Ok, so by now you’ve heard me say my favorite catch phrase, "what do I know!??" many times, so that has to be a precursor to this post. There are lots of experts out there who can fill in the details but I did want to share what I’ve been learning about the Narsaq or stick roll.

Early on when I was starting to learn my first roll. (the dreaded C to C) I went out and bought a copy of "Grace Under Pressure. Learning The Kayak Roll". by Rapid Progression. Today the thing that still stands out to me as a point to remember from their presentation is, "The paddle does not roll you up". And that’s something all rolling students have a hard time grasping. "Well, if that damn paddle doesn’t roll you up, what the hell good is it? . . . ". The answer. . . Not much really. Well, depending on the roll. But with the C to C the paddle is almost worthless, and it takes a long time to learn that. Remember I’m not all that gifted and I’ve been kayaking for about 5 years now. Add to that I’m an addict and practice all the time. As my roll became bombproof, (as the hardcore guys say), I found that I was really just trying to get the damn paddle out of the way. From there I would have thought the Norsaq would be cake. (See; "What do I know. .)

One of the things I had never realized that the paddle DID do for me was to give me something to do with my hands! When I first started trying hand rolls or stick rolls the problem I had is that I couldn’t figure out where my hands should go. I’d just go upside down and flail around. Next thing you know I was wet exiting. (just as Alex) That was pretty much the story for me until the first time I got in the pool with my new Norsaq or rolling stick. Don’t ask me what changed but it didn’t take more than a half hour or so to suddenly find something to do with my hands. And me without a date!!

The first thing I needed to learn was to trust the rolling stick. So as soon as I was in the water I began to work on draws with the stick. Basically sticking the Norsaq in the water and then sculling my boat sideways. This helped me to feel the way it reacted to the water. Next I began to layback and slide off into the water and side-scull. Again I was doing exactly what I would do with the paddle, only now my arm became the paddle shaft and the Norsaq became the blade. Yeah, this is a bit difficult at first. But surprisingly for the most part it was just as if I had a paddle. But now I had an extra arm. So I would just toss it over my back deck as a counter balance. This made the side scull with the stick even a bit easier. (at this point all the experts are going, "Well, duh!!)

Next thing I did was to roll upside down with a spotter (poor Mary) and just move the stick around under the water and work on bringing myself to the surface. Not rolling. Just trying to bring my body horizontal to the surface of the water. Then when I’d run out of air, I’d tap and get rescued. Reminding myself I was not trying to roll, allowed me to take time to to get comfortable moving around under the water without the paddle. Something I really needed to do. I had "paddle roll" habits, and I needed to open my mind a bit.

At first I’d work on sculling up. This worked well enough. Then for something different, I’d tuck my body forward and reach out my arms to the front of the kayak and then sweep back just like a sweep roll. This would also bring me to the surface. In fact, reaching forward and sweeping back seemed much easier. Occasionally my nose would just break the surface and then it would do it’s flesh colored impersonation of the "Seaview" and dive, dive, dive. Suddenly I’m slapping on the hull, and testing whether my wife still wants me alive or not.

So far so good. So now what happens if right when I come to that closest point to the surface… Right when my nose is about to break through to the air, I reach out with my left arm and smack the water and hip snap? The stick would do nothing but sit there at the end of my extended right arm and keep me from sinking. Bang!!! I was up. Imagine laying on your side and doing the crocodile chomp with your outstretched arms. Reach forward, sweep back, and chomp! I was not quite sure how that all worked, but it did work. Then with a little repetition I found that I really didn’t have to be all that close to the surface. In fact I came to the point of just following my hands with my eyes, just like learning that C to C.

You may have noticed I’m describing a couple different concepts here. That’s because I was learning in two boats at once. In my ww boat, at first, I would just roll upside-down then reach my arms to the surface then reach out and "bang" on the water. This along with a hip-snap would bring me up. However in the sea boat I could not seem to get it right. This is when I started reaching forward and sweeping my arms back to roll the boat about half way up, then finishing with a twist and a much smaller left arm slap. My right arm with the stick just holding position out at a right angle to the kayak. In subsequent practice sessions I began to work on rolling out of position, putting the stick in my bungies (depending on the boat), or letting the stick float, then rolling to grab it. These exercises taught me that sweeping method was more consistent for me in either kayak than the "banging on the surface" method. But I’m sure that’s a personal thing and just because it’s still new to me.

Two things kill my stick roll. Failing to hipsnap and depending on the arms. Same mistake we make when we first learn to roll. Remember, "The paddle doesn’t roll you up" or the stick, or the hand. You can slap all day, but if you don’t roll the boat up with your body you’re not coming up. Well, it’s not bloody likely anyway. The other problem was to be lazy with my reach. I wouldn’t reach out and up enough with my arms and that would leave the stick sitting like 2 feet below the surface. Even though my body was up, the stick was so low in the water it would tend to pull me back down.

When working on stick & hand rolls you do get tired after awhile. You have to know when to call it a day. As soon as you get tired and out of focus you start missing rolls. The hip snap goes to hell or your sweeps become half-a**ed. Being tired is almost like learning it all over again. For myself, I have a game I play. At the very end of practice, when I’m most beat I go back and do everything I’ve learned another 3 times. My hope is that no matter how trashed I am, I could pull my focus back together and produce another good roll. No, my hope is that no matter how trashed I am, I could pull off another paddle roll, stick roll, and hand roll, and maybe a nice rodeo recovery as well. AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT!! Heck, well I’m at it I’d better start working on that head stand!

Now for something completely different. Remember that bit in Sesamee Street where they sang, "One of these things is not like the other??" http://home.comcast.net/~wadenorton/paddling_photos.htm . Thanks Wade!!!