Teaching is Hard

It is RIC/KA rolling session season again. This year JS asked me to help teach people to roll. Despite some misgivings about my ability to teach rolling to another person, I agreed. I figured it would be a learning experience for myself and for anyone I helped.
So, I got to the pool this morning and assembled my Lendal paddle. If I was going to show someone how to roll with a Euro paddle, I should at least refresh my memory about rolling with one. The combination of the strange paddle and the tiny kayak made rolling a challenge. Part of my struggle was mental; I knew that using a Euro paddle and being in a strange kayak would hurt my chances of rolling. Part of my struggle was just adjusting to the reality of using a Euro paddle instead of a stick; the Lendal does not have the floatation of my stick, it needs to be oriented to the surface of the water, and it doesn't feel right extending it, I managed to negotiate with the Lendal and do a few rolls.
With my rolling memory reawakened, I was ready to teach!! The man with whom I worked was a rolling newbie. He was eager, unafraid, ready to work hard, and wasn't daunted by the fact that he may not learn to roll immediately. Since I had such fond memories of my course with Turner and Sherri, I figured I'd take the same approach and start with learning to balance the kayak and not emphasize the hip flick much. It is much harder to explain this stuff than a good coach makes it look. I struggled and I'm sure it showed.
The student did a great job with the torso rotation and practicing on the side of the pool. When I got him a paddle float to practice with, it all fell apart. Instead of sweeping around from the front of the kayak to the back deck, he started pulling the float in when he got to about ninety degrees. After a couple of reminders about sweeping onto the back deck, he continued to pull the float to the side at ninety degrees.
I was not sure what to do. I could continue working the sweep thing. I could change tactics and jump to teaching him a C to C roll. I wasn't confident in my abilities to coach the student to understand what I wanted him to do without frustrating both of us. So, I decided that I would switch to teaching him the C to C roll. I started encouraging the hip flick and pulling the float to the side of the kayak.
After working with the float for awhile and having some success, the student was ready (in my mind) to start using the paddle. I showed him the basic motion. Tuck, roll, unwind, hip flick. Then I had him practice while I guided his paddle. I suspected that I had missed a step, but I couldn't remember what that step was.
The student eager flipped over and practiced the roll. At first he was hip flicking too late. He was also not keeping his back elbow tucked. He was also having a hard time keeping his blade oriented. He was struggling with the things that everyone struggles with when learning to roll. Each time we practiced, I gave him pointers. Then he'd go over and try again.
He was a great sport and a hard worker. The fact that he wasn't just getting it didn't seem to bother him.
It was beginning to bother me though. I was not certain what to do to help him pull it together. I just kept pointing out the same things and holding his paddle when he tried. I tried to remember all the tricks the people who taught me to roll used, but kept coming up with what I was already doing. I tried channeling Carl Ladd and hoping that one of his insightful comments would come out of my mouth.
The student and I both kept muddling on until he needed to take a break. At that point I slipped off to process and let PB take over with the student.
Teaching is hard. I know how to roll. I visualize my roll every time I attempt to do it. I logically know all the things involved. Breaking it down and communicating it to a student is a whole different ball game.
Next week I'm going to do some instruction again. I'm going to spend a lot of time reviewing the steps and thinking of ways of communicating them.