[Mmcquillen]

Today I was up at A-hole and I felt pretty good because it felt like i was sticking a lot of loops. But then I looked at the video and it looked like some of them actually were space godzillas. Now that's good and bad, good because i got my first space godzilla, and bad because if they were space godzilla's then something is wrong because i was trying to loop that whole time. so, I posted a video below with 10 loops/ SG's and if you could tell me whether you think they were SG's or loops that would be great. this is what i think,
1 loop ( i know that i didn't stick it but still)
2 SG
3 SG
4 SG
5 SG
6 FLOP
7 SG
8 SG
9 loop
10 loop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKTP14mEAc

Also, if you could tell me what I'm doing wrong with the loop or space godzilla and how to fix it that would be appreciated.

 

[dkelley]

My guess is that either you have a shoulder injury on your right side or you are very right side dominant. I myself have a shoulder injury on my left side and am very left side dominant...so I know the issue. It is hard to expose the weaker/injured side during a loop if so. Try to put your head on the back of your boat and stand up on your feet before you initiate your "loop" and make sure to throw your hands out of the water and forward when you do. When you finish try and put your left blade in as your rear brace. This will keep you on target and prevent the sideways (space godzilla) roll up. I have the same issue on the left side. I wish we had the water to practice in down here. Hope this helps.

 

[robanna]

As you stand up, reach up with both hands and then bring them both down TOGETHER. It looks like your left hand is coming under you and you right is still out in front. This will cause the twist.
I should be up there tomorrow if I can. Let me know if you can go.

 

[bamackc]

Maybe try to insert your bow a little deeper on the loop?

Still looks cool non the less.

 

[Mmcquillen]

Thanks that makes sense

As you stand up, reach up with both hands and then bring them both down TOGETHER. It looks like your left hand is coming under you and you right is still out in front. This will cause the twist.
I should be up there tomorrow if I can. Let me know if you can go.

i can' make it up there tomorrow because im heading down to BV, ill try to fix the loop there and maybe do a SG when i want to

 

[Cphilli]

I would say stomp it down a little harder and do what dkelly/robanna posted.

I'll be down in BV park in the morning, maybe I'll cya there.

 

[JBaker2]

loop space godzilla

Are you left handed because it looks like your left side it throwing down harder on that side. if you are then try to think about the right side more and paddle even and you will be a loopin machine man. those SG's look pretty good so keep that in mind and keep tearin it up man.

 

[robanna]

Mmcquillen,

I was at a-hole today and I must say that at this level, it really wanted to 'screw' up your loop. I was find it twisting me every other time especially when I plugged really hard. I hand-paddle so i usually go pretty straight up over the top and I was having trouble keeping it from twisting.

I'll bet you were nailing nice straight loops in BV, huh?

October Hole was real nice for loops. Must have been 50-75 cfs coming in from the canal so the hole was deep, the pour-over was glassy and enough water coming over to Phonics, loop, SG....

 

[leif]

Yup, most of those were SG's. As a lot of people have more or less mentioned above, this might be because you are tucking one hand more than the other. (Are you tucking to a roll setup position?) However, I think trying to fix this by attacking that issue directly will be pretty tough. I would try launching the loop more upstream. Right now, it's popping straight up, which is good for air, but (as I bet you noticed) is sometimes hard to stick and hard to rotate. If you wait a tiny bit longer before springing and tucking, your boat will have more time to rotate while it's low, then it will also snap faster once it does get airborne.

Usually loops get twisted when they're hard to pull through, because that's when you really need that pulling stroke, and any sort of imbalance gets magnified. If you really want to get serious, you could consider a zero degree offset paddle so that the double handed overhead pull still comes through straight, but that's probably overkill.

However, you should be psyched, because that's a hard spot to loop. I'd say that at those levels, it's harder than flatwater. Great challenge. (Flatwater practice should also help you with this straightness issue.)

 

[Patches]

Unfortunately, it's a little of neither. It's not a full loop because you're not staying squared to the hole and landing on the bottom of your boat, and it's not an SG because the sideways kayak rotation is not full and not starting at the beginning of the loop cycle. I think it's a bad habit you picked up and happens a lot in smaller holes that don't give you the pop to complete a squared up loop. You tend to fall to one side at the end of your loop because that sets you up for a miniscule roll motion that will bring you right side up out of the hole, as if you had completed a loop.

 

[fullmer]

Actually, it's a poop.

n. 1. a slang term for a partial loop in a kayak. 2. an enclosed superstructure at the stern of a ship. tr. v. 1. to break over the stern of a ship.