Rolling is a special topic with me. I do rolling for the fun of it. The fact that it gives me an additional benefit as a rescue option is a plus. I became fascinated with the concept of rolling a kayak long before I ever paddled one. The idea that one could right a kayak through a series of twists and turns enthralled me. Hence, when I started kayaking, learning a roll was one of my first priorities - I had to be able to do that cool manoeuvre. I learned to do the Pawlata first and soon after took another course to learn the C-C and screw rolls. It took quite a while to advance beyond that, in part due to a lack of good instruction in this area. I took an advanced rolling course in Grand Marais a couple of years ago at the Great Lakes Symposium - based on Euro paddles (EP) for the most part. In one hour, they taught a group of us one roll - the reverse screw roll (Steyr for the Greenland paddle (GP) users.) I couldn't get the roll at the time (in no small part due to fatigue), but the next time I tried it, I was successful. The instructor did an excellent job in teaching me the essence of the roll. Heavy-duty pool work this past winter along with access to lots of roll descriptions on the Qajaq USA web site meant I learned a bunch of new rolls. However, working from written descriptions meant I wasn't sure if I was doing them right. I needed to have a check on my technique. When I found out that the advanced rolling course at ECCKF was going to highlight traditional techniques, I was delighted. Mark Molina presented a rolling demonstration early in the festival. http://members.rogers.com/michaeldaly2/MarkMolinaEcckf.htm This was a good warm-up for me, just seeing someone do these rolls and being able to ask a couple of questions. The course I was in was on Sunday afternoon and Margaret and Ray Killen were well prepared with spare GPs for those that didn't have their own. Since I had made a GP and a storm, I used my own. They divided the group into two. The smaller group were those that admitted to having a weak roll, while the larger group were those of us who lie and brag. Margaret took the smaller group and Ray took the rest of us to task. This is where it got interesting. My previous symposium's advanced course taught one roll in an hour. This course was two and a half hours long and we went through so many rolls I lost count! Starting with the basic Pawlata/Standard Greenland roll we quickly moved on to the screw roll. Then we tried a few variations on brace type rolls. The butterfly (aka backhand, aka ??? I forgot the third name he used) formed a base for several other rolls. Put Across and similar were also done. Vertical paddle rolls were tried with success. Twisting our bodies for some of the fancier sweep rolls literally stretched us to new limits! We also worked through a few trick rolls. For the first time, I began to see that these rolls have a pedagogical value. Ray had a justification for almost every roll and these were no exception. While he didn't say so explicitly, I began to see how some trick rolls do in fact emphasize a specific skill. Some will force the paddler to rely on feel or trust. Others will ensure a degree of versatility - to adapt to a change in the situation. And, perhaps most of all, when put together with all the other rolls, they form a continuous range of rolls for all sorts of conditions. If you develop a set of rolls like these, you can be ready for anything, regardless of how you go over, what you are doing or what position you're in. For the Inuit, these were obviously essential skills. The behind-the-head roll proved to be my major undoing. I can't "get" this roll (yet!). The water was murky, so I couldn't see what was going on underwater when Ray demonstrated. I have the Rolling With Maligiaq video, but it wasn't going to help me on the water. I rely on my body figuring out stuff by imitation and that requires "seeing" with my body. I can't explain this, but I'm sure many athletes would understand the concept. When I invert, I have to just do the move - if I start to think, I come undone. I managed to come up a couple of times, but weakly. I also had trouble with the one-arm sweep (aka armpit roll) - same reason. I'm halfway between a proper sweep and a butterfly when doing this one and if I think, I get completely lost. I believe I managed one at most and it too was weak. These two rolls will require some practice! At the end of the class, we finished by doing a sweep roll with someone hugging the back deck. I knew I would get this one, since I've practiced with a fully loaded Solstice GTH and know I can rely on my screw roll. I started the roll, immediately noticed I needed more "oomph", adjusted my paddle sweep on the fly and generated a good, slow, emphatic hip roll. I was up easily. It's good to do something like this to keep up my confidence in my skill; it's so easy to think I rely too much on luck or strength. I was, I guess, typical of the class. Some had trouble with a few rolls but got most of them. One woman, Regan, was awesome, flubbing only a single roll! She obviously has a natural skill in rolling. It struck me that there was such a division in the course. The weak paddlers who were separated required special attention but the others got through almost everything. I didn't see any wide spectrum of skills, but rather a tight clumping of skills. Either folks can't do it, can do them poorly and need work or do them generally well and advance easily with practice. This puts me in a strange frame of mind. It started with this past winter's pool sessions and was reinforced with this class. Let me say at the outset that Ray's instructions were top notch. But still there's something else. Is it the switch to the GP? Is it the merging and maturing of disparate rolling skills into a single overall rolling skill? Something is at work here and it's influencing the way I'm thinking about rolling. So few sea kayakers learn to roll and those that do seem not to advance much beyond one or two rolls. Yet I see in myself and the other students a big jump into another realm of rolling. That is not to say we are proficient in all these rolls. But to go thru fifteen or twenty different rolls with general success and to see that only practice is required in the future is something. We're certainly well past the point of thinking "gee, I wish..." when it comes to rolling. The Greenland paddle seems to be an influence. I noticed early on in the pool how easy the storm paddle is to use as a rolling device. It floats into position, it generates lift easily in a sweep or scull (self orienting, as Ray adequately demonstrated) and lends itself to the various techniques. But how critical is it to our success? This past winter, I made sure I could do most of the rolls I knew with either the EP or the GP/storm. But would I have learned them as easily with the EP? There's something in me that says "no." At the same time, there are two rolls that I learned that created the greatest difference in my skill set - the reverse screw roll and the butterfly. The former taught me to use the layback as a starting position and opened up a range of reverse techniques. The butterfly taught me to rely on my hip snap and a good layback finish (minimizing rotational inertia). Once I had learned these two, everything else seemed like just an extension. So many beginners start with the Pawlata or C-C and seem to stall in their learning. It seems to me that learning a different roll would be better for these folks. I asked Margaret if she felt learning a butterfly first helped those who couldn't do the Pawlata develop it later on. She was pretty emphatic about confirming this. Maybe the secret to teaching the roll to most students (i.e. those who would have trouble with most rolls) is to start with a butterfly or even a simple sculling roll. This would convince them that rolling is in the realm of the possible. Then move on to other easy rolls. Only introduce the harder rolls later. Which order to follow would, of course, depend on the student. Perhaps we have to get GPs into the hands of these students. I see lots of beginners failing due to diving EPs - yet the GP seems to be dive-resistant (John Winters once told me that thick-edged paddles seem to be dive-resistant and suggested using a rim band on troublesome EPs). Once they've developed the basic rolling skills they can move on to a potentially finicky EP. I also am thinking that it's time to emphasize rolling as an achievable skill for a large number of sea kayakers. White water paddlers roll in great numbers, even if they stick to only one or two rolls. Why can't we use a broad range of rolls of differing difficulty to introduce sea kayakers to the skill? Have I been biased by being exposed to a collection of exceptional paddlers? Or have I seen what happens when ordinary paddlers are exposed to good instruction with good paddles? I don't know, but I'm not stopping here. Keep getting wet! :-) Mike *************************************************************************** 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. 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<big snip of some very well considered thoughts on rolling from Mike> > Maybe the secret to teaching the roll to most students (i.e. those who would have > trouble with most rolls) is to start with a butterfly or even a simple sculling > roll. This would convince them that rolling is in the realm of the possible. > Then move on to other easy rolls. Only introduce the harder rolls later. Which > order to follow would, of course, depend on the student. Well, I am guilty of this approach with a few students, especially if they have a troublesome time with indexing the paddle after numerous tries with an extended. My reservation, probably due to the approaches of training I took, is to discourage letting go of the paddle, even if only with a single hand. extended paddle is only to the extent of a slide to the root of the blade, not to the far end of the blade requiring a quick release and grab as I have seen taught. If they achieve an extended paddle, I try for a screw/sweep as soon as possible. I think your point is good though, as some sort of gratification is certainly an incentive to continue the discipline. But again, as is constantly reinforced by experience and watching such teachers as Ray and Margaret, there is no one approach to any student. I find that teaching the screw a better start for the young 'powerhouse' type, they can dive an extended paddle through the tile of the pool bottom. Older folk seem to like a low impact of a light traditional stick, others sometimes like to use their own paddle for the 'security' aspects. I probably prefer the teaching with a GP as it doesn't seem to have the sharper edges to keep an eye out for... > > Perhaps we have to get GPs into the hands of these students. I see lots of > beginners failing due to diving EPs - yet the GP seems to be dive-resistant > (John Winters once told me that thick-edged paddles seem to be dive-resistant > and suggested using a rim band on troublesome EPs). Once they've developed > the basic rolling skills they can move on to a potentially finicky EP. I think this is a generally good plan for someone either not bought into a style of paddling or just starting out. An experienced euro blader would have a good sense of indexing which is less of an issue. I find that if the blade and wrist is cocked right for the beginning of the sweep, encouraging the student to use a looser grip will even allow the euro to take a natural plane as in a GP. > I also am thinking that it's time to emphasize rolling as an achievable skill > for a large number of sea kayakers. White water paddlers roll in great numbers, > even if they stick to only one or two rolls. Why can't we use a broad range > of rolls of differing difficulty to introduce sea kayakers to the skill? > > > Have I been biased by being exposed to a collection of exceptional paddlers? > Or have I seen what happens when ordinary paddlers are exposed to good > instruction with good paddles? I don't know, but I'm not stopping here. I think if I never need a manifesto written Mike, I coming to you...interesting post! -- ø gabriel l romeu ø http://studiofurniture.com ø http://journalphoto.org ø http://kayakoutfitting.org *************************************************************************** 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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