Rolling As We Age

Rolling As We Age   

A Carolina Paddler Article

by Dennis Huntley

∞ There are hundreds if not thousands of videos and articles on how to roll a kayak or canoe in whitewater.  Especially troubling are those experts who disparage other instructors who don’t follow their rigid teachings.  You might wonder if what I have to say hasn’t been said already.

I am an older, you might say geriatric, paddler who started out in late 60’s paddling open canoes, and then decked canoes.  When I reached my early 70’s, I found I couldn’t kneel for extended periods. For over a decade, I’d been gradually moving to the more comfortable kayak and finally completed the switch. This was quite a change. I was still paddling an open canoe down the Green Narrows when I was 72. Those days are long gone.

After turning 75, I seemed to age faster and unexpectedly started to lose my kayak roll.  I couldn’t understand it because I considered myself an excellent paddler. I have conducted kayak roll classes and roll sessions for the last forty-five winters in my hometown pools, so it was back to the pool to see what was wrong. With the help of friends, I discovered I was not rotating my wrist on my roll to orient the blade and catch the water properly. This was easy enough to correct, but I really had to think about it, like a beginning paddler.  My confidence in my paddling disappeared.

I often paddle with an older generation of friends, although none as old as me. I discovered many, if not all of them, most of which are experienced paddlers, were having the same problem.  I found myself making videos of my older friends rolling, so they could see exactly what they were doing wrong. Once they saw the evidence, they easily corrected the problem, but again, they had to really concentrate to get it right.  The trouble could be not getting the paddle to the surface on set up and sweep out, or not orientating the blade correctly, or not doing a good hip snap – all of which they were doing fine before losing it.

The big question is why?  I started thinking about other abilities that were suffering as I aged.  A big one, while driving, was a slower reaction time and a loss of some automatic actions.  I found myself sitting at intersections longer and having to really think about the approaching traffic.  (A side note: Please have patience on the road with older drivers at intersections and lane changes.)  Another annoying change was not being able to type as well. My fingers would not automatically hit the correct keys like they used to. I had to think about it more.  On the bright side, my memory has not suffered enough for me to notice, and I still feel intellectually sharp.

There is a specific category of unconscious memories we call muscle memory. It seemed to be at the heart of my problem. I was losing my muscle memory. This is a very real type of memory and psychologists call it process memory, the body responding to an action without consciously being aware of it. Many tasks like riding a bicycle or steering or braking a car use process memory. You could call it unconscious thinking, like rolling your kayak without an intentional thought.

Process memory occurs in a different part of the brain from the prefrontal cortex where other memories are processed and stored.  It is stored in the deeper regions of the brain, in the hippocampus, thalamus, and other structures.  Process memory seems to be one of the first reflexes to succumb to aging, maybe decades before any other kind of serious memory issues. I used to be able to roll my canoe, a decked canoe, like I was blinking an eye. I was over one second and up the next.  I know younger kayakers experience the same ease, especially the rodeo play boaters.

The solution?  It’s rather obvious. To regain the roll, have someone film your rolling so you can see exactly what you are doing wrong. The same thing we sometimes do for beginners. You must really focus on correcting the problem.  Because the elements of the roll are no longer automatic for me, I must continuously practice, in the indoor pool in the winter and every time I get on the water in warmer weather. The must-do steps include the set-up paddle position, the sweep out, the wrist movement with correct blade orientation, the hip snap, and the proper body position with head down.  I practice these elements continually so I can retain the process long enough to get a river roll without too much conscious thought.

Having said all this, I have one more thing to add that certainly has applied to me.  As one ages, swims become more dangerous. Our bones are more fragile, our skin tears more easily, and our breathing and ability to hold our breath suffer. An older person sliding down and taking a hard fall on slick riverbank rocks can result in injuries that take a long time to heal. There are some situations when a swim is unavoidable. For example, we might have to get out of the boat if we are dragged upside down along a rocky river bottom or stuck in a giant hole, or inescapably pinned. So, what I am saying is… if you don’t want to risk injury or death swimming in class IV or V water, you must scale your river difficulty back, no matter how good your roll is.  An excellent roll is not enough.

Another suggestion is to move to a shredder, ducky, raft, or other inflatable, all of which can be fun and a lot more relaxing. The possibility of a swim is relatively less as inflatables cruise over holes better and are wider and more stable.  However, if you use an inflatable to get back on harder whitewater and end up flipping and swimming, the extreme danger is the same as if you were swimming out of a kayak.

If you no longer want to risk swimming, even in class III water, consider taking up more scenic trips, enjoying nature-watching or photography over doing risky whitewater.  When I’m not painting or writing, I find I enjoy scenic paddles more and more, hopefully finding more scenes and wildlife to paint from my photos.