When you walk through a storm...

The song says that when we walk through a storm we should keep our heads up high. I am sure that is a metaphor for staying optimistic during hard times since following such advice makes one a target for lightening. In another venue, kayak rolling, it is also terrible advice. Bottom line, we would do better with a golf pro (who keeps telling the duffers to keep their head down...but I digress) than an ACA instructor if we are to succeed.

I've already talked about the C-C roll (I don't like it and never teach it first as does the ACA) and my letter to the editor in Sea Kayak Magazine. Today, I wish to add an idea about keeping one's head down.

A fundamental problem with folks just learning to roll is the desire to come up to a sitting position and the silly idea that one can. One can't. The act of sitting up requires lifting the head and, thus, missing the roll. Instead, I indoctrinate students with the concept that a roll actually consists of the boat coming underneath them and lifting them up as the boat rights itself. This, of course, makes the hip "snap" (something only hula dancers do) a pull on the thigh brace to get the boat underneath yourself. It also removes emphasis on the paddle which, to the eye of a beginner, is a powerful lever in the C-C roll...and it ain't.

Now, the student can learn to go through rotation (not too fast and after a good setup) and hold constant pressure on the downside thigh brace while waiting for the boat to scoop them up. It works. Try it. You'll like it.

Paddle safe...

DS