Pool sessions began Tuesday past. A couple of my kayak buddies are learning to roll. Part of their learning curve includes watching videos on YouTube. Those videos go pretty quick making it hard to see exactly what's going on. So, I thought to edit a short video and slow the process down to 12.5% of actual speed making it easier to see.
I don't consider myself an authority on rolling but this works for me.
In my opinion these are the key success factors in developing a roll:
- be comfortable under water. It only takes seconds to roll and most people can hold their breaths for 20 seconds or more.
- relax and do a proper set-up.
- gas off - roll the wrist forward like slacking off on gas on a motorcycle. That tilts the leading edge of the paddle up so it skims across the water versus plunging into the depths.
- sweep the paddle out in an arc. Either follow the paddle with your eyes or face up to the sky. That will keep the head down.
- lean back and bring the head out last.
- be careful not to exert too much force or you'll overcompensate and go over again. The active hand can execute a roll just grasping the paddle between the thumb and forefinger. OK, in the pool, in conditions that grasp would be my last concern.
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