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The Put-Across Roll

Peter Salisbury
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A good kayak roll to teach beginners is the put-across roll.

One of the biggest fears that most people have of kayaking is the worry that their kayak could capsize, and they would be trapped inside of it. Another fear is that there is no way to right an over turned kayak by yourself – however, this is not actually the case. People who are worried about their kayaks capsizing should learn how to do one of the various rolls which will help right an overturned kayak. The put-across roll is one of these methods.

The first move that you should learn before you even begin to learn any of the actual rolling techniques is the hip flick. There are a lot of ways to learn the hip flick, but the most effective method involves working on it in a pool at first. After you learn how to do this move in a pool, then you should move to an area where the water will be a little bit rougher. That way, you can learn how to do these techniques in situations that are similar to the real situation you will face if you ever do capsize while you’re on a kayak tour.

One of the first rolls that you can learn is called the put-across roll. This is also similar to the Pawlata roll, so if you’re just starting out, you should make sure that you learn one or the other. However, the put-across roll probably has the most benefits for people who are just beginning to learn rolls, and who probably have some difficulties in doing any of the rolls they learn, this is a good place to start.

One of the reasons for this is that the first step of the put-across roll is to do the hip flick in almost the exact same way that you would do it if you were just doing the hip flick in a drill. This makes it easy for people who have either just learned the hip flick, or who don’t want to go through the trouble of learning variations on it. In order to learn the put-across roll, you can either look for free advice, take a course, or get a book on the subject. Once you’ve learned the put-across roll, however, you’ll be able to help yourself if your kayak capsizes while you’re on a kayak tour.

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Peter Salisbury

I’m Pete. I am the owner of KayakHelp.com. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, I grew up kayaking, fishing, sailing, and partaking in outdoor adventures around the Great Lakes. When I am not out on the water, you can find me skiing in the mountains, reading my favorite books, and spending time with my family.