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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Roll or Die!
Posted By: John Montgomery In Response To: Roll Dammit! (Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks)
Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2003, at 5:46 p.m.
Believe me, Nick, I wanted to!
Half of rolling is ninety percent mental (to paraphrase Yogi Berra), and a JUST DO IT! mentality is essential to success. I agree with you entirely.
It took a long time for me to develop a truly reliable combat roll and a big part of that was learning to hang in there for at least three attempts. Another key thing is to really slow down my set up and concentrate on what I'm doing. This works wonders, no doubt about it. If I made a mistake in regard to rolling, it was to fire off a second attempt without slowing myself down to concentrate.
As for more attempts, I was winded from three consecutive thrashings before I got flipped for the fourth time. On that last time, I got surfed upside down for a while, so that was worth at least one roll attempt, maybe two. If I'd tried a third roll after the first two failures I would have had even less time to deal with the coaming issue than I did. I don't know what to say other than I was truly at the end of my rope when the skirt finally popped. A third attempt might have sealed the deal against me.
What's also interesting is that I didn't revert to my off-side roll after my on-side roll failed. I'm convinced the reason I went three years without a swim was because my off-side roll became a viable alternative. If my one side didn't work, the other one always did. I think the reason I didn't try an off-side roll is that I'm simply out of practice. I didn't do much boating last year due to health problems, so my off-side roll became rusty. Time to change that.
My motto used to be, Roll or Die! I came way too close to recieving the second option, but I still think it's not a bad philosophy. I just want to make sure I have a contingency plan! Or two... or three... John
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