Introduction to Greenland Rolling
- Details
Greenland rolling course
Apologies but no more courses are set to run. If that changes it will be posted here.
Meanwhile there is a list of dvds and other resources at this page:
http://www.oxfordkayaktours.com/misc/kayak-history
Who is it for?
For anyone with or without experience of rolling a kayak. You should, however, be comfortable about capsizing.
Course content
- Conceptual - effortless, controlled, graceful.
- Fundamentals - leg drive, rotation.
- Float on your back - the balance brace.
- Recovery to the back deck.
- The butterfly roll.
- Sculling for support.
- Slowing it all down.
- The standard Greenland roll.
Why learn Greenland rolling?
The beauty of Greenland Inuit rolling is it's detailed learning curve. There are no mysteries or dark arts. You follow the manual, you roll.
Key points
- Simple step-by-step progressions.
- Rapid progress.
- Technique over muscle: if it's not easy you're not doing it right.
- Practical aids to learning - we make use of paddle floats. As you gain confidence, let some air out of the paddle float.
- You start your learning at the end of the roll, the recovery, and then work backwards through the steps of the roll until you reach the set up.
- Confidence. When you learn Greenland rolling you begin to understand why a kayak rolls. When your roll fails you should be able to analyse why it failed and what you can do about it.
- Leave with a clear plan of what to do next.
What to bring with you
- A nose clip.
- Warm headgear. A neoprene divers hood - not essential but useful.
- Kayak. General purpose kayaks, sea kayaks and whitewater play-boats can be used.
- Either a Greenland paddle or a regular Euro style.
- If you have a paddle float bring it, if not, use ours.
- Dress for outside immersion - a lot of it!
Student case study - Martin
Click on the left hand video below. Martin had never been on a kayak rolling course or attended any pool sessions. By the end of this one-day course Martin is confident with various Greenland skills using paddle floats for support. In one day he has learnt the balance brace, the butterfly roll and sculling for support. He is almost ready to extend the sculling for support into a standard Greenland roll. The plan when Martin returns home is to gradually reduce the buoyancy in the paddle floats until he can do without them. Martin also wants to adapt these techniques for use with a Euro paddle and a normal paddling grip so we have agreed a plan to achieve that. Not bad for one day.
Student case study - Clive
Click on the right hand video below. Clive had been on a few rolling courses but it's not happening. So Clive booked onto the Introduction to Greenland Rolling Course and brought along his white water play-boat. Within 2 hours Clive has learnt the butterfly roll and the balance brace with the aid of a paddle float. By the end of the day Clive is sculling for support whilst letting the kayak capsize on top of him using a screw roll to come back up. The screw roll is a modern version of the standard Greenland roll but using a regular Euro paddle and a regular grip. The challenge for Clive in the future is to reduce the air in the paddle float until, at some point, the float can be jettisoned completely.