I taught my 12-year old daughter how to roll our Umiak (kids' or small adult, non-touring kayak) this summer. Here are some notes. I do not pretend that it is ideal pedagogy, but it may give adult/child learners some ideas. 1.. Background. Her biggest assets going into the project were her comfort with water and her experience that kayaks and rolling are a regular part of our summer vacation. In our family, kayaking is a normal rather than an exotic activity, everyone paddles a little, and her dad and her older sister roll routinely, and she perceived rolling as something you do when you get older. Add to these motivation. She had mentioned wanting to learn several times in the off season, and I waited for her to bring it up again in the summer and carve out time on her own, rather than being the driving force myself. Ever since she began paddling the Umiak years ago, she eschewed a Euro paddle and insisted on using Greenland paddles. Eventually I made her one proportionate to her measurements. She is about 4 feet 8 inches and weights about 70 pounds. She used a nose plug for these exercises. 2.. Session 1: I had her practice laybacks and simple sculling on her right side, to the point where she had the kayak about 90 degrees to the water. I then had her scull while she lowered her head more and more into the water, eventually immersing it so that she could look toward the bottom. She could hold her breath a long time, undoubtedly thanks to her off-season participation in the local swim team. She would take a quick breath, keep sculling, then return to head underwater. All this was to instill the feeling not only of the layback but also of bringing the head out last. Then I taught her the "Eskimo rescue," which she found fun and reassuring because she realized an unsuccessful attempt entailed only a slight delay. I had her repeat all the sculling exercises on the left side and asked her which felt more comfortable. The right side was her preference, so right-side emergence [i.e., submerging on port, rising on starboard] was what I had her learn. 3.. Session 2: We experimented with a paddle float that I had bought many years ago and never used. I discovered that almost any degree of inflation was too much for her, because it made the paddle so buoyant either she could not roll over or she couldn't control the paddle underwater, so eventually I let all the air out. Even that proved awkward, so instead of setting up with the paddle on port [left], I had her place the paddle in the water on her right side, roll left without the paddle, and grab it while coming up from being capsized. She came very close a few times, persevered, and eventually did one roll. We quit on that high note. 4.. Session 3: The usual backsliding occurred that afflicts many adult learners: Inability to repeat the successful roll. I assured her this happens to everyone and we tried concentrating on various aspects of technique, such as hand position, correctint the diving paddle, head posture, etc. No rolls. She seemed to take it in stride, not especially frustrated or impatient. 5.. Session 4: I took out the Euro paddle that we had gotten with the Umiak and that she had never used, explaining that it operated like a paddle float. It seemed too big for her and felt a little weird compared to her normal Greenland paddle, but she understood that it would not dive so readily as her Greenland model. We talked through the mechanics, emphasizing locking the left hand on the side of the kayak, sweeping the paddle to a right angle position, lying back, and bringing the head up last. She made it on her first try. She then proceeded to do 7 more rolls in a row, never having to do a wet exit or an Eskimo rescue once. During two of the rolls, she particularly impressed me by missing the initial attempt but staying capsized, keeping her cool, holding her breath, restoring the paddle to its set up, and re-trying a roll. I hadn't told her to do that. In her sixth roll, she actually missed it twice, staying submerged and re-setting twice and finally getting it. This is where her ease in the water really paid off. She is a pretty strong swimmer and did not panic or get disoriented in the slightest. 6.. The 4 sessions were stretched out over 2 weeks. Too bad we had to leave the day after she got her roll. We'll have to start a little rusty next year. On the other hand, I'll put in some minicell to fit the kayak to her thighs and that should make quite a difference. 7.. The biggest lesson I drew is that the paddle float is a mistake for a light child. The big Euro paddle provided everything she needed. Not sure how helpful it was in the end to have spent a lot of time with the sculling, although she enjoyed it and it is the beginning of a skill she should develop in any case. It certainly boosted her confidence. I was lucky in not having to devote much time on dry land going through the mechanics. With some learners, that is extremely important. Her light weight and torso flexibility were undoubtedly additional advantages. Finally, Lake Huron water was nice and warm this year, so our sessions could be long. Tom Joyce *************************************************************************** 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. 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Tom Joyce wrote: <Snip>>>>>7.. The biggest lesson I drew is that the paddle float is a mistake for a light child. The big Euro paddle provided everything she needed. <<<<Snip> It wouldn't have been a problem if you had the child "wind up" for the roll by starting in the finishing position and moving to the starting position. This means one capsizes on the same side they roll back up on and the paddle float stays on the surface and doesn't have to get under the capsized kayak to get to the correct side for rolling. For a paddle float you want a flat surface such as with a foam plank. It is much easier to sweep than a round inflatable paddle float when learning to roll. More information on using a float and several other rolling tips can be found in the "Rescues" pages of our website. For those of you who want to learn to roll but can't get to a good instructor using a flat paddlefloat and the "wind up" technique is by far the best method I know. most folks who try on their own just teach themselves bad habits that a good teacher must break later to get them rolling. It is hard to pick up bad habits with the "wind up" method using a flat paddlefloat with at least 1/4 cubic foot of buoyancy. it kind of forces you to make the right motions to move the paddle at all. You can also work through the motions in slow motion and feel what is easiest to do each step of the way in rolling up when you have a lot of support at the end of the paddle. By winding up you learn most of the roll before you even get your head underwater. Matt Broze www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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