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Category: Skills (Page 14 of 15)

Aerial Flip Turn

27 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

To pull this moves you’ll need a good fast wave and a boat that carves well. Nice sharp rails and even fins can help.

Get youself esatblished as close to the top of the wave as possible. As you feel the boat surge down the face of the wave at maximum speed, use a stern rudder to start turning the boat and start a flat-spin. Once your boat is almost sideways use an aggressive ‘hip flick’ to over edge the boat in the turn (edge the boat down stream). This aggressive flick should then force the boat out of the water and into the air. Continue reading

Wave wheel

14 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

To do a wave wheel you will need a boat that has slicy ends and ideally very little volume. When doing a wave wheel you don’t need any particular wave, but it is easiest if it is a green wave with no pile on top as the pile can slow you down. Wave wheels can be done in longer boats but, a longer boat needs a larger wave. Wave wheels in larger boats also look more impressive!

Whilst paddling down stream select the wave you are going to wheel. Paddle up to the wave with as much speed as possible. The faster you’re going, the more the wave will throw you and more impressive the wheel will be.

As you’re coming up the face of the wave, take one last stroke near the top of the wave. As you’re taking this last stroke, lean your boat up on the sidewall that you are most comfortable double pumping with. This is your first pump in a double pump. The more perpendicular your boat is to the wave the better. This last stroke should bring you to the top of the wave. Your speed should allow the bow of your boat to be slightly out of the water. Quickly turn that forward stroke into the second pump in a double pump. Then use the backside of your paddle to slam the bow of your boat into the backside of the wave. The wave is used to help you with your first pump to raise the bow high in the air so that it is easier to slam the bow with the second pump. Extend that last stroke down into the water until you have stood your boat up vertically in the first point.

Wave wheels can be thrown in the surf as well, same procedure just usually bigger waves.

The Ollie

14 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

Essentially the Ollie is a transfer of weight combined with careful timing with the wave. All in all this makes the Ollie one of the easiest moves to do. The concept should be familiar to you mad skateboarders out there!

The easiest place to do this move is on a fast surging wave, it is possible on non-surging waves but not as easy. Until you start working on the move just sit in a front surf to get a good feel for the wave and how it surges. In most cases there is almost a pattern to the size and frequency of the surge.

You need to wait until you are at the top of the wave speeding down the face at this point make sure that your weight is forward. Wait until your boat is bouncing slightly (the faster the wave the more obvious the bounces will be). As the next surge passes under your boat make a relatively radical weight change and move your weight back to front in a kind of see-saw motion. Next throw all of your weight back, this will put air under the bow of the boat. As soon as you the bow reaches what you think will be its greatest hieght throw all of you weight forward to hop you boat into the air. The landings on the whole are fairly easy but you need to be ready, if your timing is not quite right the following surge may cause your bow to pearl.

Ollies will also work equally well out in the surf where the waves can be big and fast.

Flat Spin

4 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

Today’s play boats all feature a planing hull, which is very flat to allow the boat to plane to the surface of the river when it attains speed. When planing, the boat can spin around a central point. On waves, this is what makes flat-spins possible. Without a planning hull you won’t be able to pull this move off.

To get a truly flat spin you’ll need a good fast wave with a sizable face. You need to get yourself to a the top of the wave. This can be achieved through surf the kayak nack and forth until you get your self postioned correctly. Just like when you are surfing use a stern rudder to start turning your boat. Your aim is to follow through with the turn and rotate yourself along with your boat around the paddle. The key here is to keep your boat flat. Any edging will result in the loss of the spin or you may drop off the wave. Try and keep your weight centred over the kayak. This will aid the turn.To initiate the spin you’ll need to bring the paddle blade forward from its stern rudder position whist at the same time drop your upstream edge to match the angle of the wave. This will allow the boat to break free from the wave and begin to spin.

Use your head! Turn your head and body in the direction you wish to spin and the boat will follow!

Break In/Out

4 April 2012 / / 2 Comments

The Break Out (of the flow) along with the Break In (to the flow) is an essential skill that all river rivers should take time to perfect. The move allows smooth transition from the main (or faster) flow into an eddy (or any slack water).

To practice the Break Out you’ll need a pretty good eddy with a nicely defined eddy line. Start off well up stream and identify the eddy you are going to head for early on. Paddle down stream and choose where you are going to cross the eddy line and aim for that point.

As you cross the eddy line you will need to edge (tilt) the kayak towards the inside of the turn (ie upstream) and may be aid the turn using a bow or stern rudder on the upstream side. Continue reading

Cartwheel

30 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

Before you even attempt to cartwheel in a hole you will probably need a kayak that is fairly slicey and fits you well.

The set up on the wave is crucial and is a comprimise between being drawn upstream by the towback and falling off the back of the wave. The aim is to get yourself in a static postion at the point where the bow of the boat is about to drop into the seam in the wave, (the point where the green flowing water meets the foam pile). At this point the move becomes possible.

A double pump initiates the move. Put in a strong forward stroke as you edge your kayak and try to lift your feet off the water. As the forward stroke ends and the bow leaves the water, turn the paddle movement into a reverse stroke to slice the bow down. As the bow enters the water the downstream flow will catch the bow – keep your weight forward and keep the momentum going by rotating your shoulders to face the direction you are travelling in i.e. down stream. As your body winds-up and then releases the kayak will follow planting the stern of the boat into the foam pile. As you feel the bow lifting out of the water put in a forward stroke on the up-stream side. Just before the kayak stalls and the bow comes over your head quickly twist again (to your right) to plant another reverse stroke in the water and throw the bow back down. Continue reading

Blunt

29 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

A blunt is a dynamic move using the corner or shoulder of a wave which involes a 180 degree rotation with the stern of your boat being elevated and is often characterised with a spray of water being created as the stern whips round. You’ll need to find a half decent wave that has a good amount of speed, the faster and steeper the wave the easier the move will be. As will the “carve ability” of your boat.

Firsly you’ll need to get established surfing on a wave. As you’re surfing position your self at the top of the wave and begin to carve/accelerate down the face – speed is key. As you feel your boat begin to carve aggressively you’ll need to “cut-back”, to do this shift all of your weight in the opposite direction and put in a heavy reverse stroke on the same side that you have just thrown your weight to. This should cause the boat to do a 180 rotation and lift the stern of the boat in the air . Timing and edge control are really the key to this move. The more you are on edge in the first carve the more air you will get off the face of the wave. If you manage to pull off the Blunt and continue to spin past 180 degrees you’ve just pulled a “Super Blunt”.

Flatwater cartwheel

28 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

Flatwater cartwheeling is probably the most difficult kind of cartwheel to do because all the energy and rotational momentum, is provided solely by the paddler. You will need a kayak that is fairly slicey and fits you well.

A double pump initiates the move. The easiest way to do this is to paddle forwards at a steady pace, and then put in a strong forward stroke as you edge your kayak and try to lift your feet off the water. As the forward stroke ends and the bow leaves the water, turn the paddle movement into a reverse stroke to slice the bow down. As the bow enters the water keep your weight forward and keep the momentum going by rotating your shoulders to face the direction you are travelling in i.e. if you were edging your kayak on the right as you double pumped twist your shoulders to the right. As your body winds-up and then releases the kayak will follow. As you feel the bow lifting out of the water put in a forward stroke on the right hand side. Just before the kayak stalls and the bow comes over your head quickly twist again (to your right) to plant another reverse stroke in the water and throw the bow back down.

If your body rotation is good you can dispense with the forward strokes and depend solely on the reverse strokes. This will give the boat a 360 degree rotation on each and every paddle stroke making the cartwheel “clean”. This same technique can be used to throw cartwheels in the hole, spiltwheels, freewheels etc. etc.

Screw Up – also the 200th post!

27 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

The screw-up is basically a recovery technique that evolved from over-vertical stern squirts. It is probably one of the most useful techniques for boaters because it can be used virtually anytime your bow passes vertical. Essentially it is a way of avoiding a full blown capsize when your boat passes vertical. When your playing in a hole pulling off a screw up may prevent you from being flushed out or even munched by the wave.

As with all moves they need to be practiced. The best way to practice this move is to put your boat into a position where it is going to pass vertical. The best a safest way to do this is on a nice deep eddy line and throw a stern squirt. The idea is that the move will be ingrained and can then be used on the flat or even in a hole whilst cartwheeling.

So here we go, you’ve found a suitable spot to practice. From the eddy cross through the eddyline and pull an aggressive stern squirt with a powerful back sweep. As soon as you feel the boat going past vertical start to roll in the direction you are turning. So if you started the squirt with your sweep on the left you’ll need to roll on your left. This is a lot easier than fighting against the direction the boat is already travelling in!

Ferry Glide/Upstream Ferry

27 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

The Ferry Glide is probably one of the 1st moving water skills that most paddlers learn. It simply involves crossing a flow of water without drifting off downstream.

The critical elements of the move are the paddling speed and the angle of the boat in relation to the flow. Imagine you sitting in an eddy facing upstream. To your right is another eddy that is sperated from you you by a nice steady flow of river water. To get to that eddy you need to paddle through the eddy line and “glide” across the current to the opposite eddy.

Upstream is 12 o’clock and you are travelling from the left hand bank to the right. As you leave the eddy get the boat pointing somewhere between 12 and 1 o’clock. At this point you can make a judgement whether or not the angle and or the paddle rate needs to be changed. A fast paddle rate and steep angle of attack (closer to 12 o’clock) is perfect for very fast flows, a slower paddle rate and a shallow angle of attack (around 2-3 o’clock) is better for slower rates of flow. Getting the right angle of attack and paddle rate is important and is a case of judegement and correction as you make the move.

Donkey Flip

26 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

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

26 March 2012 / / 0 Comments

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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