Justine Curgenven fra CACKLE TV har netop lagt sidste hånd på sin nye DVD "This is the Roll".
If there’s one
kayak technique we’d all like to improve, it’s our roll.
So combine Justine Curgenven’s skills as a film maker,
with the Greenland teaching skills of Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson, and you
have a DVD which is going to sell very well.
Real rolls you can use in real situations is the idea
behind this DVD – so does it deliver?
Priced £19.99 and $29.99 the DVD is available from Cackle
TV.
Of course, it’s impossible to
learn a skill from just watching a DVD.
They’re required to do some mental gymnastics; they
must watch people in tuliqs with Greenland sticks, then ‘translate’ the
teaching they’ve seen to something that will work with the equipment they use.
So just be clear -
This is not just the roll - This Is The Roll as taught by two world
renowned Greenland paddlers, Cheri and Turner. It clearly says on the cover
“Greenland Rolling”, and that is exactly what you get in spades. It will surely sell well.
Cheri and Turner are renowned Greenland
paddlers. I’ve watched them work at a symposium on the Isle of Skye and
recorded Podcasts with each where they explain their approach to
rolling.
This DVD is like having advanced, personal rolling
tuition from Cheri and Turner. It accurately captures the way they teach
rolling, so it’s clear they are much more than presenters and have been
involved throughout the shoot, scripting and edit.
Whatever kayak you
own, whatever paddle you use, the teaching method used by Cheri and Turner is
Greenlandic. Most pupils start in a tuliq with (eventually) a Greenland
stick in their hands, so that’s what we see in the DVD. Now, this might
be an issue for some people, so I’ll come back to it later.
When I was struggling to learn to roll I went on a
weekend course at Glenmore Lodge (that didn’t work for me) and watched C2C
rolling DVDs (they didn’t work either). If you’ve been down that route,
then you’ll find this Greenlandic approach quite different.
Turner and Cheri emphasise what matters most is what
your body is doing, not what you’re wearing or the type of paddle you have in
your hand. Get the roll Greenland style, and the technique will transfer,
they say.
So a good kayak coaching DVD has to give you the right
amount of information, in the right format and sequence, for you to remember
enough of what you've seen when you get on the water.
When you need to progress, or review the material
because something isn’t working as it should, come back and watch the DVD
again.
The producers should anticipate what you’ll need
before you know you need it.
Sensibly, this production (aimed at beginners to more
advanced rollers) doesn’t divert into the more esoteric of the 35 rolls in the
Greenland competition, although Cheri hints we might see those in a “second
DVD”.
Instead, it concentrates on three rolls; the Standard
Greenland Roll, Reverse Sweep, and Storm Roll. (As an aside - a lot of
people who’re interested in the more advanced rolls would benefit from watching
this DVD because, if they can improve their body motion, then they'll find the
esoteric rolls easier).
Each roll is broken down into a series of learning
points that ought to be mastered before progressing.
Turner and Cheri show each in action, talk us through
the learning process step by step, then introduce students so we can see
non-experts getting to grips with the process.
After that, there’s a ‘Troubleshooting’ section where
common (and less common) mistakes are identified and remedies
suggested.
It’s all filmed from every conceivable angle; shore,
on the water, under the water and even in a back garden where Cheri uses a skin-less
kayak so you can see how her legs are working underneath the deck.
Freeze frames with graphics emphasise key points, and
there are subtitles in French, Spanish and Italian. So you could learn a
language too.
The underwater pictures really stand out.
Justine shot some of these using scuba gear and she told me it was tricky, “not
being used to it and with a strong-ish current that kept dragging me along the
bottom away from where I wanted to stand ... kicking up dirt etc.”
At other times the air tanks were abandoned for a
simpler system.
“The underwater shots of Turner in the brown tuliq
with the brown boat were done with a mask and a tow belt filled with rocks in a
clear, cold lake on Vancouver island. I'd take a deep breath, sink, point the
camera and T would perform.”
But please - don’t try to watch the whole thing in one
sitting.
There’s just too much information and your head will
explode.
It is probably best watched in pairs, so you can study
a section together then immediately practice what you’ve seen. As well as
keeping you safe, your partner will be better placed to identify what any
mistakes you’re making, so you can return to the DVD to study the Troubleshooting
sections. I suspect each copy of this DVD will be watched many, many
times.
The strength of this Greenland teaching technique
presents a slight difficulty for the DVD viewer who only uses a
Euro-blade.
Because in a DVD which runs for more than 2hours 30
minutes, barely 13 minutes are devoted to teaching with Euro-blades, and most
of that is just voice-over not actual to-camera teaching.
Some viewers won’t like this, because they don’t have
a Greenland stick and can’t immediately put into practice exactly what they’ve
seen on screen.
Yet that misses the point of this Greenlandic approach
which is more about your body and less about what’s in your hands.
For those who have a good basic roll but want to be
able to roll in trickier sea conditions, the Storm Roll and Reverse Sweep
sections make excellent viewing.
“We are marketing the DVD as showing people rolls that
they can use in real situations to prevent a swim”, says Justine.
