed on the end of a paddle it wasn't a very big step to use an
existing float to teach learning to roll.
[Paddlefloat rescue digression: Although I was unaware of them at the time I
first did paddlefloat rescues there was a "paddle-wing" rescue that had been
proposed (by someone named Reyes in the 1970's if I remember correctly) and
shot down in its infancy by the British Canoe Union (BCU). It fixed the
paddle to the rear deck on edge so the other (always feathered at 90
degrees) blade would lie flat to the water. No float was involved. Also in
the 70's William Dyer (I believe) from Holland made a float out of an air
splint and used it without fixing the other end of the paddle to the deck.
The BCU ignored that too. Originally my outrigger paddlefloat rescue was
roundly criticized by the BCU guys like Derek Hutchinson who would list all
the faults with the paddle-wing, like having to stand the blade on deck
vertically and fix it in that unstable position (that didn't apply to my
rescue) as the reasons it wouldn't work. Even though paddle float rescues
have caught on widely in North America over the last 19 years they are still
widely criticized or only grudgingly accepted in areas of BCU influence
around the world. When I first tried to show it to Derek he announced it
wouldn't work and wouldn't even try it. When I later asked him what he would
do if he for some reason found himself out of his boat and alone. He thought
about it for a few seconds and answered "Pray". End of digression--I guess
that attitude still riles me.]
I originally meant to discuss the best float for teaching rolling since the
others who use a paddlefloat seemed to indicate that they were using
inflatable ones. Here is an excerpt from what I wrote in an early safety
flyer (copyright 1981) for our customers and anyone else that wanted it--I
gave away several hundred of our "Safety" and "Rescues" manuals at each
symposium I spoke at on Sea Kayak Safety in the 1980's [Note: CPM operating
system on a 64K Kaypro II with two temperamental single sided floppy drives
for storage and back-up, composed in "Perfect Writer" to be typed out on a
daisywheel printer--you old-timers might remember some of these now ancient
relics]

 "A float attached to one end of the paddle can make learning to
roll easier.  It might even help those in an area where
instruction is not available to learn to roll on their own, if
they are especially determined and well coordinated.  The paddle
float allows you to go through the procedure in slow motion,
building neural pathways that will help guide the motions when
the float is removed.  It also allows you to hold an intermediate
position and analyze what must happen next in order to make the
roll as effortless as possible.  By gradually decreasing the
amount of flotation you might be able to work up to a roll using
only the paddle.  A board of ethafoam (or some other similar
closed cell foam) 1" to 1 1/2" thick works best.  Cut it wider than
the paddle blade (tapering the edges for streamlining) and
securely hold it in place (tape it, strap it, or cut a pocket
into it so it slips over the blade).

CAUTION: the use of flotation makes it easy to get in the bad
habit of "muscling up", so care must always be given to righting
the KAYAK FIRST and removing your HEAD from the water LAST.
Inflatable paddle floats (described later with self rescues) will
also work but take care that you don't damage them on the pool
bottom or sides.  Also, unless the flotation has a relatively thin
flat cross section it will  seriously retard the sweep stage of
the roll (which should be done very rapidly) making the [clarification:
inflatable] float
only suitable for practicing the final stages of the roll.
_at_blankspace(2 lines)
_at_center(ESKIMO ROLLS)"

A little later Wade Wong came up with the wind up and unwind technique (for
using a paddle float starting from the finish position of the roll). Wade
and a few helpers (sometimes including me) could teach a pool full of
paddlers to roll in a two hour period using these techniques and a little
one on one instruction from him. Wade could look at somebody's roll attempt,
analyze the problems with it and then tell the student just the right thing
to do to get them to succeed within a few more tries. Wade is an incredible
teacher. Last time I talked to him he was teaching other doctors how to do
the latest in TV guided internal heart surgeries.

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com


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