{"id":1109,"date":"2011-01-28T00:24:13","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T07:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2018-01-22T09:40:21","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T16:40:21","slug":"whitewater-kayaking-eskimo-roll-tip-flat-water-is-your-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/kayak-practice\/whitewater-kayaking-eskimo-roll-tip-flat-water-is-your-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitewater Kayaking Eskimo Roll Tip – Flat Water is Your Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"
Getting a good roll is key to enjoying whitewater kayaking to its full potential<\/strong> – you get to have more fun with less stress, you stay out of danger better, and you have more confidence to try things that are a bit above your skill level, whether it’s throwing yourself onto a wave or flipping your way down Class IV when you’re a Class III-plus boater, should you choose to do so. (I speak from experience here. ;))<\/p>\n Anyway, I’ll start with something that came up with my friend Gwendolyn Hannam recently. She’s a good newer boater who progressed really quickly, but last fall was telling me that after having a strong roll for months it had gotten shakey, and after a few swims she was leaning toward going to a pool practice instead of out on another run we were heading to that day. Some of her friends were telling her, ‘Oh, you just need more river time,’ but her instincts were telling her she needed to regroup and get her form back. I really think she was right, and here’s why – it has to do with one of the concepts of mastering any sport, especially high-adrenaline sports:<\/p>\n Muscle memory is what will save your bacon when you’re freaking out.<\/strong><\/p>\n So, check out this guy – he’s pretty amazing (action starts at around .30).<\/p>\n [HTML1]<\/p>\n When he’s doing this drill, he’s totally concentrating on doing the movements exactly right, and he’s doing them over and over to establish muscle memory. The point is for him to not have to think about them at all when he’s in an actual game, at which time he should be able to go on auto-pilot with his body automatically making the correct evasive moves using the muscle memory he’s built up.<\/p>\n Now, think about how much harder it would be for him to develop the absolute best form in those drills if someone was trying to tackle him at the same time….<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n There’s a point to that video that we kayakers can take home. I do totally agree with Gwendolyn’s friends that there’s a ton to be gained from learning how to roll in moving water, whether on purpose or by mistake, in holes or in wave trains, and yes, at some point your helmet will get walloped by rocks when you’re upside down and if you hang in there and stay optimistic you should be able to roll up anyway.<\/p>\n