Re: [Paddlewise] Rolling question

On 26 Sep 2004 at 19:04, PeterO wrote:

> Two or three of us started wondering during rolling practise today
> whether the term "hip flick" was appropriate and whether knee flick or
> knee lift might better describe what should be emphasised during a
> roll. This may sound like a trivial question but was stimulated by the
> observation that one of us was having real difficulty rolling and was
> not doing much with the knee but was emphasising a hip movement.

John's comments are good and I can agree with them.

This past spring, while demonstrating some rolls in the pool for our 
club, I was asked what my knees were doing.  I sat there for a while 
trying to come up with a good answer.  I finally said that I never 
really consider what my knees are doing.  

I tried to explain that I wear my kayak and that it is the total fit 
that allows me to control the rotation.  Mine is an ocean cockpit, so 
without knee/thigh hooks, I can brace my legs anywhere under the deck 
from the gunnel to the knee tube.  

When teaching someone to roll, I reference the knee not so much to 
indicate what it does so much as to indicate what direction the body 
is moving.  

Since I teach sweep rolls more often than brace rolls, I avoid the 
term "hip flick" entirely and use the term "hip rotation" instead 
when I need to.  I want the paddler to emphasize a smooth continuous 
rotation of the kayak from the start of the sweep to the end.  If I 
then go on to teach a brace roll, I then refer to an "aggressive 
rotation."

I don't think many of these terms are ideal.  I try to describe 
things without them.  BTW - I really hate, and avoid, the term "head 
dink".  It's a totally useless term, neither descriptive nor 
referencing any common behavior.  Maybe Americans dink, but I don't 
know any Canadians that do (we share a border, but not an entire 
language).

Mike
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