Introduction
Sea Kayak rolling is an important skill for kayak paddlers. Without it many of the benefits of being sealed into the boat by a spray cover are
lost. For the advanced sea, surf or white water paddler, an awkward, tiring or dangerous swim may be prevented, and in the competitive disciplines much
time may be saved by an efficient and reliable roll. Intermediate paddlers can learn and practice off-balance maneuvers more confidently if
they know that a roll will recover them from their errors and beginners will develop good water confidence and three-dimensional thinking if they learn
to roll early.
Rolling is normally learned in a swimming pool. Calm, warm water, good visibility and the confidence engendered by a controlled and
safe environment all help to make this the preferred situation, but if a pool is not available it is not difficult to learn in open water, although
the approach is different. If rolling is learned in a pool, it must in any case be proved in the real situation before any claim to competence can
be made.
This site outlines the history and principles of rolling before going on to explain how to perform and teach various types of kayak
roll. The section on principles does not need to be understood before rolling is attempted but some pupils and teachers may find it useful in
sorting out problems or refining technique.
History
The Inuit people have been rolling their kayaks for many centuries; for them, the ability to roll was a basic survival technique. A
missionary, writing in 1765, described ten methods by which an Inuit righted his craft, including full- and half-paddle rolls, and rolls using the
harpoon or just the hands. A significant observation in the account is that once the paddle was positioned, the kayaker applied 'a flick of the hips' to
recover.
The first non-Inuit known to have learned to roll was the Austrian, Edi Pawlata, who taught himself in 1927 after reading accounts by the explorers
Nansen and Jophansen. An English explorer, Gino Watkins, learned directly from the Inuit in 1930, but unfortunately he disappeared on a trip to the
Arctic soon afterwards. These early European rolls involved levering the body upright from the water with little or no hip flick.
It was not until about 1965 that the hip-flick was re-discovered, and it was this, together with the revolution in boat design and construction
caused by the advent of rigid plastic boats, that led to rolling becoming a valid technique for white water paddlers.
Consider the paddler sitting or kneeling in his boat. The combined weight, W,
acting at the center of gravity, CG, pulls the boat down into the water until the buoyancy force, BB,
generated by the submerged part of the boat, increases sufficiently just to balance the weight. The buoyancy force can be assumed to act at a point
at the center of the submerged part called the center of buoyancy, CB.
If the boat is tipped to one side the shape of the submerged part of the hull changes and the center of buoyancy moves as shown.
The effect of the two forces, now out of line, is to create a net righting force
which attempts to return the boat to the upright position, and so for small angles of tip the boat is stable.
This is the hip flick. One knee pulls the boat towards the body while the opposite hip pushes it away. In the rolls
involving a sweep-type stroke, the waist behaves like a universal joint, converting the twisting action of the upper body into a
rolling action of the pelvis and boat. The net result is to roll the boat almost upright while the body remains in the water.
During this action the body is pushed further under the surface and so this tendency is resisted by the buoyancy force
that acts on the torso, assisted by the paddle if necessary.
The 'flick' part of the hip flick is a refinement of the basic technique, in which the boat is turned upright with a fast driving
action of the lower body. Momentum is thereby gained, so that at the end of the flick the boat pulls the body out of the water
and helps to restore it to the upright position.
In this next exercise the body lies face-down in a horizontal position with the hands holding palm-down on to the
side of the pool, the bow of the instructor's boat, or any other reasonably firm support at water level. To reach this position a
right-handed paddler must first rotate at the waist fully to the right, then hold the support and capsize to the right. It is
important for the learner to realize that the face and body must be in the water for the exercise to be effective; again the range
of movement should be built up until the paddler is stretching the waist in each direction as far as possible, pulling the kayak over
with the left knee, then rolling it by pulling the right knee through under the kayak. Initially this should be repeated several
times with the body lying passively at the surface - no attempt should be made to bring the body out of the water until the hip
flick can be performed almost without thinking.
There is a tendency for the bow of the kayak to drift out from the side of the pool forcing a rear deck recovery.
It is important that the paddler keeps the bow close to the side of the pool so that a recovery with the face close to the
knee can be practiced. Pushing out with the rear hand and pulling in with the front hand will help with this. Once the hip
flick can be done consistently with both hands providing support, it should be practiced again using only the control hand, since
only one hand provides support during the paddle rolls.
The Body Follow Through -
The next stage in developing the complete action is to add to the hip flick (just described) the recovery from the water: as the boat
passes through the on-edge position the spine starts to bend forwards from the base; this keeps the head and shoulders in the
water, generating buoyancy, until as late as possible in the recovery; the shoulders and face leave the water last, with the
face close to the middle of the thigh. This exercise, too, should be repeated a number of times. The diagram shows a recovery
in the "C to C" position. Ideally, the paddler's face should be closer to the side of the kayak as it comes out of
the water. In order for this to happen, the paddler needs to be bent forward at the waist in a more face-down position than shown
here.
If the pupil has difficulty in achieving this flexibility of the spine, then alternative methods of lifting the body from the water
can be tried. Many kayak rollers finish by lying along the back deck with no rotation at the waist; this causes less strain to the
beginner, but is less effective for two reasons. Firstly, the body clears the water and the torso buoyancy force is lost much
earlier in the movement; secondly, the laid back position is a very poor one for resuming paddling on rough water since the
paddler is disorientated, looking up at the sky, and is in a weak position to brace with the paddle. If the roll fails when he is in
this position then his face is very exposed to rocks and other obstacles. From this position, he has to pull himself
upright with the stomach muscles, expending valuable time and energy, before he can do anything else.
Only when the pupil has a reasonable proficiency in the hip flick and body follow through it is wise to introduce the use of the paddle. Most
beginners want to start with the paddle immediately, but its use too soon can lead to the development of bad habits, such as the flick-free or stiff
roll, or simply to a discouraging lack of success. Most beginners find it easiest to start by learning either the 'Pawlata' or the 'Put Across' rolls.
The former is the most commonly taught (in England), and seems to work very well for the confident paddler; the latter has the benefit of being simpler
and of encouraging a better hip flick. Teachers of rolling should experiment with both methods so that they can use whichever suits their pupil best.
The Pawlata Roll
The Pawlata is a good roll to learn initially. It is directly related to the Screw roll which is probably the most useful roll of all, but it is a
little easier to perform and more forgiving of failures in hip flick or follow through technique. The aim of teacher and pupil should be to progress
to the Screw roll as soon as possible after the Pawlata has been learned.
The paddler sits upright in the boat, with his back curved slightly forward and his body twisted towards the side on which he wants to capsize.
A right-hand-control paddler will normally capsize to the left and vice versa. The control hand is then the forward hand and this holds the center of
the shaft. In rolling, as in other strokes, it is important that the hand maintains its normal orientation to the blade, and is not allowed to slip
around the shaft. The control of the blade angle during the roll must be carried out by this hand. This may feel strange - if the hand moves past
the center of the paddle shaft the ovalling of the shaft is opposite to normal.
The rear hand holds the center of the tip of the rear blade as shown, thumb pointing down across the face, and fingers wrapped around the tip. To
start the wind-up the control hand rotates the front blade outward through an angle of about 30 degrees. In this position it lines up with the angle
of the front of the deck.
The second of the principal teaching rolls is the Put Across Roll. It seems to have fallen out of favor in recent years, but it has one major
advantage over the Pawlata in that the hip flick action is almost identical to the initial drill. For pupils who have trouble putting all the
components of the roll together, particularly those who lose the hip flick while trying to master the paddle action, it offers a valuable intermediate
step. In particular, once the Eskimo rescue technique has been learned, the put across offers a method of learning that can be used on open water with
a high degree of success. In its own right, it is particularly useful if the paddle has been let go, as it can be performed very quickly after the
blade has been regained. It is unusual in that the paddle is not carried down on one side during capsize and brought up on the other, but is left
at the surface while the body does all the movement.
One way of introducing the roll after the hip flick drills is via the 'Queen's Salute' position. In this case capsize should be towards
the control side. The top hand is the control hand and holds the paddle just above the lower blade, maintaining the correct register with respect
to the upper blade. (This may cause a little confusion at first if the hand grips are ovalled since the hand feels the wrong oval). The lower hand holds
the edge of the blade as shown, ready to apply upward pressure. The boat is capsized and the position held until the upper blade touches the water.
(If the pupil attempts to cheat by lowering the paddle using the arms the blade cuts into the water end first and sinks). Once the blade is flat
on the water the paddler pulls down with the control hand and rolls the boat upright, exactly as he did in early hip flick exercises. The other
hand prevents the inner blade sinking. The action is much stronger if both elbows remain in the same vertical plane as the shaft and inner blade.
The roll may also be approached by floating the paddle on the water next to and perpendicular to the center of the boat with the closer blade vertical.
The blade hand can easily reach across the body to hold the paddle, and the other hand can move into position during capsize. Care should be taken
to ensure that the paddle is not pushed under the surface as the pupil capsizes on to it. A common problem with this roll is pulling down with both
hands, resulting in the near blade knifing very quickly towards the bottom and giving no support. It is corrected by emphasizing the upward pressure
with the blade hand. (It is possible to roll from a near blade that is horizontal, using a downwards push with one or both hands, but this is really
a variety of hand roll and is much harder).
Once the basic sequence has been mastered, the hands are moved into position later and later in the capsize, until the pupil can swim a few
strokes to the blade, find the position, and then roll up. He can finally complete the roll by capsizing on one side and reaching for the paddle
on the other. Many 'real' rolls use elements of the put across, often without the paddler being aware of it. It is, for example, quite common
to see a screw roll finished with the downward pull of the put across - this can sometimes leave the paddler in a much stronger position than continuing
the sweep to the rear of the boat. The classic "C to C" roll uses a sweeping action similar to the screw roll to move the paddle into
position, then a vertical pull like the put across and a hip flick with very little rotation to bring the paddler upright.
The Screw Roll is the most commonly used kayak roll of all because it is reliable, easy to learn and works in most circumstances. Most kayakers use a
Screw Roll or some variant of it as their standard survival roll.
The sequence of movements is identical to the Pawlata described earlier except that hands remain in the normal paddling position on the shaft. The hip
flick must be more effective than for the Pawlata, since less support is available from the shorter paddle lever, and it is even more important that the
back hand is pushed clear of the hull to give the back blade space to move.
Like all rolls that are intended to be used in difficult situations, it should be learned on both sides. It is the basis for a whole family of rolls
that can all be performed without moving the hands along the shaft.
Some beginners find it easier to learn the Screw Roll directly rather than pass through the Pawlata sequence.
WARNING: The extended arm position shown here is much weaker than one in which the arms stay bent with the paddle parallel
and close to the line across the shoulders. Applying excessive force while the arm is extended, especially if the pressure on the arm is also in a
rearwards direction has been the cause of many shoulder dislocations among kayakers.
The paddler starts sitting upright in his boat, with his paddle
horizontally above his head. For a recovery on the right the right
arm is pushed up to full extension and the left arm retracted to the
shoulder, until the paddle shaft is almost vertical. The paddler
capsizes to the right, holding this position until the blade touches
the water. As the blade touches the water a reverse hip flick
(pulling the kayak over on top of the paddler) keeps the paddle and
upper body near the surface while the boat completes the capsize.
The boat is then hip flicked up while, at the same time, the right
arm is pulled in towards the hip and the left arm extended to full
stretch. There is very little rotation of the waist in this
roll; instead the hip flick is generated by a sideways bend at the
waist.
These rolls are used for entertainment and building water confidence.
Clock Roll
The paddle acts as the hand of a clock. Wind-up is as for a Pawlata roll but turn the wrists outward as for the Steyr. During capsize sweep the
paddle over the head to the Steyr start position. Roll up using the Steyr. For a clockwise clock the sequence must be performed left-handed.
Repeat as often as desired.
Rotary Roll
The boat capsizes. The paddle remains under water, parallel to the surface. It is extended so that the near blade is held horizontally while the
far blade is vertical. An action similar to the sweep stroke will cause the boat to spin round and round on the surface. The paddler rolls up when
he runs out of breath.
Top Hat Roll
This can be performed with any prop, but a top hat is traditional.The paddler must be able to roll one-handed. For a right-handed roll he removes
the top hat from his head with his right hand and capsizes to the left. As the boat settles upside-down the still-dry hat is placed on the upturned
hull with the right hand. It is retrieved with the left hand as the roll is completed with the right hand and placed, still dry, back on the head.
Cross Bow Roll
Wind up and capsize is as for a normal screw roll. Under water the paddle is crossed over the bow and swept out in the opposite direction. The paddle
finishes under the boat, so it must be released as the roll finishes. Many variations are possible.