5 Benefits to Going to Roll Sessions this Winter

Submitted by Christina Kossis 

1. Muscle Memory – whether you’re new to rolling or an “expert” who never flips it’s important to keep your body in tune. You can dial in all the moves, whether it’s your first roll or advancing to on and offside sweep and back deck rolls, one armed rolls… whatever you can come up with! It is a great confidence booster on the water, knowing that your body is going to react before you need to think about it.

2. Honing skills and learning new skills – the possibilities are endless. It starts with the roll, then usually stern squirts, bow stalls on the pool edge, flatwater cartwheels and loops, tricky woos…. Google “flatwater whitewater kayaking tricks” and you are sure to find something new to master!

3. Community Involvement – people of all skillsets come to roll sessions, you can share your love of whitewater and knowledge with everyone. It’s a way for us to all give back, make friends, and share in a common interest and passion.

4. Getting your friends and family into whitewater – this is the safest way to show someone what a whitewater kayak feels like and give them a head start on having a roll before they are even on moving water. It shows them how to safely and comfortably do a wet exit so that they’re ready for downriver kayaking!

5. Finding people to paddle with – roll sessions are a great way to meet new people to make paddling plans for your local runs.