Check out my new “How to Backdeck Roll” instructional video! by stephenwright | Dec 7, 2012 | Whitewater | 6 comments Shot in the Golden Community Center pool, this will hopefully teach you a safe, effective way to roll your kayak 🙂 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFuoA7TUtPk[/youtube] Live from Rock Island, TN, Stephen Wright 6 Comments Eric Jackson on December 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm awesome Stephen! thanks for doing that! EJ Reply Haven Livingston on December 8, 2012 at 6:55 pm This is a great demo. I will be working on this one because I know how valuable it can be. I wish I had already known it when I flipped right before a rapid last summer and was splayed against my back deck. I didn’t have time to get in position to do a c-c roll and went over the rapid upside-down and smashed my face on a rock. It killed a front tooth and gave me a black eye. Learn this roll! It also prompted me to get a full face helmet. I always wear it now! Reply Jordan on December 10, 2012 at 7:11 pm Thanks for making this! It seems more like a back-deck-to-c roll…which maybe is just as effective? I like the smoothness of the back deck roll that comes all the way around to a forward finish position and have been trying to learn that one with occasional success. Any tips for that? Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53E5MMCjIzo Reply Stephen Wright on December 10, 2012 at 7:56 pm Jordan, I like to finish it back, then think of sitting up and paddling forward as a separate step from the roll itself. The reason is that I like to use the same hip snap and finish position for every roll set up, and finishing back is simply the most effective way to always roll 100% of the time. This is because being on the back deck is the lowest body position in terms of center of gravity height that you can have your weight over the middle of the boat side to side. The danger of sweeping all the way to the front before the boat is totally flat is simple: if your paddle hits a rock, underwater eddy, boil, or weird current that makes it sink, you risk failing your roll and falling back in. I prefer to get the boat upright with my weight off the paddle as quickly as possible, THEN sit up and get forward fast without my weight on the paddle. This way I miss far less rolls. Make sense? While the method shown in the video you linked can obviously work, it’s definitely more vulnerable to failure if the paddle is interfered with. Thanks for the view and the question, Jordan!!! Stephen Reply Jordan on December 11, 2012 at 4:20 am Yup – makes sense. Thanks for the reply! Reply Jeff Moreau on October 1, 2013 at 2:00 pm Thanks Stephen! Great instructions! Can’t wait to go practice! Reply Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
Haven Livingston on December 8, 2012 at 6:55 pm This is a great demo. I will be working on this one because I know how valuable it can be. I wish I had already known it when I flipped right before a rapid last summer and was splayed against my back deck. I didn’t have time to get in position to do a c-c roll and went over the rapid upside-down and smashed my face on a rock. It killed a front tooth and gave me a black eye. Learn this roll! It also prompted me to get a full face helmet. I always wear it now! Reply
Jordan on December 10, 2012 at 7:11 pm Thanks for making this! It seems more like a back-deck-to-c roll…which maybe is just as effective? I like the smoothness of the back deck roll that comes all the way around to a forward finish position and have been trying to learn that one with occasional success. Any tips for that? Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53E5MMCjIzo Reply
Stephen Wright on December 10, 2012 at 7:56 pm Jordan, I like to finish it back, then think of sitting up and paddling forward as a separate step from the roll itself. The reason is that I like to use the same hip snap and finish position for every roll set up, and finishing back is simply the most effective way to always roll 100% of the time. This is because being on the back deck is the lowest body position in terms of center of gravity height that you can have your weight over the middle of the boat side to side. The danger of sweeping all the way to the front before the boat is totally flat is simple: if your paddle hits a rock, underwater eddy, boil, or weird current that makes it sink, you risk failing your roll and falling back in. I prefer to get the boat upright with my weight off the paddle as quickly as possible, THEN sit up and get forward fast without my weight on the paddle. This way I miss far less rolls. Make sense? While the method shown in the video you linked can obviously work, it’s definitely more vulnerable to failure if the paddle is interfered with. Thanks for the view and the question, Jordan!!! Stephen Reply
Jeff Moreau on October 1, 2013 at 2:00 pm Thanks Stephen! Great instructions! Can’t wait to go practice! Reply
