Basically my roll is ok and usually enough but watching a video of myself the otherday I noticed that when I dont make it up its usually because the bow of my boat is lifting up out of the water, anyone got any ideas what might be causing this and how I can rectify it, I tend to use a fair amount of upper body strength to get myself up so can only assume I'm pulling down too hard at the beginning of my sweep, hence making the bow rise.


Any suggestions would be great

Cheers!

Best would be to post the video of yourself Adam. Then we can check you out closely... Then just delete it a couple of days later if you want.

Remember to keep your head tucked forward, don't lean back when coming up. Sounds like your hip snap is not dominant enough and that you're relying on your paddle a bit too much..

Still enjoying the boat?

Aye, still loving the boat, its only happening 1 in 10 roll attemps but its just a bit annoying and usually when I'm getting tired and, sure to the cold british weather, fed up. I'll edit down my clubs NSR video and post a vid sometime this weekend

That would be very useful to anyone wanting to help you out.

Glad you're enjoying the boat!

From what you have described, I assume that you are using the screw roll, or a hybrid of a screw and a C to C. Your bow could be coming out of the water at the start of the roll because during the initial phase of your rolling stroke, you are pulling directly down towards the river floor, or directly up, towards your head (if you are following).
When you say that you use a lot of upper body strength in your roll, then this could be reason why. All of the power that is put into raising your bow is wasted, and is is a very energy consuming exercise! In order to correct this, you should aim to take your paddle from the set up position (power blade of your paddle near your toes) and throw your blade in an arc over your opposite shoulder.
One last thing to bear in mind it to try an make your head come up last. It weighs a lot in the air, and makes your boat become top heavy, which makes it want to fall back underwater again. If you keep your head below the waterline, then rolling seems to become instantly easier.

Hope this helps!

Grayspectre

Yeah its meant to be a screw roll but time has worn some bad habits into me I think but I'll give it a shot next time I'm out on the water Cheers

I find if someone's using their paddle/upper body too much in a roll, a useful trick is to concentrate on the hip-flick more. Try to get the paddle set up (i.e. start the sweep at the right paddle pitch for a screw/sweep, or get it out to the side for a c-to-c), and then *forget* about the paddle, instead using your abs, hips, thighs (and toes even) to grip the boat and do your hip flick (obviously bringing your head out last too, as has already been pointed out). This often sorts out a roll that relies on brute force... you'll be surprised how easy you roll up, seemingly without trying, if you actively try to avoid using the paddle.

Good luck.

grayspectre wrote:

... you are pulling directly down towards the river floor, or directly up, towards your head (if you are following).

I wouldn't do that. Your paddle could catch on the bottom and worst case is either it snaps or your shoulder(s) get wrecked. I try to sweep my paddle as close to the surface as possible. The best roll is any roll that gets you upright ASAP, but try to get into the habit of keeping your working blade as close to the surface of the water as possible..

Just my

One thing I've found to help - at least me - is to 'look' at your power blade during the whole roll i.e. looking towards the surface on set-up whilst fully tucked in and ending up looking down into the water at your power hand.

Obviously you want to be looking forward for oncoming obstacles ASAP, but I found this visualisation to sort out the whole body rotation. Other than that I, like Adrian, try to just sweep the paddle along the surface. I stress 'try' at this point. My technique is far from perfect - especially when I'm getting tired.

i agree with kevinrohrbach looking at the blade while rolling help me out a lot