Hand Rolling

by Gerry David

I have reached that point in my Eskimo-rolling ability where I am becoming a menace to myself and others. Having learned to roll on both sides and not having come out of the boat in six months (except that time when the spray skirt popped as I attempted a one-armed roll and that time with the dog deck strapped to the rear hatch—but they don’t count do they?), not having come out of the boat in six months, I say: my confidence is overwhelming. I feel that as long as I have a paddle in my hand, I’m coming up. What was that my mother used to say about pride going before a fall?

Whatever: I have shifted my attention to the hand roll because I’d like to be able to come up whether or not I have a paddle in my hand. And that’s where I’m becoming a menace to others. As a result of some recent success with a hand roll I developed on my own, some people actually believe I know what I’m doing and have encouraged me to share my knowledge (ignorance?). This hand roll is very forgiving and requires no athletic ability. I have performed it successfully in varying conditions—once in three to five-foot seas with fifteen-knot winds and two other times in fifteen to twenty-knot winds with two to three-foot chop. So it is not just a swimming pool trick. But it is important to be able to do it on both sides so the wind can assist you. Sounds good? Read on, but be warned that the guru who now addresses you speaks at this writing with about four months experience with the hand roll. You may want to reach for the salt shaker.

First, the hand roll is misnamed:

It should be called the leg roll, because, as in any well-executed roll, it is the legs that accomplish most of the work. In most hand rolls, the upper body, including the hand or hands, substitutes for the paddle, the bow of somebody else’s boat, the side of a swimming pool—anything that serves as a support for the torso on or near the surface of the water—while the roller presses the thigh of his lower leg upward against the thigh brace and pushes with his upper foot on the foot peg, an action which twists the boat virtually upright. This leg pressure is generally termed the "hip-snap," another misnomer, in my opinion, because it does not need to be applied quickly all at once, although it may be. The final part of the roll, which Paul Dutky in his excellent book, The Bombproof Roll and Beyond, terms the "recovery," consists in getting one’s torso into or onto the boat without upsetting it again.

On the basis of when the leg pressure is applied, Dutky distinguishes three basic types of rolls:

Brace - Advanced Brace - Sweep

In the brace rolls, the hip-snap is timed to coincide with the downward vertical pull of the paddle, once it has become perpendicular to the boat at amidships, whereas in the sweep roll, the hip-snap coincides with the sweep of the paddle in the water throughout the roll.

The hand roll I am talking about is fundamentally a sweep roll and uses CONTINUOUS PRESSURE ON THE THIGH BRACE AND FOOT PEG from beginning to end. This is exactly the same kind of torquing action that keeps the boat upright and away from the paddler when performing the balance brace. Indeed, this hand roll can be thought of as sculling up by hand into the balance brace and sitting upright from there.

Second, the balance brace.

Although most paddlers regard it as an esoteric trick with no practical application, in my opinion it is a fundamental maneuver. Usually done with a paddle for support, it can be readily (well, pretty readily) done without a paddle. To repeat: it is the torquing movement of the thighs and feet against the braces and pegs that holds the boat upright. John Heath writes in Sea Kayaker of Spring 1992: "By flexing the lower, or immersed side knee toward the face and twisting the pelvis in the opposite direction, the kayak can be tilted away from the kayaker, but the hip-snap that is used in rolling is only to get into position. From then on the pressure against the kayak is "frozen" or maintained to hold the position . . . ." The reason people are unsuccessful at it, I believe, is that their attention is misdirected to the paddle, which either through its buoyancy or planing action can assist in achieving the position. But it is the leg pressure that is most important. Drive your lower (immersed) knee against the thigh brace and toward your chest while getting over on your side with a sculling brace and stop sculling. You should stay afloat on your side.

Now, if you can get into the balance brace without a paddle, you are two-thirds of the way through this hand roll. All you have to do is learn to get upright, which is certainly more difficult without the paddle than getting into the brace without it in the first place.

To get into the balance brace without a paddle, lie back on the rear deck and kind of shlep the boat over onto its side and allow yourself to slide off into the water. Remember the leg pressure; drive your lower knee toward your chest. Once you are in the water, you can revolve your torso away from the rear deck and float out at virtual right angles to the boat. To sit up, go back the way you came; that is, revolve to the rear deck in a flat arc parallel to the water.

Do not attempt to sit upright by hoisting yourself up in a vertical arc. (See fig. 1)

Throwing what Dutky terms your "assist hand" over the high side will help right you. Your "support hand" is the last one to leave the water. Your assist hand is the other one.

Figure 1. Do not attempt to sit upright by hoisting yourself up in a vertical arc.

Finally, to do this hand roll, proceed as follows:

Lean slightly forward and capsize, say to your left, keeping as near the center-line of the boat as possible. Still leaning slightly forward underwater, shift to the right and float up as high as you can on your right side, twisting around on to your back. Apply leg pressure (your face may come out of water at this point), and sweep your body back in an arc toward the rear deck while maintaining constant leg pressure and sculling in a shallow figure eight with your support hand. When you reach the rear deck, proceed as in sitting up from a balance brace.

A note on wind and waves.

Headwinds or tailwinds have less effect on the roll than beam or quartering winds. In the former, it is probably best to roll on your stronger side, but in a beam or quartering wind the trick is to come up with your deck into the wind, so the wind blows the boat upright. Before you go over, the wind should be blowing from the direction of your support hand. Capsize away from the wind. In a 360-degree roll this means that you come up with the wind blowing on your deck, which helps greatly to right the boat. (See fig. 2)

Figure 2. View from the stern (Kayaker's support hand is the right)
Sitting upright -- wind coming from the right	Tucking forward and capsizing away from the wind.	Reaching up and applying pressure with the right knee against the thigh brace.
Beginning the scull and sweep while maintaining knee pressure	Leaning back -- wind is now helping to blow the boat upright. Assist hand is being thrown over. Support hand is still in the water sculling.	Upright and leaning back on the rear deck.

I paddle a Betsy Bay Recluse

- which is an exceptionally easy boat to roll. (It is also fast and stable.) I can easily lie back on the rear deck. I have installed hip pads which allow good contact with the boat and transfer body torque efficiently to the hull. I have also installed thigh braces that hook well over to the inside of the boat and permit my knee to drive the boat upright. A good fit in an appropriate boat is especially important for hand rolling.

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