At 12:12 PM 7/21/2004 -0700, K. Rasmussen wrote: >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 would be skeptical about a claim that he could not roll, but not if she said that he never rolls. At a skills symposium a few years ago someone asked Nigel Dennis how often he rolls and he said, "almost never" because his bracing skills are such that he rarely completely capsizes. >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. I think that it helps to teach at least some amount of bracing as it can help develop a good hip snap. > I see no harm to teaching bracing first, but >the braces I see are all either shallow braces, or result in capsize. I see that as well. A lot of people take awhile to learn how to brace effectively because they don't commit to a capsize. An exercise that I use is have them set up with their paddle in a high brace position and tell them hold their offside hand close to deck on the opposite side form where they're going to brace. Then raise the water side paddle blade up a foot or two off the water and hold there as they capsize, when the blade hits the water, brace back up. Have them keep raising the blade higher and higher until their able to capsize and brace back up with the paddle starting at a near vertical position. If they hold the paddle shaft near the offside deck and their bracing hand near their forehead until they hit the water I actually find bracing this way easier than trying to do a quick slap brace. The most common mistake I see people make is letting the offside hand come up and across. When that happens they end up spearing the water rather than bracing with the paddle nearly horizontal when it hits the water. Another exercise is to try to capsize by putting your head in the water first, and as you go over, bring the bracing side hand in front of your face so that your head hits the water before the paddle does. When your head hits the water brace back up. Once they've done that a few times have them hesitate after they've hit the water before bracing. Another trick that helps is to try capsizing and presenting your back to the water so that you land on your back when you hit the water. That stops the capsizing momentum long enough to make a brace easier. Doing this, and then hesitating before bracing up really helps getting the timing of the hipsnap. John Fereira jaf30_at_cornell.edu Ithaca, NY *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jul 21 2004 - 14:55:58 PDT
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