Lesson learned. When learning to kayak, one important skill necessary to be successful is the "Eskimo" roll. It is broken down into steps. The set up, sweep and hip snap. The best time to purchase a kayak is in the fall. Knowing this I ended up buying 4 over the last few months. There are different kinds of boats used in different situations. The creeker, river runner and the play boat. There are hybred boats that fuse between these types of current spacific kayaks. Each type of boats have specifications to enable their safe navigation. To be a well versed boater, one must master his strokes in each boat type. I've secessfully learn to roll my creeker and river runner with relative ease. When trying the same technique in the play boat, I have struggled. Today I was determined to over come this obstacle. After one successful roll followed by 5 unsuccessful attempts, I had to reevaluate my method. When rolling, the last thing to come out of the water is your head. It's counterintuitive. The hip snap is also important. Using your oblique abdominal muscles to shorten the distance between your armpit and your bottom. This hopefully paints a vivid picture. Your Eyes follow the paddle. "Look at the birds, look at the fish" is my favorite montra prior to rolling.. Remember, all of this is happening while I'm hanging upside down and under water. "Don't panic" is another important montra! I was doing all of these yet was still unsuccessful. Then I took a break and thought it through. I red a post about driving your knee up to intensify your hip snap. I also watched a video about using a heavy bag, throwing punches to keep paddling muscles in shape. The narorator also mentioned that driving your knees into the bag helps strengthen ones abdomen and thighs. I got back into my play boat. I tried this knee drive while on the pool deck. I really made my boat bounce! I then entered the pool and tried it again hanging to the edge. I took my paddle and went to pool center. I wanted so badly to end the session on a good note. I took a deep breath, centered my thoughts and tipped myself over. "Make a slice of pie" set up. "Look at the birds" sweep. "Look at the fish" hip snap and knee drive simultaneously. Success! So successful I had to brace to keep from flipping back over the opposite way.

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