Rolling Thoughts

Last Sunday was the second of the RIC/KA rolling sessions. These sessions are a great way for members to work on their roll. The newer members get a chance to get some instruction. The more experienced members get a chance to practice their rolls. They also get a chance to try their hands at instructing.
I was instructing again, so I wanted to make sure I got some Euro paddle time before working with a student. While I'm a proponent of traditional paddles, I know that most paddlers are not going to use a traditional paddle. So, I wanted to make sure I remembered what it felt like to roll with a Euro paddle. It was an odd thing. I had to think about having an onside and an offside. I had to think about how the roll would look. I was nervous that I just couldn't roll using a Euro paddle. I had to think about blade orientation.
I flopped over, hoping I had picked my "onside", forced myself to settle down, and unwound. I popped up without a hitch. I then tried the other side. The effect was the same. One thing I noticed was that my roll became more of a screw roll when I use the Euro paddle. I tried to do a sweep roll, but for some reason (it is all in the head) my body wouldn't execute it.
I spent a little time processing and then found my student for the day. We talked about what he remembered from the previous session. We did some bracing practice and some hip flick practice and then we got down to some serious rolling practice.
We did some dry runs and broke down the roll into three parts: set-up, unwind, hip flick. Then I put a paddle float on the end of his paddle so he could work on the motion. We both found this exercise rewarding. The student liked it because he could execute a roll with the help of the float. I liked it because I could watch what he was doing and try to see what needed to be improved.
It was fascinating to analyze a roll and try to find the pieces that are not working right. I find that when I'm doing a roll it all feels like one fluid action. I cannot break down what I'm doing. In the past when I've helped people with their rolls I've been spotting them and didn't really have the wherewithal to see what was happening with the roll. I think I learned as much as my student did.
After the session, PB and TM had an interesting discussion about rolls. The basic gist of the conversation was that all backward finishing rolls are essentially a screw roll. PB was saying that when he feels like his roll isn't working, he goes back to a sweep roll. He thinks the sweep roll is the base form. It is all about learning the motion and the body position. Once the base form is mastered, you can modify it to fit your needs.
After my experience with the Euro paddles earlier in the morning, I gave some consideration to the idea. The basic set up and movement are the same. The end result is the same. I'm not sure though. A screw roll is a fast, short, powerful stroke. I sweep roll is slow, graceful stroke. Anyway it is something to think about.