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Hand roll experts...

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  bystander 
#1 ·
Background:
So on a whim, after teaching a friend to roll, I tried to hand roll in his boat and after 3 tries, I could easily hand roll his Diesel. I later tried it out in my brothers Mamba. Later, when going down with some newbie who had demo'ed a Zen, and was very uncomfortable in it, but liked the Burn, I swapped boats and was able to hand roll it, and even had to at one point in a combat situation. I later had been in a Burn 3, the boat he was going to buy, which I also found easy to hand roll.

So anyways, I am/was pretty excited about having a hand roll, until I tried it on my 2009 Burn. I can manage to hand roll at best 50% of the time on my Burn. I've searched around, and it does seem that the model of Burn I have is considered to be a very difficult boat to roll, which makes a hand roll even harder (I do not have difficulties with a paddle, obviously).

Question:
What techniques do you guys find is the best for hand rolling a difficult boat to roll? I really would hate to lose my hand roll due to not being able to do it in my own boat.

I'm currently trying to do a double pump and coming up with my body on the back deck, but setup at near 90 degrees, which gives me the strongest hip snap.
 
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#2 ·
Certainly not an expert but...

Have you tried working on a single pump?
Do you throw a hand out as a counterweight when hand rolling?
Have you tried changing your body position relative to the boat?

I am a competent hand roller and, while I typically set up at near 90deg from my boat like a roll with a paddle, I find that it's easier to hand roll if you lean back towards your stern. I think EJ talked about this being best since it lowers your center of gravity, but don't quote me on that.

I would suggest trying different body/hand positions to see if it becomes easier. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
I haven't had a chance to practice yet, but I think what I need to work on is using my knee during the hip snap. I think I'm losing power by not lifting with my knee, and instead, I have just turned with my hips only. I'll get a chance to test this in a couple days. Thanks for thoughts to consider.

The day I wrote this, I was doing really good with my rolls, and even managed to do a rodeo roll my first try. Later, I got into a rather small playboat for the first time, and had troubles rolling. I'd get up every time, but I wouldn't get all the way up, similar to my hand roll. After some thought through the week, I really think it may be the lack of upward knee pressure that is stalling my roll, which isn't an issue with a big burn when using a paddle, but was in a playboat, and hand rolling.
 
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