Hot blond bartender…never kayaked…bought a Necky Eliza composite cuz she wanted to kayak. Been wakeboarding, water skiing, boating most of her life with her husband. Kayaking looked cool.
I sit at the bar and she says. I hear you paddle…yes…can you teach me how to do that barrel roll thing…yes. Not sure what to think I show up and in 15 minutes the girl is rolling! I bring a mask which she declines…I’m thinking OK, lets fast track her…she’s rolling in 15 minutes. At first head was coming up…I looked her in eye, explained the head thing and hip thing and she listened and nodded…next time perfect roll! Several thereafter…she says, “what is all the big deal with this…people have been freakin me out…that is sooo easy”. I say “yes it is”
Today driving home I get a call from her. Went to lake with her husband and did 50 rolls. I told her she has two months to do 1000 rolls. She’s on it.
Moral of the story…It aint hard…we (instructors) can make it hard. The less paddling they have done, the easier they are to teach. Had to share that story. It’s authentic!
Touche’
Women!
Good Job! She’ll likely spread this to others soon.
A likely reasonably fit and flexible gal, with low COG, and high in water comfort level, and a lot of motivation - who also pays attention?
Sort of a best case scenario…
Beginners don’t believe the hype 
and neither should anyone else. Rolling is easy, other paddlers and instructors make it hard.
The easiest people to teach are those with little, or no, pre-conceived notions about what rolling should feel like.
Two days ago I was working with a guy who had been to several roll clinics. He wanted a tune up so I watched him attempt a few rolls to diagnose the issue(s). He was a strong guy who had been working out a lot and he was determined to pull down on the paddle and use a climbing blade angle ‘for support’. I noticed his spare paddle was a GP so I had him use that. Fifteen minutes later, after a few floating exercises and a discussion on shedding resistance, he was rolling - on both sides.
He said he didn’t believe that it was gentle, graceful, floating, and effortless. He believed what he had been told and what he thought was true - until he felt the paddle glide through the water.
Ditto That…
several summers ago, had a woman rolling her Carolina 14 after several tries. Helped that she was fit and flexible and had good body awareness. It certainly was not the boat.
sing
Dang…
…why can’t I meet a hot blonde bartender lady who wants to kayak?
Oh yeah - I don’t go to bars…time to change that!
Way to go, Salty! (envy coming out of my pores)
Scott
I told her she has two months to do 1000
She will soon be a dizzy blonde bartender.
DOH!!!
Dizzy blonde = my favorite kind…then they can’t focus on my ugly mug!
My 18 YO Was
My 18 year old son was very quick to learn but it did take about two hours. That after he spent many, many, many days watching and helping me learn.
Then, my twelve year old basically comes up without even thinking about it. It did take two trys for him.
Happy Paddling,
Mark
More to do with her than me!
The 1000 rolls thing has long been my mantra. If folk commit to do that, they have a roll for life. Imprinting the electrial code to the brain!
Yeah, learning to roll is easy.
Forgetting how to roll is easy, too. It just happens. I spent a whole morning in a class trying to get my c-1 roll back, without success, even though the instructor and I knew what was going wrong. So he took me over to the river and suckered me into a move he thought would flip me, and sure enough. I flipped, and rolled upright immediately.
A good instructor knows when to…
stay out of the way. Great story.
Dogmaticus
I thought so, until I tried it
But you guys have heard enough from me on this topic. I have noticed that it comes “natural” to some people.
Lou
Where Were You When I Needed Ya?
I had $5 instruction and had a $5 roll for quite a while. Much better now.
I believe that
fewer words and very deliberate focus on a few fundamentals is what works. I’ve taught a few hundred people over the years. Don’t do it for a living anymore, but I notice a trend. Years ago I was far more verbose, and “buy the book” Used all the labels like C2C, blah blah…
I was enamored with rolling, and though my heart was there as a teacher, I definitely spoke too much and was too black and white.
I have never failed to get someone rolling, but some took a couple lessons, especially those freaked out by being upside down in water.
Now a days, I seem to be getting people rolling within a half hour…even the tough ones that have struggled for years. I think I’m going to try total non-verbal next time.
This is not meant to say wow look at how great a teacher I am, rather to share what for me has been a profound learning backed up by data.
Keep it simple, watch the student, be flexible with your approach, and talk as little as possible.
Non verbal approach sounds great.
Avoids a lot of issues we may not even be aware of.
A slap upside the head is effective, too
Nope
Turner W tried that on me…didn’t work…
Brave man - I was the only one holding a 88" GP…
Scott