Playak News Watch: Adrian Tregoning: Fear <br>

I was inspired by the story of a kayak friend of mine, he had been struggling with confidence and even though a capable boater, he was about to give it up, it just wasn’t fun anymore, the fear had become too uncomfortable.

I was guiding him for a few days on the Nile, he had done the easier rapids and had done well but did take one swim and it bothered him, he wasn’t trusting his roll and therefore being upside down was no fun.

I really enjoyed this article. I'm sure there are a number of paddlers out there that could benefit from reading this. I know I have. I'm sure Hendri would love to hear what people have to say/think.

dude long time no speak, everyone has been there, it is just a case of finding your happy thoughts to get you through the nasty time, just by counting to ten to relax and go for a roll, or just keep smiling it tends to help. I can email you stuff later if it helps

Its all about self cofidence, maybe it could be worth starting on easier water to get his/ her confidence back then taking it from their. Never end on a downer jump back on the horse if you fall off for another go to put the nerves to rest.

I've been struggling with the fear of being upside down for a while now. I think of myself as quite a good paddler. This year I've been paddling a lot more than years past, and although my paddling has improved, I think my rolling has suffered.

I've never been 100% confident underwater. I go paddling a lot but I don't go upside down often. I only roll when I have to. One missed roll, or even when you know you've used bad technique, it can start messing with your head. Next time you go over, you're not 100% sure in your ability.

It came to a point recently, as soon as I went over, I'd think to myself \"what if I don't roll and have to swim?\". Because of this, as soon as I went over, for some reason I felt quite embarrassed at the thought of swimming in front of others.

I took 2 swims that day, almost on purpose, sort of to say to my fears \"I'll take a swim, I'm not embarrassed by it, I'm not that proud! I can be humbled, yet still hold my head up high.\" I've never had such bad feelings/emotions being underwater. The swims helped me overcome this.

I think that now, as the article states, I'm not comfortable being upside down, so that's where I need to be. I need to go over, and stay over for as long as I can before I roll. I can still roll ok, and will usually come up very quick, first go. The problem is when my first roll fails, I panic, I don't set up my second properly, and really don't give myself much chance to come back up. Failed attempts lead to lack of confidence, lack of confidence leads to bad technique and rushed rolls, which leads to failed rolls, which lead to lower confidence. It's a viscous circle!

I know what I have to do to beat this irrational fear. I've known for a long time, I've known it was coming. It's come, and I need to buck up and beat it! Go through the failures to get the Victory!

Well written, inspiring article
Thanks Hendri!

Thanx for the article.
I´ve been paddling for about ten years now. When I was starting the experienced guys told me: \"If you don´t swim, you´re not trying hard enough\".

I totally agree with kayaking beeing a mind game.

So........keep swimming!!

We had a problem with a good mate after his first child was born. He was a much stronger paddler than me and had a bomber roll, after the kiddie was born we hit some rapids and he literely lost the plot, all paddling ability went, rolling out the window, he ended up taking a swim where you really dont want to be swimming, everything was ok but we ended up walking out as a group.

It was quite an incredible change, we had a few whiskys and he just said, you know I have more important things in my life now, a family to take care of. That was that. The good news is he identified the issue and decided that right now paddling is not for him. Fear comes in at so many levels for so many reasons, I think the moral of this one is to identify why the fear is there and acknowledge whether it is so deep routed that there is only one solution. Sometimes you can just say stuff it and get back on or put it down to a bad day. Sometimes fear is led from the soul, in which case respect it.

Sometimes fear is led from the soul, in which case respect it.

Very wise words...

indeed, as long as you are happy who cares what others think!

Thanks for the article.

As said before, we have all been there.

I really liked the part about it coming from the soul. Very true.

Cheers.