A roll, aka Eskimo roll, is a technique used by kayakers to recover
from a capsized position and return upright without exiting the kayak.
Learning to roll is done in calm water like a swimming pool. As the
learner develops, they progress to open water and then progress to white
water. A roll done is challenging whitewater when you capsize
unexpectedly is called a “combat roll.”
Feedback
The method has three steps: goal, analysis to give a subgoal,
attainment of the subgoal by deliberate practice.
Goal: Kayak safely and skillfully. Describe the
ideas needed for skilled kayaking.
Next we break the long-term goal down into parts. One of these parts
involves doing a roll.
Subgoal: Skillfully and effortlessly roll a kayak in
challenging whitewater. That is, excel at combat rolls. Describe the
main ideas for safely and effectively doing an Eskimo roll.
The next step, deliberate practice (DP), is where the magic happen.
It is the essence of how learning works. DP proceeds by repetitions.
Repetition 1: The learner gets some information
about how to roll. They watch their teacher demonstrate the roll. They
try this out over and over in a swimming pool and cannot do it. They get
some feedback from their teacher. They have some fun.
Rolling is hard to do for a beginner, so the next 11 repetitions are
developmental. Note: each repetition is a practice session in which the
learner is doing several attempted rolls.
Repetitions 2 to 12:: Over the course of several
weeks, the student continues to get good information about how to roll.
The student watches many videos of skilled kayakers and they try to
imitate them. The student has fun and looks forward to practicing.
Finally on the 12th repetition, the student successfully rolls the kayak
to an upright position.
The next set of repetitions are in the river.
Repetitions 12 to 72:: For several years, the
learner continues to practice and refine their technique. They progress
from combat rolls in easy white water to combat rolls in challenging
white water. They teach their friends. After many repetitions, they have
a solid combat roll that they hit nearly every time. This roll is
automatic and easy to do because it is built into their brain, aka
muscle memory.
Here is the summary of deliberate practice.
While (knowledge + performance) are developing: 1. Get information.
2. Apply this information in the real world with
imitation-feedback-growth-rewards.
For this example:
imitation: Watch skilled kayakers and trying to copy them.
feedback: This is information from self, teachers, peers, and the
real world that help you figure out how to roll and then how to improve
your roll.
growth: This involves getting better and better at rolling and better
and better at understanding how to roll.
rewards: This involve learning to roll such that it is always fun and
enjoyable. These rewards are what makes learning addictive.