Presenting ERA concepts to the CCC

Presenting ERA concepts to the CCC

During the Carolina Canoe Club’s 2009 Week of Rivers, the roll master Ken–along with Steve and Maria, spent a day at the lake working with paddlers on their rolls. The day began with a thought provoking session on some of the rolling concepts that have come out of the ERA group. It was presented as information for people to take home and mull over.

Concepts presented included the ERA Center Line Theory, Directional Rolling, and the importance of the Finish position in rolling.

One of the compliments to Ken as the “roll master” is not just that he came up with some of the key fundamentals to a good roll back in the 70’s…but that he and the ERA team have continued to sort through rolling technique as the sport and the equipment have evolved.  A good example is the idea of moving your hands back behind the knee area during the set up stage of the roll.  When boat design changed, the first complaint heard out int he field from paddlers was that they “could not get set up” with the new boats.  After listening to the complaints for a time, Ken reluctantly left the comfort of a NOAH boat for a day to actually see what the problem was. He came back with a smug look on his face and the solution: move your hands back.  Moving the hands back behind the knee area has become one of the first “fixes” we do for a paddler who comes to work on their roll.

The response to the roll session reinforced the notion that the CCC is always interested in information and in improving their own technique. And considering the number of scientists in the CCC, Ken’s chalk board simple physics lesson concerning rolling was an easy listen!

Thanks to Ken, Steve and Maria for spending the day in waist deep water 🙂

Learn more about some of the concepts that have become part of ERA’s presentation…..