Sometimes I am so happy with myself that I just HAVE to share... I have been teaching people to roll for a couple of years now, but always individual, never in a group. My club gave me the opportunity to give a five lesson rolling class to a group of 10 people. I decided to spend the complete first lesson on dealing with fear, and leave even the use of a brace or basic hipsnap for the second lesson. I must admit I was a bit nervous. After all: These people had paid money to learn to ROLL, not to spend a full hour in a swimming pool without even grabbing a paddle. I had planned to make them swim, dive, perform acrobatics in the water, dive under boats, breath inside upside down kayaks... Would they be willing to do what I asked, playing like little children? It turned out they were more then happy. All my students had been paddling for at least a year and were comfortable in a boat, even on choppy water. All of them had flipped at least once, to show they were able to release their sprayskirts and perform a wet exit. Most of them found that a horrible experience and hoped they would never have to do it again. Two of them were clearly terrified about the class and having to flip their boats again. After an hour of fooling around, all fears were gone. All students were comfortably trying to perform re-entries, trying to paddle swamped boats, trying to swim while trapped in an upside down kayak, flipping and rescuing each other and trying to surf the waves (we have access to a swimming pool with waves!). I hope they are relaxed enough now to quickly learn their braces and hipsnaps. Even learning the most difficult part -getting your head out of the water LAST- might be easy for them. We'll see about that next lesson... Main lesson for me: It IS possible to have fun during a kayak class. For many trainers this might be an eye-opener. Thanks for listening to my self-obsessed ranting, Niels. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 05:24 AM 1/28/02 -0500, Blaauw, Niels wrote: >Sometimes I am so happy with myself that I just HAVE to share... > >I have been teaching people to roll for a couple of years now, but always >individual, never in a group. My club gave me the opportunity to give a five >lesson rolling class to a group of 10 people. I decided to spend the >complete first lesson on dealing with fear, and leave even the use of a >brace or basic hipsnap for the second lesson. >. ... >After an hour of fooling around, all fears were gone. All students were >comfortably trying to perform re-entries, trying to paddle swamped boats, >trying to swim while trapped in an upside down kayak, flipping and rescuing >each other and trying to surf the waves (we have access to a swimming pool >with waves!). > >I hope they are relaxed enough now to quickly learn their braces and >hipsnaps. Even learning the most difficult part -getting your head out of >the water LAST- might be easy for them. We'll see about that next lesson... Sounds like the first class went well. It's nice when you can incorporate games or exercises that might not seem like they're kayaking skills but will help learn kayaking skills. Perhaps a logical progression for the next class would be to teach the hip snap using the bow of a partners boat. Then have them capsize and do bow rescues. Getting them to slap the side of the boat after a capsize and wait for a rescue will not only make them more comfortable being upside down but will also save some time when they start practicing the rolls if they don't have to wet exit. >Main lesson for me: It IS possible to have fun during a kayak class. For >many trainers this might be an eye-opener. I've got a book called "Canoe Games" (it was written in the UK so they're referring to what we in the US call kayaks) that has dozens of games that one can play in a kayak. Some of them are pretty silly but a lot of them are good for balance or something that will improve their kayaking skills. One of the first times I did a "combat roll" was during a game of ultimate frisbee in kayaks. I had capsized and *had* to get back up to keep the other team from making a goal. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Julie wrote: <<<I'm impressed!!! But that is because I'm one of those full of the fear. Areyour classes on the East Coast or West Coast? Sounds like a great way to teach to me!!>>> Hi Julie, My classes are in the Netherlands, Europe. A little out of the way for you, I'm afraid... But if you ever come in the neighborhood, it will be my pleasure to take you out to a pool or a pond and play with you for an afternoon. Meanwhile, you can try to help yourself. For most of the exercises I thought up, you won't need an instructor or even a kayak. Put on your nose-clip and try these: Check how long you can hold your breath, in and out of the water. Swimming underwater (when was the last time you did that? For some of my students it was years ago). Swimming underwater upside down. Making a summersault, at the surface or under water, forward and backward. Diving under something: A boat, a dock, a person, a toy in a swimmingpool. While diving under something, grabbing it and trying to move it. Float at the surface, and ask someone to push you under, at your mark or unexpected. Capsize while sitting on top of your boat. Try to re-enter and immediately exit a boat under water. Take small steps: First just your feet, then part of your legs, then your hips too. When you manage to get in and out completely, add time to enjoy the scenery before you get out. Capsize while sitting in your boat, but make sure you're already wet, so you're used to the watertemperature. You don't have to bail your boat to repeat this exercise: It works just as well with a swamped half-sunk boat. Same as before, with a sprayskirt Same as before, without knowing the water temperature Let someone stand next to your boat and pull you up after a capsize. Make clear appointments about when and how to pull you out of the water After that, you should be ready for a regular rolling class. Have fun, and I emphasize that: Have FUN! Niels. BTW, don't forget to delete the original text in your answers. There may be no more Jackie to come and get you, but there are others. ;-) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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