By: Kelsey Thompson & Immersion Research - The Back Deck Roll is one of the fastest rolls a kayaker can perform. It requires little to no set up and finishes in an aggressive forward position ready for your next stroke. Before learning the “Dry” Back Deck Roll I recommend you learn how to do the motions of the roll without keeping your head out of the water. Although this is a cool move and will likely impress your friends 99% of the time you won’t be able to keep your head dry during an unplanned flip.

Start the roll leaning on your back deck looking toward your stern the way you’ll be flipping over. Your paddle should be placed parallel to your boat with your power face’s pointing down towards the water.

From this position you’ll lean your body under you kayak which should start the roll. As you begin to flip sweep your leading blade (which should be planted at your stern) underneath you boat while pushing down on it and begin to snap your hips into the roll to bring the stern of your kayak over your head. At the same time you should be pulling your knees to your chest slightly, this will pull your stern out of the water. You should be leading this move aggressively with your head. Be sure to keep your arms tight to get the most flexibility out of your hips. Reaching way out gives you more leverage but makes it harder to edge your boat.

Once you’re completely upside down you’ll need to switch blades to keep constant upward pressure on your stern and finish the roll. Engage your trailing blade while cocking your wrist back to ensure that it is climbing to the surface of the water and not diving. You’ll now have transferred your power to this blade which will finish the roll. The tricky part of the dry roll is that you won’t only be sweeping your paddle across the surface of the water to perform the roll but you’ll also be pushing down on your blades to keep your head and stern out of the water. For this reason it is very important that your blades have a climbing angle constantly bringing them to the waters surface.

As with any roll as you start to pull (or in this case push) on the stroke that will bring you upright you’ll need to flick your hips to return your boat to an upright position. This will create a stable platform to finish the roll from. Once your boat is upright you can swing you body out to the side of your boat and onto your front deck where you’ll return to a stable, upright position. Commit to finishing on your front deck, coming up to the side often means falling back into the water.

Things to consider:

This move confuses a lot of people but it’s really not that hard. It is not a speed thing, I often see people struggling with their back deck roll because they are trying to rush through it with poor technique. Try to slow it down and get the steps right, you’ll be surprised how slowly you can perform this roll with good technique.  The hip snap for this roll is a little different than a standard roll as you’re going from an upright position to an upright position in one fluid motion. As your boat flips over you’re hip snap will start quickly, then slow down in the middle while you transition from one paddle blade to the other, then finish quickly again as you return your boat to an upright position.  Learn how to Back Deck Roll before you try to Dry Back Deck Roll. I almost always see people skipping step one and trying to go straight to the Dry Roll. You don’t learn to run before you can walk, figure out how to roll from an upside down position to upright on your back deck before you try to do the entire thing without getting your head wet!

Safety Tip: While under water putting your forearm in front of your forehead will protect your face from rocks in this more vulnerable back deck position.

More moves: Bow Stall, Stern Stall, Flatwater Cartweel, Flatwater Loop, Double Pump and a video.