Re: [Paddlewise] How many rolls?

You may want to consider learning to roll with your spare paddle, rather than
your hands.  Your spare paddle can be a Greenland-style "storm" paddle.  Because
it has a shortened loom, the storm paddle fits nicely on your back deck and
forms a reliable backup, should you lose your main paddle and capsize.

BTW, the storm paddle also serves as a nice backup for learning the hand roll.
If your hand roll fails, you can grab your storm paddle and roll up.

Gary Doran
Victoria, Canada

MJAkayaker_at_aol.com wrote:

> In reading about rolling, watching some demonstrations, and actually taking
> lessons I have come across a variety of rolls.  I am not going to devote all
> of my paddling time to learning 20+ rolls, but I do want to try to pick a
> couple to work on.  Since I use a Greenland paddle, I have started with what
> Dowd's book calls a standard Greenland roll (extended paddle, paddle
> providing lift during the sweep to a perpendicular position, then hip action,
> then a layback with some addtional downward pressure on the blade in the
> water).  The only other roll that seems to be really useful is a hand roll
> (this is actually more of a question than statement).  Some of the questions
> I have are:
>
> 1. What are the benefits of having both an onside and offside roll?
>
> Is it worth the effort?
>
> 2. Is a hand roll really useable in the kind of conditions in which you would
> likely get turned over?
>
> Would it take an inordiante amount of practice to develop the hand roll to
> this point?
>
> 3. Are there condtions where the so called standard Greenland roll will not
> work well?
>
> What roll would work better in these condtions?
>
> 4. Is there another roll that I should be working on and why?
>
> Your opinions and experiences would be greatly appreciated.
>
> P.S.  I realize that I am not likely to go directly from the extended paddle
> roll to a hand roll.  I imagine I would have to work through a standard screw
> roll, and then to a half paddle roll in order to improve my hip action to the
> point that I could even attempt the hand roll.
>
> Mark J. Arnold
> MJAkayaker_at_aol.com
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