Last night I taught the second half of an introductory kayaking clinic at Erindale Lake (a local suburban pond). After the class I decided to spend a little time out playing on the water. I went through some of the exercises described in the book Sea Kayak Strokes by Doug Alderson (I have access to an online version through the library at my workplace). These exercises had me progressively building the motions to perform a kayak roll, with a paddle float on my paddle throughout. Initially I was in a high brace, then laid on the back deck while in the high brace, then moving my body out beside the kayak, then eventually tipped right over and moving back to the upright high brace position. This progression of movements worked very well for me and allowed me to work toward building these motions into my muscle memory, so that they can hopefully become automatic. The next step was to be completely upside down, then using the paddle (with paddle float) to get back to that upright high brace position, rolling the kayak underneath me using my hips and trying to keep my centre of gravity low and remembering to bring my head up last. Rolling up from completely submerged proved quite easy when done this way, however I was still reliant on the paddle float so was cheating.
I'll be heading out to practice again soon - this time I'll be focussing on reducing the amount of pressure that I'm putting on the paddle float. Hopefully Jay can come out with me and we can work through some of the exercises together. With any luck, after a couple of sessions we'll be rolling our kayaks without the cheat of using the paddle float.
If you have any tips or tricks, please leave me a comment!
See an update at this link!
Hey buddy thats how I learned to do it. The following day I just brought some nose plugs and goggles and have a look at your set up while upside down stil with the paddle float. Then just do it without! Get someone to video tape helps so you can critique yourself later if your still failing.
ReplyDeleteBiggest thing I was messing up when I started was bringing my head outta the water too quick...hey breathing and trying to get your head up first is human nature! I found looking at my wrist throughtout the sweep ensured I kept my head down. I seen a few people using pool floaties and keeping it between ther cheek and shoulder to keep their head down.
Nothing feels better than being upright after a capsize! keep up the work and it'll pay off!
Thanks Lee, I'll keep working on it!
ReplyDeleteBryan,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on rolling....definitely the best safety procedure to learn for kayaking. Learn to do things by feel after you have a good roll....chances are you won't be wearing a face mask and it will be dark and rough when you need to use it for real. Also, when you have a chance, ,load up your kayak with a full load of camping gear and do some practicing in controlled conditions. It is a much different feel than rolling an empty boat.
I haven't had a kayak to roll for ten years now but reading your blog post about rolling brings back many good memories of learning to roll when I lived in Vancouver.
Cheers,
Murray