Daylight

I think that daylight savings time is a dumb idea. The reasons proffered up for its existence are mostly bunk. In fact they did a study recently that showed that DST does not create energy savings; it causes a net gain in energy consumption.
I don't, however, let my dislike of the idea get in the way of my enjoyment of the extra hour of daylight in the evening. I get tired of going to and coming from work in the dark. I also hate the fact that winter paddles have to be shortened because it gets dark so early. The extra hour makes winter paddling much less of a rush job.
The end of the winter is in sight. The light of day is burning away the dark days.
In a few short weeks, RICKA will plan the summer paddles. The local pond will be warm enough for some quick weekend (possibly even after work) practice sessions. Can you feel it?

Collection of Randomness

Life has been fairly crazy lately and chanced to think about paddling have been scarce. Weather and life have conspired to keep the Q-Boat resting in the garage for far longer than is healthy. The odds for getting on the water in the near future look long. This is winter.... Daylight is in short supply, obligations are abundant.
The new year begins with a frantic rush for new life/opportunities/horizons/projects. We meet, we plan, we get ready, we hope, we regroup. It is frantic because new routines are being formed or old ones are being relearned.
I have been doing a bit of reading when I get a chance.... The last issue of Sea Kayaker magazine had several great articles:
One was on the effects of cold water on a paddler. It focused on the dangers of drowning in the first few minutes of exposure: the gasp reflex & confusion.
One was an analysis of a failed attempt to cross Lake Michigan. It is always educational to learn why a trip failed. It reminds us that we are all fallible.
The last was a great article about towing techniques. It also had a discussion about leadership roles: the leadership role can rotate, the leader should be in a position to survey the entire incident. The leader should not be performing the rescue or doing the towing.

From Atlantic Coastal Kayaker:
A great article on skill retention. It talk about how we need to use a skill or it will get bored and leave. It also talked about how a skill can become very situation specific. For instance, if you learn to roll in a pool you may find rolling in the ocean very hard. Moral of the article: practice often and practice in varied conditions.
An article on using the re-enter and roll as a self-rescue technique and using it with a paddle float assist. I have always found the paddle float assisted re-enter and roll to be a better self-rescue than flopping around on my back deck. I feel more stable throughout the rescue. I also like that the paddle stays in my hand.

My Swiss cheese memory cannot locate the authors of the articles or the exact issue numbers for any of the articles. I'm sure the information is paddling somewhere just beyond the horizon of my recall.

Interesting Post

Mark Tozer has a great post about the ills of modern life here.

Just one more reason to believe kayaking is good for the world.

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.

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.