roll in econ
yes, and st johns if you can believe it
BB is good for troubleshooting
The balance brace focuses on your body, not the paddle. If you take it a step further and flop over deliberately and bring the boat right-side-up as you regain the the balance brace position, you are breaking down the components of a paddle-aided roll.
Say your roll has degraded a little, like mine always does at the end of winter. I have never “lost my roll” but it doesn’t feel as light and easy as it does after I’ve been practicing regularly.
The balance brace is what I start with to make sure that body movement or position is not the weak part. If both those are good, then I know that timing or paddle position (or both) needs more work.
Yesterday I did my first pool session of the new year. I didn’t fail any rolls or do any strained ones. But they weren’t the best. After doing the flopover exercise above, I found that my left side wasn’t as well-coordinated as my right side (sometimes the exact opposite happens, interestingly). In addition, on both sides my paddle sweep should’ve been “sweepier”. I’m not worried about this; it improves as the season progresses. But I have to be aware of what’s happening in the first place before I can fix the deficiencies.
I also like to look at things with my head tilted way back in the BB position–seeing things from a different perspective. Easily amused, I know.
YES!
Thank you. It also provides me an opp to check that everything else is as it should be, when practicing.
Pausing
A lot of teachers have students pause at various points to give the paddler feedback.
The thing Kent Ford does seems odd to me for two reasons, First, you aren’t looking forward, and second, you aren’t getting an active blade back in the water. Having said that, it works for some folks.
In general, you should setup and roll as quickly as possible, get your eyes open and get your blade ready for a stroke or brace.
In whitewater, you often delay before you start the roll. The water settles out and is often less aerated as you fluch out of a rapid, but you have to have awareness of where you are. Sometimes, you want to get up quick before the next drop, or shoal.
I was taught to just start taking strokes when you get upright, but that doesn’t always make sense either. You might be paddling back into the main flow or into a bad spot. Now, I just try to get my eyes open and my blade ready to brace and stroke when I know which way to go. Every now and then a backstroke is my first big stroke.
Now I could
get a nice video of you rolling with one of those Econ-sized gators watching from the bank. Wanna try for that?
Why not?
If you look at it this way. Most sea kayakers and probably WW too, do most of their rolls in practice situations. What else are you going to do after you roll? If you watch a video or WW kayakers in action and they roll. you better believe there’s no pause. Ultimately, you’re going to do what you have to at the conclusion or you’ll be back in the water.
It’s been mentioned before on this thread but I agree that many people are just checking out their finishing form at the end and perhaps in a bit of disbelief as well.
Simple - roll faster… 
yup
What Do I Do After I Roll?
Wipe the water out of my eyes. Push the hair out of my eyes. Spit maybe. Do a couple of quick braces. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable just freezing in place with my head bowed down .
I pause to…
…let all the saltwater or chlorinated pool water drain out of my nose/ears/eyes…but if I rolled in open ocean then that pause would disappear.
Death roll
That’s what it’s called when a gator grabs his prey and rolls with it. Hmm, maybe those gators are what inspired Landsharc to learn to roll so quickly and so well, which he sure does.
gators/rolling
we call it bobbing for gators…
You’re brave!
I don’t even dangle my feet very long. The big boys were really out yesterday in the warm sun on the Wekiva.
not brave
i have to be pretty sure that any in the area were scared off. and someone else has to go first as a test…
effortless rolling relies on the upper-
body arighting itself after the lowerbody & hull. Try practicing your rolling in moving water, not in a lake/pond…you’ll be a LOT better at it after you do.
Well said Celia…I agree.
A great confidence builder.
Not mutually exclusive
You can practice in flat water and pause afterward (or not), and you can practice in moving water. Both are good practice, for different reasons.
NateHanson and Marius Backwards
– Last Updated: Jan-25-12 8:50 PM EST –
Many thanks. The little pose / pause is part of competitive rolling. Some function and some art. I respect that.