Sea Kayak Rolling - 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.

Kayak Rolling - 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.

[ Top ]     [ Next Page (Rolling Principles) ]