Good rolling technique

FullGnarlzOC · Post by **FullGnarlzOC** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:45 pm

Kelvin is right... the whole T-grip to the stomach is the first thing they teach you about a 'low brace' during your local club roll sessions.

Also the 'under the boat set up with your paddle down the middle of the airbag is detrimental, because it doesn't get your body out to the side of the roll, waste times, has the potential to get your t-grip caught in your airbag webbing, ect....

It just doesnt really do anything. The best thing you can do for your setup phase is keep the paddle outside of the boat along the hull. This already has ur paddle above water, and all you have to do is fan out, push down and hip snap and you are up.

The number 1 thing I preach about a roll is to practice it. And I don't mean flatwater. Flatwater rolling is grand and all for when you are FIRST LEARNING to come UPRIGHT from being upside down... but once you are hitting flatwater rolls 10/10, you should never have to practice flatwater rolls again, as it will hardly help.

The biggest thing is practicing when the heart is pumping, and there is a swim at stake. The way to do this is.... START PUSHING IT. START PRACTICING MOVES THAT YOU DON"T NORMALLY DO. START GETTING YOUR SELF OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. All this will do will....expand your comfort zone number one, and in the mean time, cause you to flip a few times during a run, and you'll have a combat roll down in a hurry.

I acquired my 'pool' roll in April, hit my first Combat Roll in May, and had it Bombproofd by a month later.... purely because i often push it to where I am flipping 3-5 times a run. That's more flipping that some people do all summer... which is cool and all, but I know my roll will save my life. Can the person who hardly ever flips/test their roll say that? Probably not.

Practice makes perfect. And remember 'practice like you play'....aka - under high intensity situations. Unless you are just a Class II-III paddler, and you just cruise and like to enjoy the scenery the whole time; and if that is the case... you shouldn't be takin advise from me because I paddle in a different realm (whether it's on class II or class V)

coloradopaddler · Post by **coloradopaddler** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:45 am

the off side set up was exagerated for demonstration purposes, thanks for the advice though! if your paddle hit something during that fluid motion of transitioning your paddle to the set up position, it's probably the least of your worries. oh, i practice rolls in eddies all the time so that when i do need it in a combat situation it is engrained in my head and reliable.
i guess i must not be pushing myself enough, i only swam running a rapid once this year, in a class 4 in a tandem boat. i ran a lot of new rivers and new sections this year and staying upright is fine with me!

kentford · Post by **kentford** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:59 pm

Nice thread, and I am honored that some of you refer to the low brace roll as the "Ford" technique. I am just the messenger, not inventor!
But if you want our full explanation, check out our DVD
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We've got a nice 20% discount for any C-forum folks. Enter
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yuanyelss · Post by **yuanyelss** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:27 am

I have a question regarding ur set up... what's the purpose of turning your paddle over once you touch the water? Why don't you just start with power face down from the get go?

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jakke · Post by **jakke** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:19 am

I don't do the flipping either. I imediatly start in the low brace position with my blade.

A matter of preference I suppose

dafriend · Post by **dafriend** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:15 pm

yuanyelss wrote:I have a question regarding ur set up... what's the purpose of turning your paddle over once you touch the water? Why don't you just start with power face down from the get go?

The advantage of extending away from the boat face-up is that rotational momentum gets transferred to the hips as you flip over toward face down. It makes for a much snappier hip snap.

Also notice how "quiet" Kelvin's paddle is in terms of movement after he rotates and how little weight he puts on the blade. Compare that to the wild gyrations that Tommy does where his paddle blade sweeps nearly to the stern and then all the way to the bow again as he does a push-up to accomplish a roll.

When you start a roll with the power face down you have, to a large extent, already turned your body face down. So you loose that extra boost to the hips. The whole process then relies much more on upper body strength.

As much as I admire Kelvin's technique my roll looks a lot more like Tommy or Cadster's version.

Dave

Post by **sbroam** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:33 pm

I put up some rolling vdeo here :

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... EF3CCF3848

Comments are welcome - some are my rolls (I'm the one with the glasses and beard, C-1 and SF), some are an aspiring convert learning to roll my SF.

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:55 pm

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adrianna mott · Post by **adrianna mott** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:37 pm

C-Forum

Good rolling technique

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