The Kayak Roll is the act of righting a capsized kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

 by use of body motion and/or a paddle

Paddle

A paddle is a tool used for pushing against liquids, either as a form of propulsion in a boat or as an implement for mixing.-Materials and designs:...

. Typically this is done by lifting the torso towards the surface, flicking the hips to right the kayak halfway up and applying a righting force

Force

In physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...

 by means of the paddle while tucking close to the front or back deck.

Use

Several styles of Kayak roll are in use including the Eskimo, C-to-C, Sweep, Screw, Extended Paddle (Pawlata), various hybrids, and hand roll. The roll styles in use vary both regionally and by type of kayak. In the USA, the C-to-C has traditionally been taught in the eastern half of the country while either the older screw or more modern sweep roll have been used in the western half.

Mastering the roll usually requires both instruction and practice. A reliable roll is key to improving both the fun and safety level of both whitewater

Whitewater

Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...

 and sea kayak

Sea kayak

A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spraydeck...

ing.

It is possible to perform a roll in certain kinds of canoes, provided the canoeist is strapped in and provided that the canoe is of a rollable hull profile and uses floatation bags and/or a spraydeck

Spraydeck

A spraydeck is a flexible cover for a boat, in particular for a kayak or a canoe. It is used in whitewater, inclement weather or sport to prevent water from entering the boat while allowing one or more passengers to sit in the boat and propel the boat by paddling or rowing.A spraydeck is a sheet...

. Rolling a canoe is considerably harder than a kayak, especially in a tandem

Tandem

Tandem is an arrangement where a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction....

canoe where the upright motion requires precise coordination between the canoeists.

Failed rolls often allow the paddler enough time to grab a breath, so if they stay calm and don't panic, multiple attempts can be performed.

Types of roll

There are two general classifications of rolls - brace rolls and sweep rolls. Brace rolls are those that primarily use bracing actions of the paddle, hand or other device to provide righting moments for the paddler. Sweep rolls primarily use sweeping motions with the paddle, hand or other device. An example of a brace roll is the C-to-C, as described below. The Screw roll is an example of a sweep roll.

ESKIMO ROLL METHODS

There are two functional** methods of kayak roll, the Screw Roll (always taught first) and the Brace Roll (more difficult to learn but possessing slight advantages in the most difficult whitewater conditions.

• • Functional, meaning that these two methods of performing the Eskimo Roll have probability of p r o d u c i n g a successful roll in adverse conditions where the capsize was/is unwanted, unanticipated and frightening in the first place.

ALL Eskimo Rolls are by necessity solely attributable to Inuit, Aleut and Eskimo, peoples. The Eskimo Roll was developed and practiced long ago in perfect isolation from our culture. "We" have no inkling what techniques or refinements were invented, improved, or tried and abandoned. Modern participants in the sport...may claim n o t h i n g. To do so would be a cultural piracy.

>>The Screw Roll .. is performed in the following way:

The paddler leans forward "kissing his sprayskirt." The paddle is held in the long axis of the boat, at the side of the boat. The paddle's "active blade"...is the portion of the paddle, forward, that will sweep to the side of the boat in an arc. The paddle's "inactive blade" (difficult to visualize, but very important to eventually understand), will, when the boat is capsized, pass OVER the upturned BOTTOM of the capsized boat. The paddler sweeps the active blade and at 70-degrees Snaps His Hips in a very important motion critical to any successful roll. The sweep terminates at 90-degrees but the Paddler's Body..!!..continues It's Sweep..!!.. maintaining an as-low-an-arc-as-possible finishes ...with the paddler "laying backward" on the back deck of his upright boat. The Screw Roll holds an unequivocal learning-advantage in that the paddlers body-motion is a continuous one and therefore "continues its momentum" while supressing body-weight to the lowest profile above the mid-line of the boat.

A minor weakness of the Screw Roll is that upon its completion, the paddler's body is "out of position" (laying backward over the back deck of the boat) and the up-looking eye-sockets remain as "cups" holding water. Only when the boater (instantly) snaps forward, does he regain capability. This "defect" must be measured against practical experience which shows that this short-term loss of "paddler functionality" has no negative relevance within paddling conditions less than High Class Four whitewater.

>>The Brace Roll or "Reverse Sweep Roll" .. begins exactly as above. When the body (in executing the paddle-sweep) reaches 90-degrees, having executed a hip-snap, the paddler reverses his BODY motion and "comes back to his boat" ending in exactly the same attitude (kissing his sprayskirt) as when he began his roll. In this attitude the "eye-cups" have emptied for clear vision and the paddler is "forward-crouched" ready for immediate combat.

Before going on to a discussion of the "Pawlata Roll" (equally called, The Extended Grip Roll) or a discussion of the "Hands Roll" there is important ground to cover.

1) The Eskimo Roll requires no athleticism beyond the ability to control one's body through the execution of a choreography. The Eskimo Roll is above-all-things....a choreography....a sequence that executes four motion-elements from pre-requisite "Set Points" in a precisely coordinated timing. The Eskimo Roll is in fact most easily learned and taught to persons with "light physique" because these people know they are not strong and embrace TECHNIQUE. IT IS ABSOLUTE...!!!...that without "choreographic execution"......a strongly muscled paddler who tries to substitute his strength for technique....will fail to produce an Eskimo Roll and will have to swim out of his boat.

2) The Eskimo Roll is certainly a "choreographic art" but there is an 800-pound-gorilla in the cage: Instinct. There is an ingrained instinct planted DEEPLY in your body that will EVERY TIME command you to bring your head out of the water first. Furthermore, instinct is fed by fear. Yet the Eskimo Roll CANNOT succeed until the paddler overcomes his/her most basic "self" and bring his head out-of-the-water LAST.

Defeat of such deeply-ingrained instinct is very difficult (for claustrophobic people usually not possible) and this fact, the fact that The Eskimo Roll is utterly impossible -- cannot happen -- where the paddler brings his head up...is the reason that The Eskimo Roll is correctly known as a skill that is hard to learn.

In dramatic support of this thesis consider: That where one learns a successful roll in a swimming pool -- there is no instance on record where that person with his/her newly-learned "pool-roll" successfully transported that roll to a wild cold-water river where his capsize was a surprise, unwanted, in frightening conditions, not allowing "pre-capsize set-up." It is axiomatic among all kayakers that a "pool roll" is only the beginning point; will fail "out in the wild" and must be re-learned there.

3) ESSENTIAL TO AN ESKIMO ROLL a kayak must be fitted with "foot pegs" and "knee hooks" that suit the paddler's size.
In a capsize the toes press forward on the foot pegs. This "shortens the leg" and therefore the knees elevate into the provided "knee hooks." The paddler clamps his knees together engaging the knee hooks. This motions drives his bottom down into the kayak seat locking him into the boat as a solid integral unit....and most importantly the knees, locked into the knee-hooks, yield essential "edge control" over the boat. No other physical attribute of a kayak has any relevance to the ability of the boat to be Eskimo Rolled. GIVEN good foot-pegs and good knee-hooks, it is fiction that "a sea-kayak is harder to roll than a whitewater kayak."

4) There are important "details" within any broad description of "how the Eskimo Roll is performed" that typically a student attempting to acquire the Eskimo Roll will obtain from his/her instructor. Prominent, is: That when during the "sweep" phase of the roll the "active blade" (sweeping blade) must be at a "climbing angle" to prevent it from sinking (or plunging deep). Therefore the paddler must have some way to "know" the angle of that blade, and be able to dependably obtain and hold that angle throughout the sweep. One certain way to know that angle is by, at the instant of capsize, slipping the "inactive blade hand" down to contact the root of that inactive blade. The paddle is a solid-shaft device. The two blades are in fixed position to one another. Where one FEELS and knows the position of the inactive blade, one can experimentally learn what wrist position...will obtain a climbing angle...for that very-important sweeping (active) blade.

5) Truth-in-advertising requires a discussion of SHOULDER DISLOCATION within any sales-pitch that "one should take up kayaking." Shoulder dislocation is a "serious injury" (once it's happened, it's there-for-life) affecting fewer (there are no numbers) than 1% of kayakers and overwhelmingly, the affected segment of the kayaking community are "beginners." Shoulder dislocation is self-produced by "trying-too-hard" while attempting to prevent a capsize or while trying to Eskimo Roll. GOOGLE "shoulder dislocation" for details. The maxim for Kayakers is that properly executed the choreography of an Eskimo Roll requires no physical strength .. and that technique and understanding .. must be employed to defeat instinct and terror .. to overcome the natural tendency to apply maximum physical effort. Clearly understand that beginners start out without knowing any of this. It is for this reason that shoulder dislocations are seen most frequently among beginners. Furthermore, there is a low-probability inherited tendency to shoulder dislocation. Persons with Uncles, Cousins or Dads who experience causeless shoulder-dislocation while sleeping ... probably should never experiment with Eskimo Roll activity.

THE OTHER "ROLLS"---

>>The Pawlata Roll (or Extended Grip Roll) -- is executed by an underwater paddler by transferring the (typically Right Hand) grip to the most-distant end of the near paddle blade. The paddle is a continuous-shaft device. The blades are connected. The paddler's grip on the absolute end of one blade tells him/her the angle of "the other" blade, assisting execution of a correct "sweep." Furthermore, "going to the end of the blade" results in the paddler obtaining "The longest shaft possible...The greatest length of sweep possible....The greatest leverage possible" for execution of an Eskimo Roll.

This EXTENDED GRIP is the only difference between the Pawlata Roll and any other roll. Within the Pawlata Roll, every other consideration previously described as e s s e n t i a l to a successful Eskimo Roll continue to apply: All elements of the Eskimo Roll must always be a perfect choreography: The head coming out last, the perfectly-timed hip-snap, etc.

The Pawlata Roll subtends serious conceptual and practical flaws:

Conceptually....the Pawlata Roll is founded on a premise that: "What is needed for a really reliable Eskimo Roll ... is just a longer lever." Like many concepts that sound fine, the premise underlying the Pawlata-technique and concept is utterly false. The longer lever is:
1) Demonstrably not needed
2) Takes many times as long (underwater) to "set up."
3) Because of (2) limits the paddler to one attempt, as opposed to four or five.
4) Is an untenable concept in anything but flat water.
5) The longer lever increases "shoulder dislocation" injury exposure.

>>The Hands Roll -- Is a fabulous expert-boater "roll" whose total virtue exists in demonstrating how much, The Eskimo Roll is a matter of mandatory sequential choreography. With only the surface of the hands, The Hands Roll generates enough "force" to cause an upside-down kayak to turn right-side up. The Hands Roll shows beyond any shadow-of-doubt that "musculature" is not required or even a desired part of Eskimo Roll performance.

In application the Hands Roll has absolutely no practical kayaking usage except to get viewers to toss you a free beer.
The Hands Roll is a fun demonstration-skill.

It must be remarked that people usually "cheat" with their Hands Roll. They conserve momentum-of-the-capsize...to assist in producing completion of their roll. Fair enough, but truth-in-advertising requires one to note that a Hands Roll is much harder to execute beginning from a "dead down" position.

Furthermore it needs to be noted that any expert boater who does too many Hands Rolls ... compromises (not strengthens) his/her ability to perform an Eskimo Roll. As already said, the Eskimo Roll is a "muscle memory" choreography/skill that becomes reliable only through execution and practice. Repeated execution "PRINTS" all physical elements into muscle-memory. Be aware that the Hands Roll contains arm-motions that are greatly different from those of any Paddle Roll. Too many executions of the wrong motions ... are not an ideal thing.

Initial or Setup Position

The initial position places the paddle alongside the kayak. The active blade will be angled down so as to glide on the surface of the water.

Sweep

The sweep of the paddle from the initial to final position provides the needed rotation.

Hip Flick or Hip Snap

The hip snap is a critical element in a roll. This action consists of rotating the lower body to one side so that the kayak begins to right itself. Different roll types require different kinds of hip action. Brace rolls tend to require a rapid hip snap while sweep rolls tend to require slower hip rotation. For many kayaks, once the kayak hull is rotated past its secondary stability point, it will tend to assist the paddler in righting themselves.

Ending or Final position

Each roll has a desired ending position. In a "layback" roll the torso will be lying on the back deck of the kayak at the end of the roll.

Keeping the Head Low

The paddler's head should remain in the water until the very end of the roll. Raising the head too early is a common reason for rolling failure.

Notations

• Hutchinson, Derek (1999). Eskimo Rolling, 3rd Edition. Globe Pequot. ISBN 0762704519.

External links

• Qajaq USA - Movie clips of Eskimo Rolls and other manoeuvres
• Learn To Roll - Methodical step-by-step exercises with short video clip for each step.
• A Kayak Rolling Primer - Includes some fine hand drawn animations.
• Tips and techniques on a variety of rolls