From a pure thought experiment standpoint, it seems to me that there is a simple explanation why some people can learn the hands roll much easier than they learn the paddle roll. With a handsroll, you have to flail away with the arms to set up the hipsnap. With a paddle roll, if you flail with the paddle, the paddle will dive and the hipsnap will fail. This is an essential difference. Some people just cannot understand that rolling requires almost zero upper body strength. There are very few instances in life where upper body strength is a distinct disadvantage. However, eskimo rolling is one of them. Apply too much force on the paddle during the sweep, and it dives, and no amount of hipsnap can overcome that. It's that simple. Handsrolling is the exact opposite. The more force you can apply with your arms, the less strong your hipsnap needs to be, and the more likely you are to make a successful roll. You still need to have a strong hipsnap, but perhaps some people are more receptive to doing a strong hipsnap AFTER they have done a strong upper body contraction. Regardless, the natural tendency to flail away with your arms is an advantage. I think the essence of the conundrum here is that human beings are used to using their arms to accomplish physical tasks. We are not used to using lateral hip rotation to accomplish anything physical. Perhaps salsa dancing uses this motion, but that is not a physical task to overcome and conquer. I can't think of any other sport or physical endeavor that requires the same lateral rotational motion as hipsnapping in kayaking. Can you? Kevin especially for upper-body centered males. Wailing away with the arms is something everyone understands, but rotating the lower body sideways and independent of the upper body is something nobody does on a regular basis (except kayakers). Kevin Whilden Your Planet Earth http://www.yourplanetearth.org (206) 788-0281 (ph) (206) 788-0284 (f) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Kevin Whilden wrote: > I can't think of any other sport or physical endeavor that requires the > same lateral rotational motion as hipsnapping in kayaking. Can you? > Yes, racquetball. The most powerful hitters in the game get their power from striding into their shot, and rotating their torsos. The upper body only provides the whip action at the end of the swing that makes contact. For that matter, hitting a baseball is mostly a matter of body rotation as well --- watch Griffey Jr. hit sometime ---- his swing starts in his feet. I've found that my backhand shot in r-ball and my sweep roll feel very similar in terms of what my lower body does. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 7/14/00 5:14:01 AM, kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org writes: << (snip) We are not used to using lateral hip rotation to accomplish anything physical. (snip) I can't think of any other sport or physical endeavor that requires the same lateral rotational motion as hipsnapping in kayaking. Can you? >> Agreed. We tend to move through the world in two dimensions. Rock climbing, gymnastics and dancing are the only two examples (nod to Mel) that I can think of that use the hips in lateral movement. While the arms and hands can help some hand rolls, the majority, I believe are best served with a lifting of the body that sets up or rather winds up the hip snap. The hands and arms then serve to maximize the upper body's resistance to movement while the boat is pulled beneath the body with the hips. (my limited experience only). Jed *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I haven't yet filmed myself, but I'd like to. Rather, I'd like to have some film of myself paddling; preferably filmed by someone other than myself! Shawn Wayne wrote: >Could be that I learn by "feel", and it's just that it feels the same. I'd like to >have someone videotape me doing about 10 or 12 different rolls, so I can actually >see how I do them. Could be interesting. Anyone here ever do that? -- Shawn W. Baker 0 46°53'N © 2000 ____©/______ 114°06'W ~~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\ ,/ /~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ baker_at_montana.com 0 http://www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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