Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

Day: 26 March 2012

Bomb Flow TV – Episode 8 “Porque Ganando”

Bomb Flow TV – Episode 7 “Minor Fails and Epic Wins”

Legend of the Falls

Legend of the Falls is Corran Addisons’ DVD which aims to be “the definitive manual for anyone interested in either learning the basics of river running, or improving their creek boat skills”.

Legend of the falls proved to be a sound investment. The DVD is split into a number of chapters, they are; River Communication with Arnd Schaeftlein, River Grading, Safety, Equipment, Understanding Rapids, Running technique – boofing etc and a section titled Dr Throwline.

From the outset it is clear that this 1hr 15 Minute will have a mountain of infromation for you. It kicks off with River Communication with Arnd Schaeftlein, and wow what an eye opener. A must for all boaters of any standard. A simple and concise way of communicating on the river was effectivley described and demonstrated by Arnd – simply brilliant. River Grading was the next section with Corran describing the Addison river grading scale with clear use of words and visual examples. Continue reading

Donkey Flip

The Donkey flip is an advanced wave move that requires a short and bouncy boat. Basically the donkey flip is an airborne back deck roll done on the down slope of a wave or hole!

Get yourself set up surfing a wave and get up to the top of the pile. From here you can scream down the face of the wave and gain as much speed as you can. As you get down onto the green face of the wave start to bounce the boat. Use your full weight to push the boat down. As you feel the boat hit the green lift up with your knees.

Now for a “leap of faith”. As the boat leaves the water get your body back so you are lying on the back deck as if you are pulling a stern roll, looking for the back end of your boat will help. At this point you need to start your roll. Any doubt or hesitation and you won’t be pulling it off. A solid hip flick and body rotation will carry you through.

The bigger that initial bounce the easier this stage is. All being well you will have pulled off a dry back deck roll whilst screaming down the front of a wave! AKA a Donkey Flip!!

Stern Dip/Stern Squirt Ver 1

The stern dip is often the 1st forray for most paddlers into the world of vertical moves. It involves forcing the stern of the kayak under the water (with assitance of the current) and bringing the bow into the air.

The easiest way to learn the move is to find yourself a nice strong eddy line with a reasonable amount of water flow. The river at this point must be fairly deep (1m should do it for most boats).

Once you have selected a suitable spot to pull the move, you need to get your self facing upstream in the eddy. Probably up until now you have always been told to lean down stream when out on a river – you’ll have to change your thinking to get this move down. Paddle out of the eddy as if you were breaking back into the flow. As you upstream hip comes level with the eddy line put a deep reverse paddle stroke in on your down stream side and edge your boat (lean up stream). If your timing and edging is right the stern should dip below the surface and your bow raise into the air. The more aggressive the edge and stroke combination the greater the effect.

This move is fantastic to get used to the feeling of your boat being vertical and can even be used to intiate flat water cartwheels if you wish. The same effect can be gained from a fair bit of foward speed on flat water.

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