Product Description

The Kayak Roll is perhaps the most sought after skill of kayaking. Paddlers know that a roll gives them confidence and control. But learning (or teaching) the roll can be an exercise in frustration. No longer. The KAYAK ROLL Provids a clear and precise rolling lesson.

In just its second year of distribution, the Kayak Roll video has already sold 4000 units in the video edition, due to widespread acclaim and reviews. The new navigation features of the DVD version will help paddlers refresh with the indexed diagnostics section.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29234 in DVD
• Brand: Vas
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Formats: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 63 minutes

FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Winner, Best Instructional, 2002 National Paddling Film Festival Winner, Best Instructional, 2003 Waterwalker Film Festival

Paddler Magazine
Finally, a sure-fire way to put the upside-down world rightside-up. Master the most basic but most difficult cornerstone of kayaking.

Christopher Cunningham, Sea Kayaker magazine
Sea kayakers should consider Eskimo rolling a basic skill...add a safe and reliable roll to their repertoire of skills.

Customer Reviews

Amazing teaching guide
I bought this DVD after struggling to learn the roll, and finally learned it on the second pool session after watching it. Before watching the video, I was taught to first learn to bring myself up after a near-capsize using a sweeping brace, which I learned, but then I failed to apply that to the mechanics of the roll when upside-down under water, where all your instincts are the reverse of the correct motions.

This video teaches some exercises to progressively work your way to a full capsize -- first without the paddle and just using your knees. Then the instructor holds you by your lifejacket, with your face just above water, to teach you the sweeping motion of the paddle and the corresponding knee motion.

The video has very good production values, including animation and underwater camera angles. The last half of the video also contains diagnostics for common mistakes, and teaches you how to instruct others on doing the roll.

It was mostly filmed in a slow-moving river with whitewater kayaks, but also shows some sea-kayak-specific scenes, and the whole video applies to either form of kayaking. It even has some pretty amazing footage of kayakers riding some pretty serious ocean surf.

The Kayak Roll
Simply stated, if you want to learn how to roll a WW kayak, go no further than this video. It breaks down the roll into its component parts, both for instruction before the fact and diagnosis & corrections after the fact. It pinpoints all the little nuances of this necessary WW skill, right down to hand and eye positions, and does so in a fashion that is upbeat and inspiring. You want to run right out to the pool and practice!That the video features average people - not kayak superstars - permits the viewer to relate to each scene. My fiance and I both learned to roll 100% from viewing this video, over and over. We continue to use it as a reference tool, and have lent it to other people wanting to get into WW kayaking. Buy it - it's cheaper than a... private lesson, and just as effective, since you can repeat it as often as you want/need.

It works
I spent MONTHS trying to learn the C-to-C roll, including classes, books and pool practice sessions. At best my roll was 50/50. I got this video, which teaches the sweep roll as opposed to the C-to-C roll, and after really studying it (i.e., watching attentively at least 5 times, all the way through), I was able to successfully do a sweep roll on only my second attempt, and it's only been getting better since then. This video is a good explanation of a good technique for rolling the kayak.