Meanwhile, it’s all about practice! If you see me out on the water and I’m not coming up – flip me over, and I’ll do likewise

Good luck to you too.

I’ve read a few of your posts now and enjoyed them but this one took the biscuit. I love it. I’m afraid I’m a fully sworn in member of the sweep sect.

It sounds like I’m in a pretty similar position to you. My nose clips and goggles (yes, goggles) have a permanent home in by BA pocket. I WILL get that bombroof roll. I will. Maybe just one more youtube video or forum thread and somehow magically the next time I try it’ll all be fine and I’ll laugh about the days when I got so frustrated.

I know bracing can be more important. But I’m addicted.

Good luck. Maybe see you upside down under the water sometime!
Seylan

To answer your question – no, there’s no contortion. I actually deliberately don’t put too much stock in initial set-up, being that a real-life capsize won’t allow it. But I do need to work on braces etc, as you suggest. I found myself with a natural tendency to lean back in a Romany, but this doesn’t happen in the Nordkapp. I think the leanback might have been what allowed me to have a consistent roll in fact.

Interesting point about the hip flick – I find it to be a bit of a “black art”. I’m not sure what I do qualifies as a “flick” or “snap”. It feels more like what you describe. The CtoC on the other hand does seem to require a more vigorous snapping motion.

Thank your for the advice on ear protection. I’ve been very aware of the amount of water I seem to have sloshing about in my noggin after rolling sessions. I just invested in hoods for Alan and me. Hopefully that will help. I was thinking about ear plugs, but complications regarding handling (I have visions of them floating about the loch and some poor bird eating them) and temporary deafness put me off.

All the best.

A roll is very similar to a high brace and one day I was practicing a high brace when I went too far and capsized. I kept my paddle in position on the surface and swept it back and popped up. I was so surprised I tried it again, and again popped up. I have never looked back. At the Skye symposium I did about 50 rolls on the trot when compariing different boats. I only missed one, when I was tired.

My question to you is, are you cortorting yourself into some strange setup position before you capsize? That is what held me back and I can guarantee you will never capsize by accident in that position. You might like to work on high braces, sweeping, then coming up on the back deck, then allowing yourself to go right over from the high brace position.

I have a short video of this here:

http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.com/2009/04/zen-and-art-in-sea-kayaking.html

Note how after the sweep back, I then sweep the back of the blade forward for extra stability as I come up off the back deck.

It’s not a pretty roll but for me it works in any conditions. All our bodies are different so its not surprising that some find some rolls easier. For what it’s worth. I don’t hip flick. As soon as my sweep or brace starts, I just keep a steady twisting pressure through my lower back, hip and thigh.

You will note my neoprene hood. I have windsurfed throughout the last 32 winters and now have surfer’s nodules in both ears. Keep cold water out your ears!

Happy practising!

Douglas

Yes, I am fond of Loch Eck. It’s such a lovely spot and we get it to ourselves most of the time (don’t tell anyone). I think many a kayaker started their “career” there. I can’t believe it’s only been 2 years since my first “tippy” experience at that very spot.

You can approach rolling as a sort of watery Tai Chi or as a core survival skill and I’m certainly not going to say that either is the One True Way, but if it is to be the latter it is important that you do not put it aside during the Winter. If the Firth of Clyde is anything like the Irish Sea, the water should stay warm (that’s a relative term) until the end of October. You might want to give hour long practices in Loch Eck a miss by then but it will still be a good idea to roll once every time you are on the water – assuming most of your attempts are successful. It doesn’t have to be that unpleasant. A successful roll is quick enough that you won’t really feel the cold. An unsuccessful roll need not be much worse as long as Alan is stationed alongside to provide a bow rescue.

It matters because you won’t be able to roll in cold water unless you are familiar with cold water. If you capsize in February and your last roll was in October you will know (or rather, believe) that your head is going to explode just as soon as it hits the cold water, That belief, rather than the cold itself, will be enough to destroy your technique. If on the other hand your last roll was just a week previous you will know that it isn’t noticeably colder this time. The water is obliging enough to only cool down gradually. That means you only have to familiarise yourself with it gradually. And this is all about familiarity. It has *nothing* to do with mortification of the flesh.

Incidentally, my first ever encounter with a kayak was on Loch Eck in 1984. I capsized. That’s not to say that I have 25 years of experience behind me. Eight would be more like it.

Dan

I can understand the appeal of Greenland rolling. I do enjoy the feeling of a roll coming together and have been known to daydream about giving Greenland rolling a try one day. I’m interested in the whole body awareness aspect of it, and of transferring some of my yoga learnings over (which I try to do even now).

Yes, I used to watch people rolling and think on their capabilities as almost mystical!

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying sunny days on the water in Florida. I am running out of practice time on the sea/lochs as it feels like winter is already setting in here, in the form of torrential rain and gales Summer was in June. But that’s Scotland for you.

It took me a long time to learn to roll. I just could not get the rhythm down. Then when I did I realized that rolling was not important…a brace was the key to having fun on the water. For it truly lets you naturally move without thinking. And then rolling became like breathing, totaly natural.

I developed water on the brain from all of those hours of practice playing on the edge between clouds and sea grass. And I fell in love with the allure of Greenland rolling due to the complexity of the rolls and how it rejects modern technology to embrace the technology of history. I also think I could have been a seal in a past life…

But I have realized that the perfect roll always looses against the perfect brace in real life applications. Rolling improves balance, timing, and bracing. And a perfect roll in eye shot of a non kayaker can scare off or entice them into trying out this lifestyle.

Nevertheless, playing between air and water does put things into an interesting perspective,..Keep up the good work, Jeff

I must hide your comment from my husband who has been nagging me endlessly about working on my low brace. I am going to completely ‘fess up to being obsessional about rolling beyond good sense and reason. It is a psychological condition and I may need help. Meantime, if I could just get that roll down, I’d be able to focus on other things.

Seriously, I absolutely hear you.

As it happens, at 8am on Sunday I was camped at a lonely spot in the Menai Straits contemplating packing up and paddling out in a force 5-6 stern quartering wind. Some might say I would have done better to be sat in front of a computer.

You’re right about the quasi-religious feel to some discussions about rolling. It can be scary sometimes. It’s just one skill amongst many, and far from the most important one. It looks spectacular and can be fiendishly hard to learn but a solid low brace will spare you a lot more drama and heartache than rolling ever will. I like Wayne Horodowich’s thoughts on the subject – http://www.useakayak.org/reflections/reflec_rolling_5_02.html.