After a quick dejanews search: Someone advocating leaning back versus tucking forward. FWIW, Corran Addison is a whitewater rodeo paddler. ---------------------------- Author: Corran Addison Email: ripint_at_total.net Date: 1997/07/16 Forums: rec.boats.paddle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Paul Skoczylas wrote: > > RJD9999 wrote: > > This is why lying back toward the rear deck > > makes rolling easier > > It also exposes your face to the rocks. Leaning forward is much safer > in shallow/rocky water. (Also, you're in a better position to resume > paddling when you come up.) OK, lets look at this. Lean back exposes your face. Hummm. A smack in the teeth, maybe a few scars, broken nose. Not much fun. Whats the alternative. Leaning forward. Expose the spint between the top of the life jacket and the helmet - C1 through L5. Can you say Christofer Reeve? Not nearly as appealing as losing a few teeth is it. IHO, the last thing you want to do is lean forward in a flip in shallow =water. Leaning back accomplisheds three things. Firstly, it exposes your face rather than your spine to any impacts. Secondly, as you set up to roll from this position, your forearms and paddle shaft natrally get between you and any offensive rocks, and almost always take the blow. Lastly, with your eyes open in this position, you can see the rocks comming, and if necessary, let go of the paddle and fend them off. From the forward lean, your only option is to take what is dealt like a man. That's not so cool. > > I learned to roll leaning back, but have since trained myself to come up > forward. (And I'm horribly inflexible--on a good day I can maybe reach > -with straight legs- a couple of inches past my knees, nowhere near my > toes.) I role from the back deck to the front deck on a reverse sweep (what people here call the Addison which means about as much as calling a front sweep role the Spellius, but I guess some people do... so anyway...). This is very effective, super fast because ther is no setup - you role from whever you landed - and when you are up, your paddle is natrally in the position to right into a forward stroke, which most of the time is the necessary thing to do. Just my 2c worth. corran *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Yikes, Never thought I would see the day when Corran got into this list. Although he did not do the actual posting, he once told me that he has designed a sea kayak, and the Riot web page has a link to "Sun Touring Kayaks", which has no information about actual kayaks. Corran is very good paddler who gives advice in a flamboyant manner, and what he says always has merit, even it doesn't leave room for other points of view. What Corran describes is called the Rodeo Roll, because it allows for a much quicker roll when flipped in a hole. This is because most rodeo manuevers end up with the paddler leaning back when they aare screwed up, and rodeo kayakers want to roll as fast as possible when flipped so that they are not washed out of the hole. The rodeo roll is indeed very quick, but using it requires lots and LOTS of practice because screwing it up frequently results in a shoulder dislocation. William Nealy shows a picture of this roll used in a shallow rapid in his book Kayak, so Corran certainly did not invent it. As for its use in the surf, I would not recommend it to anyone who isn't already good enough at rolling in general to make their own informed decision. As far as its use on the river goes, it certainly does have some advantages, although I prefer a normal roll combined with a helmet that has been modified to cover as much of my lower skull and neck as possible. A friend of mine did break his neck while rolling a c-1 in shallow water -- he was using a small helmet and a PFD with poor back coverage. He wasn't seriously injured, and still paddles just fine, thank god. -- Kevin ___________________ / Kevin Whilden \ |Dept. of Geosciences \___ |University of Washington \ |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| \________________________/ On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, Kirk Olsen wrote: > > After a quick dejanews search: > Someone advocating leaning back versus tucking forward. FWIW, Corran > Addison is > a whitewater rodeo paddler. > > ---------------------------- > Author: Corran Addison > Email: ripint_at_total.net > Date: 1997/07/16 > Forums: rec.boats.paddle > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---- > > Paul Skoczylas wrote: > > > > RJD9999 wrote: > > > This is why lying back toward the rear deck > > > makes rolling easier > > > > It also exposes your face to the rocks. Leaning forward is much safer > > in shallow/rocky water. (Also, you're in a better position to resume > > paddling when you come up.) > > OK, lets look at this. Lean back exposes your face. Hummm. A smack in > the teeth, maybe a few scars, broken nose. Not much fun. Whats the > alternative. Leaning forward. Expose the spint between the top of the > life jacket and the helmet - C1 through L5. Can you say Christofer > Reeve? Not nearly as appealing as losing a few teeth is it. > > IHO, the last thing you want to do is lean forward in a flip in shallow > =water. Leaning back accomplisheds three things. Firstly, it exposes > your face rather than your spine to any impacts. Secondly, as you > set up to roll from this position, your forearms and paddle shaft > natrally get between you and any offensive rocks, and almost always > take the blow. Lastly, with your eyes open in this position, you can see > the rocks comming, and if necessary, let go of the paddle and fend them > off. From the forward lean, your only option is to take what is dealt > like a man. That's not so cool. > > > > I learned to roll leaning back, but have since trained myself to come up > > forward. (And I'm horribly inflexible--on a good day I can maybe reach > > -with straight legs- a couple of inches past my knees, nowhere near my > > toes.) > > I role from the back deck to the front deck on a reverse sweep (what > people here call the Addison which means about as much as calling a > front sweep role the Spellius, but I guess some people do... so > anyway...). This is very effective, super fast because ther is no setup > - you role from whever you landed - and when you are up, your paddle is > natrally in the position to right into a forward stroke, which most of > the time is the necessary thing to do. > > Just my 2c worth. > > corran > > > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ > *************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On two occasions I remember the sequence as being: flip; set up forward, take hits at the base of the skull; get dragged onto the back deck, take hits with the elbows until the paddle is dragged away; take further hits on the forehead until being dragged out of the boat entirely, and then swim over the &*%#_at_ing waterfall. Not particularly enjoying these experiences, I am now more partial to rolling from whatever position I find myself in, rather than taking any time to set up. Richard Culpeper www.geocities.com/~culpeper *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
-----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Kirk Olsen Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 7:30 AM To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subject: [Paddlewise] Chicken Kayak Surf Safety <snip> After a quick dejanews search: Someone advocating leaning back versus tucking forward. FWIW, Corran Addison is a whitewater rodeo paddler. -------------- Corran Addison is a champion WW rodeo paddler. He needs a very quick, very reliable roll. A failed roll could cost him the contest. OK, all that aside, his roll is also very efficient...duh. <Another snip> OK, lets look at this. Lean back exposes your face. Hummm. A smack in the teeth, maybe a few scars, broken nose. Not much fun. Whats the alternative. Leaning forward. Expose the spint between the top of the life jacket and the helmet - C1 through L5. Can you say Christofer Reeve? Not nearly as appealing as losing a few teeth is it. ------------- There seems to be a big difference in the difficulty level between rolling a WW rodeo boat and a touring sea kayak. For one thing, the deck is much lower, especially behind the seat. Most of the sea kayaks that I've paddled don't allow me to do the same style of roll that I do in the river. I simply can't lean back (unless my butt comes way off the seat). I could do a one-hand roll almost 100% of the time in my last river boat. I'd start with the back of my head nearly touching the rear deck. I'd end in a forward tuck. I can't come close to doing that in a sea kayak. <snip again> Lastly, with your eyes open in this position, you can see the rocks comming, and if necessary, let go of the paddle and fend them off. ------------- Whoah! It is true that the forward tuck exposes your neck. I can't see how leaning back doesn't do close to the same. I mean, if you're being tumbled in the sand-filled surf, you're not going to open your eyes to look for oncoming rocks. With your eyes closed, a rock or something could hit you in the face hard enough to twist your neck violently. Did Christofer Reeves land on the back of his head/neck or did he land face first? It doesn't matter I don't think. He could've broke his neck either way. Of course, if he landed on his face, he might be without teeth in addition to being paralyzed :-( One of the best way to avoid problems is to choose your waves very carefully. Cheers, Dave Dave Williams, SeaCanoe Training Director Home tel: +66 76 254-514 Work tel: +66 76 212-252 Fax: +66 76 212-172 dave_at_seacanoe.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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