Kayak roll

An Eskimo roll

An intentionally initiated Kayak Roll

The Kayak Roll (often referred to as an "Eskimo roll") is the act of righting a capsized kayak by use of body motion and/or a paddle. 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 by means of the paddle while tucking close to the front or back deck.

Types Of Roll

Several styles of Kayak roll are in use including the Screw Roll, Brace Roll, and Extended Grip Paddle (Pawlata) roll.

"Screw Roll" is a misnomer but the sport is stuck with it. "Screw Roll" has no known provenance. The "Screw Roll" has often, and more accurately been re-named "The Sweep Roll". As this roll is described below: The paddle sweeps and the boat "rolls." "Brace Roll" well-describes the action of body and paddle. The term "Brace" describes the combination of body and arm movements/actions used to prevent a destabilized kayak from capsize. The "Brace Roll" largely repeats those motions.

Beyond the above terminology are "jargonistic inventions" of persons claiming to have quasi-authorship and quasi-invention. Therefore one finds the "Bombproof Roll" (which is simply a roll practiced to the point of absolute reliability), there is the "Two-Sides-Roll" (simply the ability to roll clock- and counter-clockwise), there is the "C-to-C Roll" which is a purely terminological re-naming of the "Brace Roll." which has also been termed "The Reversing Sweep Roll".

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 and sea kayaking.

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 flotation bags and/or a spraydeck. Rolling a canoe is considerably harder than a kayak, especially in a tandem canoe where the upright motion requires precise coordination between the canoeists.

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 suppressing 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

The Brace Roll starts with the exact-same "setup position" as the Screw Roll. It differs in execution in that when the body (in executing the paddle-sweep) reaches 90-degrees (and exactly at the same point as with the Screw Roll the paddler has executed an abrupt hip-snap) the paddler reverses his BODY motion and "sweeps his body forward and low, 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.

So—the difference—The "Screw Roll" has the body-trunk moving in a continuous uninterrupted sweep from "kissing the sprayskirt forward" to "the back of the head actually in touch with the rear deck of the kayak". The "Brace Roll" follows that body-trunk sweeping motion out to 90-degrees from the boat, and then reverses direction; sweeping f o r w a r d until the boater's lips once-again "kiss" the sprayskirt in front of him.

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.

Physical Requirements of The Eskimo Roll

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 Pawlata Roll

>>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 very 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

The Hands Roill 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.

The Hands Roll has absolutely no practical kayaking usage except to get cheering viewers to toss you a free beer. The Hands Roll is a fun demonstration-skill. A paddler finding him/her self sitting in a kayak mid-river without a paddle is in an entirely helpless position because the tiny area of the hands, stroking at the sides of the boat provide a complete lack of two necessary physical/mechanical forces: Turning Moment and Driving Power. Therefore a paddle-less boater lacks effective ability to "orient" the boat with respect to a shore-side eddy, and lacks the driving power to push his boat sufficiently across an eddy line that river current won't drag the boat backwards out of the eddy. WITHIN THIS DESCRIPTION...it can be clearly seen that paddle-less boating has no application whatever on any river......and t h e r f o r e The Hands Roll equally has no application whatever on any river.

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.

How To Learn The Eskimo Roll

First, view the many U-Tube illustrations. 1) You must SEE the "setup position" as a distinct and uniform beginning point for all Kayak Rolls. In this position the lips are kissing the sprayskirt. The kayaker is helmeted and in the forward-leaned attitude his face is fully protected ("kissing-a-rock" is not frequent even in "beginning" kayaking, but it happens.) Furthermore, the life jacket the kayaker wears protects the spine. Furthermore a roll-attempt that begins from anything B U T this extremely tight leaned-forward position is absolutely guaranteed to fail.

2) You must SEE that the bottom forearm reaching out toward the active blade is (must be..!!..) held h a r d against the boat-deck as the boat rolls down. Unwanted (inadvertent..!!..) "paddle-float-up" (the paddler allowing his reaching forearm to do anything but press tightly to the boat) is a primary cause for the paddle being too deep in the water to perform an effective "Sweep!!"

3) You must SEE the moment of the hip-flip. You must SEE the violence of the hip-flip. The HIP FLIP is unequivocally the most decisive motion/action/event w i t h i n any Kayak Roll. The HIP FLIP is what brings the BOAT upright. All other motions within "The Choreography..!!!!" of an Eskimo Roll are aimed at placing the paddle out where it can provide support and most particularly in minimizing v e r t i c a l profile of the kayaker's body.

Keeping the Head Low

Nothing is more important in performance of a Kayak Roll than keeping the head low.

The Head Comes Out Of The Water Last

Contrary to instinct: The paddler's head absolutely must remain in the water until the very end of the roll. Raising the head too early is an absolute reason for a failed roll.

On The Dry Side Of Experience

One has to get wet, to learn the Eskimo Roll.

On the dry side of experience there is very little.

But there is an exercise that will assist in visualization of "How Those Motions".....produce a roll:

1) Stand in your socking feet in a non-carpeted household doorway holding a mop or broom-handle.

2) Bend over at the waist.

3) Visualize that you are seated in a kayak.

4) The ROOM into which your body-trunk protrudes is THE AIR, it is THE SKY, you are floating in a kayak.

5) The ROOM behind your fanny....is 100% water. It is THE LAKE, it is THE RIVER, drowning resides there.

6) Stand and reverse the direction you are facing. 6.1) Lean over. 6.2) You are c a p s i z e d.

7) Place the broom-handle-end to the right of your right foot..lean forward h a r d ..!!..

8) Reach, out to the right with the end of that broom handle to engage the AIR-SIDE of the door jam.

9) Pry, on that door jam...simultaneously lifting the pry-point upward...

10) AS-YOU-PRY..allow your socking-feet to TURN on the hardwood or linoleum flooring.

11) YOU ARE PERFORMING THE KAYAK ROLL...you are replicating where "a paddle" gets it's advantage.

12) And as you DO THIS..!!!...THE ANSWER TO A CONCEPTUAL MYSTERY will emerge, why (and how it becomes possible) that the INACTIVE BLADE of one's paddle does and MUST pass OVER the bottom of the boat (behind your fanny)..as the Active Blade sweeps out to 90-degrees.

References

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