Practice makes … better

It could be six years ago when I took my first rolling class. It was at the YMCA in Worcester. They taught a screw roll and in two sessions I was capable of rolling. But at the time I was still paddling a Perception Carolina and rolling it was nearly impossible at my skill level. The following year I bought a Necky Elaho. With that boat I took a basic sea kayaking class at The Kayak Center. During wet exit practice at that class I attempted to roll expecting to have to wet exit but instead rolled up successfully… twice. A third roll that day made me think I knew what I was doing and it had just been the kayak. But subsequent attempts were largely failures. Lack of confidence led to lack of attempts which resulted in any sense of skill passing me by. Years went by, no rolling.

Last year I took the RICKA rolling clinic. I told my coach that I had rolled before I wanted to start from scratch and figure out what I was missing. The clinic was teaching the sweep roll. With Bill Luther’s guidance I was quickly rolling again. I headed off into the deep end to try and build muscle memory. I left feeling good about my future. A properly executed sweep roll is absolutely effortless from a strength point of view. The body just unfolds into the upright position. CC when she’s on can demonstrate it as a thing of beauty. Slow and graceful. On the second day of the clinic I headed directly towards the deep end and rolled some more. I wasn’t 100% and did wet exit a few times. But 40% of them were smooth, and 80% of them got me up. I was on my way.

But I had rolled before and lost it. I was determined not to let that happen again. So last year, once the water warmed up enough so that I wouldn’t freeze, I committed to rolling every time I paddled. It might have been only one roll, sometimes more. Sometimes at lunch, more often at the end. Again, the results weren’t perfect. They were sometimes frustrating. But with each day I got more and more confident. When I couldn’t paddle I’d watch “The Kayak Roll” by Performance Video. Each time drilling into memory the things I need to think about… setup, sweep, and hip flick. Body forward and to the side on the setup, reaching wide with the paddle during the sweep and following the blade with my eyes to keep my head down.

Then came surfing. I bought a whitewater boat for surfing and on my first day out I got thrashed. I managed to roll once (or maybe the same wave that dumped me over was kind enough to flip me back up when it sensed my flailing arms). So I committed even more to practice. Over the next two weeks I spent about 5 evenings on my local lake. Sunny days, rainy days, no matter. I’d stop on the way home from work, toss the boat in, do 8-10 rolls, paddle for 20 minutes, and do 6-8 more rolls. Some of those days were very frustrating. I found it easier to roll my sea kayak than the WW boat. Colder weather and boredom sort of stopped these practices but the repeated drills did re-build confidence. I know that rolling in the surf will still be a challenge but I was now more comfortable that I could roll in that WW boat.

All fall and into winter I kept up my “at least one roll per paddle” practice. Sometimes self motivated, sometimes motivated by the attempts of my peers (thanks Bill R).

At this winters rolling clinic I practiced in the deep end. The first day I worked only on the sweep roll on my good side. Muscle memory. The second day I tried a few C to C rolls and made a few attempts to sweep roll on my off side. I succeeded at both but they were not natural. On the third day I was sweep rolling on both sides and C to C rolling on both sides. Feeling almost as good on the off side as good side. Yes, I know I’ll be a frustrated yard sale when I attempt it again on the bay this spring but I’ll know in the back of my mind that it can be done and it will just be a matter of time before I get it again.

I’ve been thinking about what happened in the pool and I realized that I spent MORE THAN 9 HOURS practicing over the three days. Practice makes better. Success builds confidence. Confidence in turn leads to success. I improved in the pool because I spent a lot of time in the pool.

I hope someday I’ll have forgotten what it was like to struggle with a roll. Right now I know that practice and repetition to build confidence and muscle memory are the things that I need.
1/21, 1/28, 2/18/07