[Paddlewise] skillful bracing

Subject:  Skillful bracing
Ken Rasmussen
kayakfit_at_fidalgo.net
www.kayakfit.com

    I found myself in a dispute recently with a woman who insists that the
best whitewater paddler she ever knew could not roll.  She said he could brace
so effectively that he never capsized.  I told her that I was very skeptical
because I think that rolling is much easier to learn than deep bracing, and
that people who can brace effectively from a knockdown, or near knockdown, can
roll well.  I said that I prefer to teach rolling very early in the teaching
process because I think it is more effective to teach bracing second.  One of
my reasons is that a student who misses a brace can roll back up and try
again.  A student who can't roll has to wet exit and recover, and loses a lot
of practice time in the process.  I see no harm to teaching bracing first, but
the braces I see are all either shallow braces, or result in capsize.  In
fact, when I'm teaching rescues, and I can't get a volunteer victim, I switch
gears, and have bracing practice.  Before I know it I've got volunteers
needing rescuing!  I suppose there might be occasional instances in which
someone has learned to brace from a knockdown without knowing rolling, but
these must be rare.  What are your observations?
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