You’re asking TWO questions
"How important is the roll?" [general]
and
“Am I foolhardy to run the Nantahala without a reliable roll?” [specific]
I answered only the general question.
There’s room here to respond to either or both questions without insulting people. C’mon, winter’s in its last couple months even in northerly areas.
roll
Well let’s see it took me about 3 years to learn to roll then a couple of months to loose my roll. Then every year to relearn how to roll.
As great and happy as it is when you learn to roll I find it a huge bummer when I loose it.
Guess it’s safe to say I am less than ideal company at home when I loose it.
It takes a huge amount of the fun out of yaking for me.
I have both ww and touring kayaks. The touring one I have rolled at least 100 times over the years.
I used to have near 100% success…the other day It was a zero % success rate…once again.
Usually when I am at the max of frustration I take the WW to a local pond and do a few rolls to cheer me up.
It’s a far cry from running ww and rolling.
So for me I would say It’s great to learn how to roll
but what a bummer if and when you loose it.
troubleshoot it
If you’re rolling alone and it feels like a shot in the dark to you whether your roll is going to work or not, then you need someone who can give you reliable feedback. There is a reason why your roll misses, and an instructor, or a skilled friend, can tell you what’s going on, and help you identify what you’re doing when you fail. That way you can get more consistent with your roll, and learn how to fix it yourself when it goes wrong.
Once learned well, and practiced, a roll should not come and go. Learn it well, with good instruction, and then practice it every time you paddle. That will spare you the frustration of a disappearing roll.
I bet
there one or two things that you are doing wrong.
For the record, troubleshooting rolls is the most difficult task for a coach. Typically, it is not finding what the person is doing wrong, but teaching that person out of bad habits that is the hardest thing. One has to come up with drills to go around already developed muscle memory. It is even worse with physically strong folks - the can muscle a roll, usually putting their shoulders in challenging situations. Convincing them to do things differently takes a whole bunch of swims, which of course puts them in danger. It is one thing to roll up once, it is completely different thing to come up at the end of a long day on a river or big water.
Yo!! Kimosabe!
Eskimo is considered a derogatory term.
Inuit is a more acceptable term to refer to Native Americans from Alaska.
okay this thread needs a roll video
here is one from last Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GNzkKLJxT4
I consider a reliable roll…
essential, if only for the rotary cooling.
What I haven’t figured out is …
What are you supposed to do if you’re not an eskimo? Hmmmmm?
Show-off!
Ha ha, very nice job.
more
I’m sure I will get my roll again for the season.
Hard to critique yourself when practicing alone. I think the more I practiced the worse I got. Finally you get a roll 100 percent…then a bit “unrefined” but you still come up then a bit sloppier but you still come up but not as good… etc. etc. till apparently it’s gone. Then back to the drawing board…
Having taken instruction at various times I was completely shocked when I didn’t learn to roll within the 1st 15 minutes…nor 30 minutes or that year or the next.
I often think drummers would learn quickly they seem to be able to do 6 things at once whereas some of us apparently have a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time.
1st instructor, a very good paddler probably certified in this that and the other thing…I would come up badly lifting my head to soon.
He kept hollering "Look at your head! Look at your head!
I finally had to say to him…“you do know that it is impossible for a person to look at ones own head don’t you”?
Look at the paddle blade…
Much easier than seeing your own head, and it happens to work well.
a mirror on a pool floor 
He told you “look at your head”. I figure with a mirrored bottom pool and a bit of vanity and anyone can at least keep their head down
A good coach will not only spot problems but have good drills to work on the problem without requiring also focusing on other aspects of the roll. They may have to hold you in position then have you repeat some motion until muscle memory starts to kick in.
A head coming up too soon is often more a symptom than the root cause of a failed roll. Some of the more common problems I’ve seen include: Not setting up with the sweep blade out of the water (kiss the deck!). Letting the non sweep arm push away which causes the paddle to dive (keep upper arm to body and draw hand to chin). Not rotating the torso which also helps hip flick (watch the blade all the way by rotating the body to follow it). Before any of this make sure you start with a good hip flick by using a a pool edge or a friends bow to do clean Eskimo bow rescue moves. Once you have the roll then do it a few times every day you ever paddle no matter the conditions.
You know the answer
I think you already know the answer. Take a rolling class at the NOC, and you’ll learn it.
That’s funny because
every canoer I paddle with (including me) wants to learn how to roll. So guess another stereotype is out the window.
Crap I took the bait to Paul.
I was
not talking about WW Canoers…I was talking about freight carry canoers…BWCA , etc
Sorry to all the heavy water junkies:)
Best Wishes
Roy
Excelent
sugestion:)
Pat on the back for Bryan
Best Wishes
Roy
thanks
jcbikeski…thanks for the good reminders.
bryan…what’s NOC ?? Can’t say I have ever heard of it.
NOC
– Last Updated: Apr-13-11 2:26 PM EST –
Nantahala Outdoor Center's paddling school
http://www.noc.com/noccom/outdoor-school/noc-paddling-school/whitewater-kayaking-courses/
no pool at NOC
NOC has fine instructors, but be aware, there is no heated pool at NOC so rolling instruction will be in Lake Fontana.
That’s not so bad if the water is warm, but it can be fatiguing in the spring before the water has warmed up.
NOC has a half-day roll clinic every Saturday during the summer months for $75.
Rolling is Easy
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to learn. Some paddlers get it right away, some take a few years. Most paddlers I know struggle for a bit before getting a reliable roll.
I agree WW kayakers accept rolling as part of kayaking. Sea kayakers (at least casual ones) sometimes put off learning to roll. Having said that, all good sea kayakers I know can roll.