Mind over matter

It was a great summer for my combat roll and other paddling technique. For the uninitiated, the combat roll is righting your capsized kayak or canoe after a wipeout. It differs from the “pool roll” in that it occurs under actual conditions of necessity, as opposed to a controlled and anticipated situation. The alternative to rolling is swimming. I haven’t had to do the latter in years. For many of us, once you’ve mastered the roll, you’re not home free. It isn’t like riding a bicycle. If you don’t practice every time you’re on the water, it can go away. And sometimes, even if you do. My basic roll got sloppy about a month ago. And, barehanded, offside and other more advanced variations went away. Why? Obviously, I was doing something differently. It was frustrating, especially considering everything had been going so well. And, the more frustrated I got, the worse it got. This hints at the root cause, which is in the mind. That all changed last night at indoor pool practice. I was nailing the roll and all the fancier variations came back with relative ease. I discerned one bad habit I had fallen into and someone pointed out another fatal flaw. So, that was it. Maybe. On the other hand, I was using a kayak I had owned years ago and had just retrieved after three intervening owners. It’s a well behaved craft, but not magic. It does inspire confidence and I believe that was the key to success. Mind over matter. It works in paddling and just about everything else.