Bad Example
Published August 19, 2010 | 
Notice how by lifting my head, my body curves and begins to push the kayak back down! This is why you can’t lift your head!
Let’s work one that roll a bit more, shall we? Today you get to be the coach. I’ve talked about a bunch of skills to this point. But I want to also show you what happens, “when good skills go bad.” I’ve provided a video where I make enough mistakes to make my own teeth hurt. I’ve captioned the worst offenses. As you can see, the motions are still smooth, the scull still quiet and the roll still successful. This is where I coined the term “Sloppy Competence” which is my response to “The 4 Stages of Competence” that we as coaches always hear about. It’s the point beyond “Unconscious Competence” where we practically do everything wrong and still succeed in the end. :) But why? Continue reading
The Heavenly Arch
Published August 17, 2010 | 
I can hear chants and incantations and some guy is mentioning me in his prayers.
Well, I don’t know what it is but there’s definitely something going on upstairs – Nick Cave (Dig, Lazarus, Dig)
We’re back to “low impact rolling” again. Today I want to spend time on about 1/10 of a second worth of your roll, the bit where you bring your body to the surface of the water from the upside down or inverted position. How you approach this short moment in your kayak roll can make all the difference when it comes to ease and efficiency. This is not the only way to do things, but learning it will make whatever roll you do more successful. Really. I promise! So let’s get to it. Continue reading
Don’t Stop The Rain
Published August 14, 2010 | 
Long as I remember The rain been coming down.
Clouds of myst’ry pouring Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, Trying to find the sun;
And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who’ll stop the rain. – ccr
After a successful day of rolling on Thursday, you wouldn’t be surprised if Mary wanted to get back out and lock in her roll the following morning. Now, some could say that the weather didn’t cooperate but I’d say it did exactly what it should have done. It upped the ante… Continue reading
Square Thoughts About The Balance Brace
Published August 13, 2010 | 
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms.
Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?
Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon.
I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you. – clapton
In Greenland rolling an essential technique, and the foundation of a variety of rolls is called the balance brace. This little maneuver is basically the act of floating your upper body on the surface of the water, while remaining in your kayak and WITHOUT falling over. Sounds simple enough eh?
The real challenge of the balance brace is that with your upper body in the water, the kayak wants to follow you in (or roll over on top of you). So to counter this, we have to position our bodies in a particular way to “balance” the boat against the weight of our torso to remain on the surface. Yeah, it’s tricky. While we’re going to talk about the balance brace for at least a couple posts in this series.. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to be successful at it, to have an effortless roll. Continue reading
Mary’s New Found Roll
Published August 13, 2010 | 
Come here mama….and dig this crazy scene
He’s not too fancy….but his line is pretty clean
He ain’t no drag.
Papa’s got a brand new bag
– james brown
So I know lots of folks who’ve been following along with the “Low Impact Roll” series are not rollers, or at least are not confident rollers.. yet. Since it’s Friday I want to take a break and share with you a bit of encouragement by way of example. Normally in the “biz” we’re in the habit of showing you experts and athletes who’ve got rolling down to an art form. While that can be encouraging it can also be a bit intimidating as well. So here’s a “real people” example of where we’re going.
Learn To Roll, Stupid!
Published August 11, 2010 | 
Actually, that should be “Learn to roll stupid” because today I’ve got some exercises that will certainly make you look stupid if no one knows why you’re dong them. Seriously though, if you’ve been following along so far with my series on low impact rolls these exercises are more important than they look. Just find your inner child and play along. Continue reading
Fun in the Bedroom
Published August 7, 2010 | 
Hallo. Vould you like to have a roll in ze hay?
It’s fun.
Roll, roll, roll in ze hay….
- young frankenstein
Yesterday said I had some fun exercises for you! (Well, I many not have used the word, “fun” wink, wink, ….) You do know of course that we roll every day, or every night at least. In bed. And I don’t mean a “roll in the hay” (Although I certainly am all for a good roll in the hay as well!). But what I’m talking about here is simply the act of rolling over. Lying on your stomach, then rolling over on your back, or conversely (Yes I do love that word!), lying on your back and rolling over on your stomach. Have you ever taken the time to figure out how you do it? Continue reading
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