Performance Video

NEW: Download "Part 1 The Kayak Roll Lesson" only $14.99.  Or, watch entire film instantly for only $14.95 for a week of access.  Click Here for Details.

The download helped a lot; my roll is usually my strongest stroke, but I bought a LL remix and found I couldn't roll the darn thing. Pretty disconcerting.   I think my technique had got really sloppy and the new boat highlighted my poor form.    Anyway, it has really helped, so many thanks.  Sue Birch  Rotorua, NZ

Just want to say that I am so happy that I found your KAYAK ROLL video soon after I left my real job to follow my dream as a  kayak outfitter just six years ago. I quickly learned to roll the right way and trained all my staff and many happy clients a safe, functional, ergonomically correct roll. The toughest challenges by far have been to help students unlearn a bad roll....Chris Boland, Naples Kayak Company ( Formerly Saltwater Sports)

I have been a whitewater kayak instructor for a decade and I have to admit that this is, by far, the best instructional video on ‘how to roll’ I ever seen!  It’s perfect for beginners, and instructors as well!   Alexandre Valiquette Vice president Club de Canoe Kayak d’Eau Vive de Montréal March 2010

I have watched your movie, "The Kayak Roll" so many times that I can almost recite the dialogue.  Your movie has given me a consistent guide to learn the sweep roll.  I found the troubleshooting section to be very helpful.  It showed me that I was 'punching' with my left arm, and showed some ideas to fix it.  The movie has been helping me to get rid of bad habits, and makes the roll easier and smoother.  I feel like I've made some real progress on improving my roll this winter, and I could not have done with without the Kayak Roll movie.  Tom Andros  March 2010

 "Just downloaded the second part.  A masterpiece, like the first one.  Your method works.  Made my first successful roll in the pool at fifth attempt.  I really did not expect to get so much value from such remote assistance."  Alex Sourjikov, Russia,  January, 2010

"...way above anything else that has ever been made...Students have done infinitely better since we started using the new video. We have yet to have anyone complete the course who has not been able to roll."
- Steve Christensen, Instructor, Carbon Country Recreation Department

"The Kayak Roll video is just the best. Excellent in all respects. This is going to help so many people you should be very pleased"
- Mike Aronoff , Paddling instructor

I have already seen the video and it is a great bit of work. Well done to you all for making one of the best videos I've seen. - Niall Roche, Ireland

"I watched the Kayak Roll and taught a class using those concepts last night with great success - 5 of 7 students rolled. Then there's me! I've been struggling with my roll, but for teaching and demonstration purposes, I've not been at all happy with the way the roll looked and felt. I tried the "no resistance" paddle position last night and came up on the first try with a "perfect finish" position. I was so excited and my students couldn't believe that was the first time I'd tried that roll."
- Ardie Shaffer, Instructor

"Nice teaching progression."
- Wayne Horodowich www.useakayak.org

Just want you to know that the dvd "The Kayak Roll" is by far the most professional I have seen on kayaking! The instruction is clear and concise; the filming is obviously done by a pro!
Marilyn Schroeder

A guide to smooth pain-free rolls!, August 20, 2005 Reviewer: D. Fox All of the reviews seem to agree that this is an excellent instructional video. I concur, I would just like to add that in addition to being an effective style of roll, it is also VERY easy on your shoulders. After a few seasons of failure and shoulder pain attempting to do a C-to-C roll I plunked down the money for this video. It was well worth it. It still took a few sessions to master (mainly just forcing myself to do what the video tells me to do!) but I now have a solid, trustworthy roll, and don't really have pain in my shoulders. It's true, once you have a roll your confidence and ability really starts to improve.

Roll or Die, December 19, 2004 Reviewer: Jeff (MN) I finally picked this DVD up a year ago, watched it a couple times through last winter. Got it out in early spring, watched it again. Went out and still bombed a few attempts. Payed closer attention and within an hour was popping rolls fairly frequently. Excellent teaching tool, by the end of the summer I was rolling on both sides, fully loaded sea kayak. Rough water, cold water. Just put the boat away for the winter two weeks ago, here in MN, no open water left. Last thing I did before the end of the season, a couple of real cold rolls.

Amazing teaching guide, July 16, 2004 Reviewer: Mark Svendsen (Seattle, WA USA) I bought this DVD after struggling to learn the roll, and finally learned it on the second pool session after watching it. It was mostly filmed in a slow-moving river with whitewater kayaks, but also shows some sea-kayak-specific scenes, and the whole video applies to either form of kayaking. It even has some pretty amazing footage of kayakers riding some pretty serious ocean surf.

It works, May 23, 2004 Reviewer: A viewer I spent MONTHS trying to learn the C-to-C roll, including classes, books and pool practice sessions. At best my roll was 50/50. I got this video, which teaches the sweep roll as opposed to the C-to-C roll, and after really studying it (i.e., watching attentively at least 5 times, all the way through), I was able to successfully do a sweep roll on only my second attempt, and it's only been getting better since then. This video is a good explanation of a good technique for rolling the kayak.

One of the best instructional dvds out there., July 26, 2010
By Philip Russo "moseseatonjr" (Philadelphia,PA)
This video is fantastic in it's presentation of the kayak roll. It is clear, concise and well documented, reinforced and illustrated. All of the presenters are qualified instructors, and this is the first dvd I have seen that slows the process down and even breaks down each step into a practice. I highly recommend it to anyone who kayaks. You will not roll overnight but you will NOT roll at all without this dvd.

It's all true, September 21, 2006 By David Beltran-del-Rio "DekeBdR" (Washington, DC, Our Nation's Capital)
I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the good reviews of this product were true. This roll worked for me pretty much right away, albeit with some paddle float practice first.  I also found that I had to move fairly slowly in order to get my sea kayak to come up. This roll still works if you slow down quite a bit.
Trust the sweep - water becomes like rock when that paddle is moving.

very clear presentation, February 22, 2007 By Paul Bianchi
When learning the kayak roll, one of the most difficult things is to visualize what your body is supposed to be doing in 3-d, while your reference frame is turning! The video really helps with that. I flailed around for two days of rolling lessons in a pool until I got the idea that your knee is really the thing that helps you perform the "hip-snap" to turn you over, which my teachers weren't telling me but which the video stressed. Recommended.

Safe and low effort roll, May 9, 2008 By yojimbo  I saw this video at a roll tune-up class and then bought my own copy for review. They teach the "twist-sweep" roll which seems safer and more protective of your shoulder than some others. The learning progression is effective and the roll technique focuses on the strength of your torso rather than your arms. I had degenerated from a solid c-to-c roll to something pretty sloppy and this video and a tune up class are helping me get back to something fluid and reliable.

The second half has a lot of diagnostic and corrective hints for ironing out weaknesses in your style.
It definitely helps to have an instructor to help manipulate the paddle and get you to relax your arms and hands on the paddle. The paddle is used mostly as a guide, not as a lever.
 
This DVD did it for me, September 1, 2009 By David Underwood (Bedford, NH USA)
I've been paddling for a number of years and my only option on a flip had been a wet exit. Last year I bought my first whitewater kayak (Dagger Mamba 8) and had been using it a lot in the ocean to play in waves. I then got a sea kayak and had started adventuring more and more out into the ocean, down the beaches, etc. I had practiced a self rescue using a float and pump so I had that down, but still, a wet exit is just such an ugly option, I had to get my roll down. It was becoming a real safety concern. I brought my kayaks to a friend's pool and armed with many hours of Youtube videos and research under my belt I was only able to fully confuse myself and get very angry. Rolling is impossible! That was it, I was all ready to sign up for a LL Bean roll clinic, $240. They pretty much guarantee that by the end of the 4 hour private class, you are gonna have your roll down.

Then suddenly as a gift this video was given to me. I watched it fully, took what I learned and went into the ocean on a very calm day later that week. In shallow waters I had a partner do as I instructed (if I tap on the bottom, flip me back up) and I was still having trouble. I finally said to myself, "Fine, I'm going to do EXACTLY what they said in the video!" Bang, I did my first roll. Then again. Then I got my 16 foot sea kayak out, first try rolled it.

This DVD not only contains the exact concepts but does a super job at teaching them. They pound into you over and over the same thing but present these ideas from different angles. Getting a roll down is just so very counter intuitive, and in the video they say that and then show you what EXACTLY to do. There are different instructors and they use many different techniques to get the message into your head. This is the same company that puts out a good Ocean Kayak Surfing video which I already found helpful, this video is even better. Not only did this DVD save me a bunch of money, it's saved me from many horrid wet exits and who knows what else!