[Paddlewise] rolling over

As a recent roller, I'd like to share some hindsights:

When I found a successful roll, I have to say I did not intellectually
understand what had happened until a while later.  A lot of the coaching
that I had received did not fall into place until I had something to compare
it to.  I think a more accurate description of the process would be finally
getting my mind out of the way of my body.

I had a similiar experience learning modern dance in college;  I found that
I didn't start improving until I stopped worrying about starting off on the
wrong foot in a phrase and started letting the body do what it needed to,
even at the risk of failure.

How to apply this to kayak rolling?  I think that what finally worked for me
was blindly following the physical directions that my instructor had taught
me (this was a GP layback roll) and not trying to figure out how this would
get me upright.  The body has too many unhelpful righting impulses that will
generally send you to the bottom of the pool (because you're upside down,
right?)

To those who are still reading, I would encourage you to pick up Moshe
Feldenkrais' first book, "Awareness Through Movement".  Besides a really
refreshing treatment of the learning process, he has some interesting
thoughts about muscle patterning and learning.  It may not help you roll,
but its a great book (and very short).

Severn

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