The Awesome Responsibility of Teaching the Roll

I post a hefty amount of paddling tips and information, but I still like to remind folks (myself included) that I'm still hold novice status for a kayaker--unlike motocross.

Recently I found myself on a lake, with a group of inexperienced paddlers, doing something I thought I wouldn't do until my children grew older. And that was teaching someone to kayak roll.

A local kayaker's brace fails him and he rolls just after going over all 8 feet of Rookie Drop on the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

It wasn't exactly the first time I was "teaching" a roll. When I first started kayaking I took my slick new Freeride 57 to a pool session to try and teach myself to roll. I met a new friend, someone I still paddle with frequently, who was in the same boat, so to speak. He thought he could teach himself to roll.

While I've come a long way, I quickly developed a roll and helped my friend with guidance and encouragement, as his roll was slower to come. But I never thought of myself as instructing him because we started at the same place and were more colleagues than a mentor and a teacher.

Back on the lake, after two years of whitewater experience it was clear I had a thing or two I could share to help this rag-tag group. There were four new paddlers, all in expedition boats. Most didn't have helmets. None had nose plugs. Their paddles were too-long and clearly recreation boat paddles. One was wearing a flimsy touring skirt designed for splash resistance and not submersion. 

They joked about my PFD. "What's all that stuff on it?"  

As a more experienced kayaker, it was clear there is some serious responsibility associated with teaching someone to roll. The implications being that newer kayakers, who might not be equipped with the ability to catch an eddy, ferry or read water, might learn to roll and suddenly think they're ready to master the biggest, fastest rapids.

There's more to teaching someone to roll. It's important to instill in them the awesome power of the river. They have to learn to respect it along with all the other techniques that come with becoming a successful paddler. Learning to roll is one thing. Learning to become a strong paddler who can grow into an asset for any paddling group is another.

There's more to being a good paddler than just being able to combat roll.