Rolling Roger
Supported by Eurion and Chris, I was able to achieve ‘assisted’ rolls without any problem. I even surprised myself as I am very comfortable in the inverted position waiting for assistance to roll upright. 20, 30, 35 seconds before I tap three times to signal for assistance. I thought I would have suffered from some (a lot!) of claustrophobia or any other ‘phobia’ from being upside down, under water and trapped in a long plastic tube. The assisted rolls evolved into the paddle roll and that’s when the problems started. Incompetent, uncoordinated and generally crap would describe my attempts at rolling unassisted. Thank God I am comfortable being submerged upside down because believe me, that’s where I spent most of my Thursday evenings during March and April. Despite the capable mentoring from Harry and Ken, I just could not get the hang of the ‘hip flick’, (perfectly understanding for those that have seen me on the dance floor!) Anyway, to cut to the chase I had my ‘eureka’ moment last week. At about 9.15 on the 17th May I rolled the kayak unassisted!! Then I did it again, then again and again and again! I didn’t want to stop I COULD ROLL MY KAYAK! I knew I was going wrong but could pinpoint the problem. Up until that moment, my moral was dipping just like the oar of my paddle – too shallow, wrong orientation and offering no resistance. Coupled with trying to get up to early and too quickly and forgetting all about the hip flick it was no surprise I couldn’t roll the damn kayak!
The moment I rolled the kayak it felt right, it felt as though I had done something different. It was all in the lower torso movement – pivoting from the upright position to the leaning back position in one swift movement.. I wasn’t even conscious of ensuring the paddle remain close to the surface – once I knew I was correctly ‘set up’ the focus of my movement was in the torso sweep and not on sweeping the paddle and pushing down on it when I felt resistance. It just seems so obvious now! Of course the real test will come when we go out to see, in cool, unsettled water with zero visibility. I just can’t wait!
Thursday, 17 May 2007
If you can’t see the video then click here