Archive for the ‘Learning’ Category

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?  Read the rest of this entry »

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.    Read the rest of this entry »

Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter
Togetherness, well that’s all I’m after
Whenever you need me, I’ll be there – jackson 5

This is what enthusiasm looks like.  This is what it is.  When you show up for class and the weather is foul you simply put on your biggest smile and say, “let’s go!”.  Truth be told, enthusiasm is the only way you’ll ever be a really good kayaker.  If you’re not into it, if you don’t enjoy it so much that you find yourself paddling constantly  regardless of weather, regardless of climate.. you’ll never reach the point where managing your boat becomes second nature.  As we like to say, it’s all about “butt in boat” time.  Read the rest of this entry »

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?   Read the rest of this entry »

This low down bitchin’ got my poor feet a itchin’,
You know you know the duece is still wild.
Baby, I can’t stay, you got to roll me
And call me the tumblin’ dice.
-stones

Before I go too deeply into boat fit here I want to be clear I’m mostly talking about sea kayaks and to some extent white water kayaks.  Recreational boats that are shorter, wider and have a big opening on top simply will not provide the sort of fit we talk about when talking about rolling a kayak.  This does not mean you can’t roll one, but it’s a challenge to say the least.  Still, if you currently paddle one of these sorts of kayaks, you’re welcome to follow along as well.  I’m sure we’ll cross a couple of useful points for you as well.

Symbiosis

How you fit into your kayak can be seen as an issue of control.  Simply put, you need places where your body connects to the kayak in order to make it do what you want it to do.   Of course that’s a little too authoritarian for my mind. Another more organic way to look at it is that on the water you become one with your kayak, it becomes your  body, your skeletal structure and your skin. Your relationship to your craft is symbiotic.  You don’t ride in a kayak, you become one with it. You are the heart and mind of the creature, where you connect is simply the nervous system reaching out to the skin sending and receiving messages. The more connections we have the more we are able to sense our environment and control our reaction to it.  We are not paddlers but creatures of the sea.

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WarChild dance the days, and dance the nights away.
Open your windows and I’ll walk through your doors.
Let me live in your country — let me sleep by your shores.
Tull

Low impact does not mean dainty, wimpy or weak.  Low impact kayak rolling is not about modifying a powerful roll to make it easy on the old bones. If you think low impact means, low power you’re missing the point completely. What we’re really talking about is efficiency.    Read the rest of this entry »

Today I want to offer up a few video clips to demonstrate mind over matter.. Or I should say, “body over paddle”.   Let’s start with a couple vertical sculling rolls.  These come from Greenland Style rolling and simply won’t allow you to push, pull or otherwise wank on your paddle blade.  In the first clip I’m using a Greenland Paddle and it’s shot underwater.  You can see that I do get a little purchase with the paddle, but the thing to watch here is the boat.

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