@Sparky961 said:
Any tips for keeping the shoulders protected while practicing this one?
if you feel strain/pain … stop …drop … and roll … something comfortable… get some fresh air and try again.
Hey Chris(neighbor) , Greg, long time no see… mea culpa… kind of been “man is an island” with my qajaqing last few years… J
I tried it again this evening. The whole time your mantra “stop, drop and roll” was going through my mind. I tried doing the 1-2-3 exercise and then tried to get the boat over as far as I could without straining it. I had mentally gone through the repositioning for a sweep too, so I knew I could get back up quick enough.
Progress was made but I’m still not getting enough rotation, or something (maybe multiple things) isn’t in the right place at the right time.
I’m going to try to get some video at the next opportunity so I can trt to spot problems. I’ll keep working at it as long as I can do it without hurting myself.
I find the forward-finishing rolls more difficult than other rolls. I am pretty good rolling over the back deck (various styles, including hand-rolling) or doing a storm roll. But forward-finishing gives me trouble, perhaps because I have not practiced it enough, in combination with my lack of forward flexibility and me being quite tall. I was successful after a few tries, however, in doing the GP rolls as in the progression video, but it took some coaching and expert help to point exactly what I was doing wrong. As mentioned, the roll does not require “hip snap” or excessive force and should not strain the shoulders if done right. So best not to even try to force it. Practice and the edge of the pool or against someone else’s bow, much like one would practice for the c2c rolls. Key is to be facing down with both shoulders in the water for as long as possible and crunch forward and “drag the kayak under you”. Still, for me, this type of roll requires more effort (probably because I still don’the have the timing and motion precision right) than a sweep roll or a lay back roll, which are virtually effortless for me.
Now that I think of it, I no longer do any hip shaping when I roll, other than perhaps when hand-rolling. Yes, the kayak is being controlled with the lower body, but there are no jerky or “powerfull” motions, just fluid coordinated smooth sweep and weight transfer.
Like others have said, learning the chest scull will help you learn this roll. I found it to be one of the most awkward rolls to learn but very rewarding. I have used this roll to recover in the surf zone. Enjoy.
I spent the day at the beach today. The worlds longest fresh water beach, in fact. Weather was fairly calm, and water was pretty warm.
I discovered something interesting about my attempts at this roll. When I do it continuously from the pre-capsize position, I come up on the front deck with very little effort. However, when I stop and try to set up under water, it becomes very difficult. I have video of both now, and am planning to do some frame-by-frame analysis tonight.
It is certainly an awkward roll, at least at the moment it feels that way. I’m questioning how practical it will be, but it’s still fun to practice and perhaps master at some point.
What really made the roll happen for me was to get the side scull down. When the kayak is upside down and the paddle is extended out to the side, just as you start the recovery brace, flip the kayak right side up and continue the brace and recover on to the front deck. Once you have the chest scull mastered the rest of the roll is just the set up. When you start the full roll just take it nice and slow and then get yourself into the set up position to do the chest skull recovery. Once this feels comfortable you can speed things up a little and make the roll more fluent.