On 17 Oct 2003 at 11:15, Dave Kruger wrote: > Same here. I think it has to do with competing mechanisms guiding > your arms/hands/fingers: visual clues versus proprioception. Here's > a link to a definition embodied in a BBC short on how dancers use it: > http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/dancersbody/body/proprioception.shtml Interesting article and thanks for adding a word to my vocabulary, Dave! Reading that article reminded me of something that may affect some paddlers when underwater. Astronauts suffer from problems when in weightless conditions - they can't figure out what their bodies are doing! The physical clues provided by gravity, such as where their arm is, are missing. They have to relearn how to do things and spend time working on simple things like coordination. When underwater, we are floating and relatively neutrally bouyant (we barely float - well.. I barely do, some folks who are "padded" do better :-). While gravity is still active, the strength of the signals on body position are probably a little weaker and this may throw off some folks. One thing a lot of paddlers have a problem with is orienting themselves to vertical - you can be at an angle to vertical and not notice it unless you stop moving. This can throw off a roll. I've noticed this in me and others when pfd bouyancy pushes one to the offside when you want an onside roll. I'd guess that the brain is integrating both the info from the balance organs in the ear with the gravity stresses on the body and one's bouyancy throws the latter out of kilter. I guess this is something else to consider when practicing upside- down. The more time you spend at it, the better you can cope with odd signals on body position. 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. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 17 2003 - 12:04:49 PDT
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