The Devil in the Details

Sometimes it gets downright scary. I'm talking about the serendipity thing and Derrick. Many mornings I have woken with an intention to blog on a certain subject only to find he has just posted something pertaining to the same thing. He has just begun a series on teaching style, and I look forward to seeing what he has to say. I recommend it to you sight unseen. Oddly, I woke with a similar idea born of an event in the pool this past weekend.

He and I are, apparently, right-brained thinkers. Those are the folks who tend to deal with concepts rather than details. Instead of going from a-z, we tend to see it all at once, as if a flashbulb (I just dated myself...but I digress) just went off. Part of this behavior is seldom doing the same thing the same way twice...including teaching or, as BCU Derrick says, coaching.

Sometimes, especially when I am learning a new movement, I still have to break it down and do it very slowly in an a-z fashion in order to give my muscles a chance to "get it". It seems that my body thinks left brain when first learning and needs every detail explained to it before it can make muscle memory and do things with ease. So it was Saturday evening at the pool when my off side roll (with the Euro paddle) just wasn't working.

Another paddler, a fellow yet to learn to roll, was watching me and asked why I was hitting the boat with my paddle. I was? Yes. With which blade and where? The blade in back. It is hitting behind your seat.

I immediately knew that I was not initiating the roll with my thigh and starting the boat turning before sweeping. Over I went, used my left brain to start the boat over with my legs, swept the paddle and popped up. On my not-off side, it is all right brain and muscle memory. I dump, I roll up.

So, let's see what Derrick has to say as his series continues.

Paddle safe...
DS