A Rolling We Will Go

RIC/KA is in the middle of its four rolling sessions. H went to the first two looking to gain some more confidence when capsizing and hopefully learn to roll. I went along to help out and offer moral support. It was a great experience.
A number of generous paddlers offered their time and expertise to people looking to learn. H benefited from the thoughtful tutelage of four people who were all able to point out little things and guide her through. Sharing knowledge is one of the great things about kayaking as part of a club. Others are always willing to help another paddler gain in skills so that the whole group gains.
Listening to H and trying to help others at the pool session reminded me of just how complicated a skill rolling is and also how unnatural a skill it is. Like many aspects of kayaking, rolling is as much a body thing as it is a mind thing. There are a ton of tiny little things to master and integrate to roll the kayak upright and keep it that way. Keep your head down, make sure the leading blade is parallel to the surface, don't pull too soon or too late, hip snap, use a brace to recover, tuck and unwind, move quickly but not too quickly, don't panic... Oh and do all of this when you are upside down and underwater.
Demonstrating a roll to a bystander is hard because you either have to show it upside down or have an underwater, slow motion camera to capture all of the important parts of the roll. From the surface you cannot see how the body unwinds, what the torso does, where to keep your eyes. From the surface all you can see is the blade slide across the water and, if all goes according to plan, the kayak roll under the paddler.
That an Inuit hunting in freezing water with kayak made of seal hide and drift wood and paddling with a stick ever figured out how to roll seems miraculous. That he was able to transmit the skill to his peers seems even more miraculous. How hard is it to convince non-kayakers that rolling isn't crazy?
Once you get it, a roll is still a delicate thing that takes practice. It is not at all like riding a bike. Every season, if you don't practice over the winter, you wonder if your roll will still work the first few tries. When the roll does come back, it is rusty and needs to be practiced a few times. Learning an offside roll can cost a paddler their onside roll. Getting tossed badly in the surf and blowing a roll can turn a solid roll into mush, or distant memory, for a long time afterwards.
H didn't quite master her roll. However, she did get all of the pieces down. I remember my frustration when learning to roll. For a long time I had all of the parts, but couldn't quite get the whole thing together. Partially it was a lack of practicing. I'd just about get my roll sorted out and then the season would end. The next spring/summer I'd have to start over again. The season of many paddles--I switched from a stick, to a Tooksook, to a Kinetic Touring, and back to a stick--didn't feel like it helped me master my roll either. With each new paddle, I took a few steps backwards before starting forward again.
Ultimately, with practice and patience--mostly with myself--I did "master" at least one style of roll. I used quotes because I'm not convinced you ever really master a roll. The long tribulations were worth the result. Not only did I earn a solid roll, I gained confidence, I gained composure when capsizing, and I gained knowledge of how my movements effect the buoyancy of the kayak. If I'd "gotten" my roll quickly I'd have had the skill without the experience.