rolling The Sweep Roll
A STEp by STEp guIdE TO unlOckIng THE EASIEST rOll || by AlEx MATTHEwS
KNOWING HOW TO ROLL isn’t a prerequisite to enjoy kayaking, but a dependable roll will transform your paddling experience. It will increase your confidence on the water immeasurably and en- courage you to play with new techniques, safe in the knowledge that you can quickly recover should you capsize. A successful roll depends on good technique, not on power, so any reasonably fit paddler with the dedication and patience to practice can learn. There are many different ways to roll, but the sweep roll is one of the most basic. Here’s how to do it.
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To set up for the sweep roll, lean far forward from the waist so that your chest is on your foredeck with your paddle held
parallel to the boat.
Sweep the power face of your forward blade out to the side, arcing the blade toward the stern with your back arm being
the pivot point. To keep your blade from sinking as you sweep, maintain a sculling, or climbing angle on the blade. This means angling your blade so that the leading edge is slightly higher than the trailing edge, so it creates lift. Extend your body out to the side, following your blade with your head to get yourself as close to the surface as possible.
As you sweep your forward blade out to 90 degrees, actively weight your paddle, using it for support to keep your body
floating close to the water’s surface, and hip snap your kayak up- right while keeping your head in the water. The hip snap is the single most important step in any roll you’ll ever do, and it’s also a skill that will make your braces much more effective. Also known as the hip flick, the hip snap refers to the action of rotating your hips to right your kayak while your body and head remain in the water. Initiate the hip snap by driving your lower knee skyward.
Once you’ve hip snapped your boat upright, swing your body back overtop of your kayak. The key to completing a roll
without falling back in the water is keeping your head down until your hip snap has rolled the kayak almost completely upright. The tricky thing is that this fights your natural instinct to get your head out of the water as quickly as possible. One of the best ways to keep your head down is to watch your active blade throughout its motions. Think in terms of a supple movement drawing each vertebra back upright starting at the base of your spine and flowing all the way up to your neck, with your head coming up last. Many paddlers finish by lying back to keep their centre of gravity as low as possible.
32 | | ADVENTURE KAYAK early summer 2007 2 1
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