I love watching all the Greenland rolling videos I can find on YouTube and elsewhere. So many people are very talented with these techniques, and many of the rolls are very elegant and beautiful to watch. However, I often find myself wondering about the usefulness of certain rolls. I don’t mean that I am questioning whether or not a particular roll is useful, but rather in what situations is it useful.
Can anyone recommend videos or sites that cover the Greenland rolls in more detail and explain the usefulness and reasoning behind them? I’d like to learn more than just how to do these rolls. I’d also like to learn why and the history behind them. What makes a particular roll useful/advantageous in which situation? I assume a lot of the rolls were developed out of necessity when out hunting and such, and probably aren’t useful/necessary these days when kayaking purely for sport or recreation. But I’d like to learn all about that, just the same. Thanks!
Awesome!
Thank you for the link!
great stuff, thanks Sing
Seeing the descriptions of how and when each roll was traditionally used helps.
This is the Roll 2
This is the Roll 2 video is supposed to give instruction on how to do 22 of the rolls. Video is by Justine Curvengen, who did the This is the Sea series and others.
http://www.cackletv.com/sea-kayaking-dvds/this-is-the-roll-2/
“This is the Roll Vol 1” teaches the 3 most basic and useful true rolls. Standard Greenland, storm, and reverse sweep rolls. All the others are great for kayak circus tricks.
@kayakhank said:
“This is the Roll Vol 1” teaches the 3 most basic and useful true rolls. Standard Greenland, storm, and reverse sweep rolls. All the others are great for kayak circus tricks.
so…a roll where you have lost the grip with one of your hands…and don’t need to re-grip the paddle in order to roll…is considered by you , to be a Circus trick? {Angel/Butterfly roll} or a roll where you have your camera in one hand and the paddle in the other and are taking a picture…but…over you go. Holding and not wanting to drop your camera is a Circus trick? {Crook of the elbow roll} and on and on…
Some are, perhaps, more or less circus tricks in the modern era, but those early kayakers had to have a lot of options for situations where:
-a paddle broke
-the kayaker was injured somehow (perhaps hunting large marine mammals has risks)
-there were/were not other kayaks in near proximity
-conditions (waves, wind, presence of ice, rebound waves, following seas, etc.) made a more conventional roll less reliable
-a wet exit wasn’t an option (many of these folks were sewn into their boats, though I’ve seen 1900’s era video where Aleuts did not always bother to do so)
-one capsizes while trying to manipulate/handle the carcass of a large mammal
-variances of hull design make some rolls more effective than others
It shows remarkable creativity to have developed so many different methods for such a seemingly simple process, and I’m sure few native kayakers seldom used the perfect roll for the current condition (we tend do what works for us best, or tend to - and if our first attempt fails, as long as there is time, and air, we then assess what to try next), but most of us will never face those conditions since we tend to not be in those conditions and pick our trips accordingly.
I have 4 rolls in my toolkit and use a version of the screw roll most often, but I can imagine conditions where I would need to reassess and re-roll using a different skill. There are some rolls, however, where I could not imagine a situation why I would choose it over another, more reliable, roll in my toolkit.
Rick
@kayakhank Way way too narrow a point of view. In a pinch of course people will tend to go to their strongest roll first, and you can argue that those three carry most all of the variations along the way. But people get locked up in words and descriptions, and that kind of statement could leave people not exploring pieces of those rolls that do have use. Or the halfway positions like a static brace, which it seems most of the guys who diss it can’t do because of where they are carrying their weight.
Gotta love when old threads are revived by new users just having a look around…
@Sparky961 said:
Gotta love when old threads are revived by new users just having a look around…
Yup. Nothing like stating your opinion ten years later. Not this thread, but there have been some oldies revived.
Almost all the greenland videos show an ability of the roller to lay his/her head on the back deck. This is impossible for many, due to some combination of lack of flexibility and a high seat back. So those videos can be less than helpful.
Only high-brace Greenland rolls are performed as a “layback”. Low brace rolls are performed so that you finish leaning forward, instead.
Other than rolling more easily, the ability to lean backward is related to safety, depending on where you paddle. If you can’t “layback”, I recommend that you change your outfitting and work on flexibility.
If you can’t lean fully back on the back deck, consider what will happen if a breaking wave slams your body backward. A tall backrest is a recipe for injury in the surf. Except for gentle conditions I would recommend that any sea kayak have a seat-back/backband that doesn’t extend above the coaming. High backrests, in additional to limiting torso rotation, and laybacks, also make it difficult to re-enter the kayak during rescues. They often fold under you as you scramble back into the cockpit, so you end of sitting on-top of them, and very unstable.
@gstamer said:
If you can’t lean fully back on the back deck, consider what will happen if a breaking wave slams your body backward.
Exactly why I no longer venture into surf. Too old.
One thing that seems to be lost in this conversation is that there is a larger purpose for these rolls other than executing them as described. The real point is to become comfortable with the principles of rolling under a variety of scenarios, so you can roll whenever you need to, regardless of your circumstances. This also dramatically reduces the fear factor when one capsizes, whatever the cause. Once you understand rolling and can execute a variety of rolls, you can improvise as necessary, such as in the “holding onto my camera” scenario described above. That’s the real value is learning many rolling variations.