How to Roll a Kayak: Step-by-Step Guide to C-to-C, Sweep, and Offside Rolls

Learning to roll a kayak is an essential safety skill. It helps prevent unwanted swims and builds confidence on the water. In the videos below, veteran kayak instructor Ken Whiting uses a sea kayak to demonstrate the key techniques for mastering the roll—but the same principles apply to whitewater kayaks as well.

Three Fundamentals for Rolling

The videos below break down the kayak roll into its three fundamental parts: the setup, the catch and the recovery.

The Setup

The c-to-c and sweep rolls start out from the same position. When you’re upside down and setting up for the roll, the paddle needs to be next to the kayak with the front blade at the water surface and the power face down. Your head and body are out and tucked as far forward as possible.

Which side you setup on is determined by your control hand—the one that stays fixed on the paddle. If you’re right-handed, you’ll want to setup on the left side of the kayak.

The Catch

This is the part of the roll where you grab the water with your paddle for support, so you can hip snap the kayak upright. This is also where the c-to-c and sweep rolls start to work differently.

For the c-to-c roll you swing the paddle out 90-degrees with your control-hand arm, keeping the blade as close to the surface as possible. The other forearm rests on the bottom of the boat, acting as a pivot. Watching your blade through this movement lets you maintain your power position, keeping your shoulders safe.

The catch for the sweep roll is similar, the difference is that you’ll apply downward pressure as you swing the blade out 90 degrees, in a climbing angle with the leading edge of the blade higher.

The Recovery

The recovery refers to how your body ends up in its final position on top of your kayak. If you set up well, use a solid hip snap and maintain your power position throughout, the recovery will be relatively straight-forward.

One of the most common problems in the recovery phase is the early lifting of the head. Your head should be the last part of your body to return to its position over the top of the kayak. One to the best ways to ensure your head stays down is to watch your active blade over the whole roll.

Finish your roll with your wrist cocked back slightly. That way when you bring your body forward you can scull and brace your way there. With practice, you can even use this sculling motion to complete a weak or incomplete roll.

Master the C-to-C Roll

The c-to-c kayak roll is a great technique to have in your kayak roll quiver. It breaks the roll setup into two distinct steps—the paddle sweep and the paddle down-thrust. This rhythm leads instinctively into your hip snap for a smooth rolling action.

To practice the c-to-c roll, start out with your paddle alongside the kayak. The front blade will be power-face up, and your head and body tucked forward and leaning toward your paddle.

After flipping upside down, you’ll push your paddle out to the side and lean out to get your head and body as close to the surface of the water as possible. It should feel like if you didn’t have a good grip on the thigh hooks with your legs, you’d be pulling yourself right out of the kayak.

Your other forearm will stay pressed against the side of the kayak and act as a pivot, while the outer arm swings the blade out 90 degrees from the kayak, keeping the blade as close to the surface as possible. Your upper body rotates as you do this. You’ll then pull down with your paddle blade and immediately begin your hip snap. The hip snap involves pulling up with the knee on the paddle side to roll the kayak upright.

You’ll continue to watch your blade and keep your head down until your hip snap has brought the lower edge of the cockpit coaming in contact with your lower side. At that point you’ll know that your hip snap can’t do anything more for you and you’ll swing your body slightly backward and on top of your kayak. You’ll be watching your blade the whole time, so your head stays low.

How to Do the Sweep Roll

The kayak sweep roll is a very efficient way to roll your sea kayak or whitewater boat. It is smooth and low impact, and while it doesn’t add extra support, it extends the duration of support, giving you more time to coordinate your hip snap with the paddle’s motion.

Starting from the same setup position as the other roll techniques, you’ll flip upside down. You’ll push your paddle up near the surface and bring your head and body up as high as possible. Keeping you inboard elbow bent and close to your body, you’ll sweep your paddle out and across the surface of the water in as wide an arc as is comfortable.

You’ll watch the blade and rotate your body throughout. With your wrist cocked slightly forward as you do this, the blade will have a slight climbing angle on it. This climbing angle supplies the lift and buoyancy that gives your hip snap the support it needs to complete the roll.

As you gain support from your paddle, start a powerful hip snap by pulling up with your knee to roll the kayak upright. When the lower cockpit rim hits you in the lower side you know you’ve hip snapped the kayak as much as you can. Now you’ll swing your body backward and over the top of the kayak. You want to keep your eyes on the blade the whole time, so your head doesn’t lift.

How to Master the Offside Roll

The offside roll is simply a roll where you set up on the opposite side that you’re used to rolling from. It’s a great skill to learn, especially if you’re a whitewater boater or a sea kayaker who is playing in the surf or rock gardens—these water conditions and obstacles can interfere with rolling on the side you’re used to.

The biggest challenge when learning the offside roll is overcoming your weak side. Everyone has a strong and a weak side. The only way to strengthen that weak side is with practice.

Your paddle offset—if you have any—can also make the offside roll more difficult. During the offside roll, your leading wrist assumes a different position in the setup and catch phases than it does during an onside roll.

What Is the Pawlata Extended Paddle Roll?

If you’re having trouble rolling your kayak with the c-to-c roll or the sweep roll, try the extended paddle roll, otherwise known as the Pawlata. For the Pawlata roll, you’ll move your hands to one end of the paddle, giving you more leverage.

This roll is named after Hans “Edi” Pawlata, an Austrian pioneer in the sport of kayaking. In 1927, he claimed to be the first European to perform a kayak roll, a skill developed by the Eskimo people. Actually, other non-Eskimos had already learned the skill of the roll, but Edi was one of the early ones and he wrote a detailed account of how to roll up a flipped kayak.

The extended paddle roll will be done like the c-to-c roll or sweep roll. The one difference is you will move your hands to one end of the paddle. That way, the further extension of the paddle will give you more leverage to complete the roll.

You still need a strong hip snap, but this technique gives you a little more room for error. The setup for the extended paddle roll is the same as the other rolls, except you’ll slide your hands down the paddle shaft until you’re grasping the back blade with your back hand and holding the paddle shaft comfortably with your front, control hand.

If you’re using the sweep roll technique with the extended paddle, be careful not to rush the hip snap; it will take longer for the blade to sweep out 90 degrees from the kayak.

How to Roll Your Kayak in Rough Water

As you take on more challenges in your kayaking, you’ll likely be moving your boating into surf zones, river waves and bigger water. The turbulence in these conditions adds an extra dimension to executing your roll.

If you have a reliable flatwater roll, you’ve got most of the skills you need to roll in rough water. The big addition you need to bring to rolling your kayak in those turbulent conditions is the mental one. There’s a lot going on in swirling waves; you need to learn to relax and follow the fundamentals you’ve already mastered.

Of course, this is a lot easier said than done. One of the best ways to develop your mental game while on flatwater is to practice flipping and rolling while traveling at maximum speed. This helps imitate the additional forces you’ll have to deal with in rougher water.

Practice, as they say, makes perfect. In addition to mastering the mental game, practice develops the muscle memory that lets your body respond automatically to the multiple forces that you encounter in turbulent water. Developing the different roll techniques outlined in this article will go a long way to ensuring you stay in the kayak, no matter what the water throws at you!

Ocean surf can be one of the trickier places to roll, because it can be so disorienting. In small and moderate sized surf, the best strategy is often to relax upside down and let the wave pass by before rolling.

In bigger surf, a breaking wave can hold onto you and your kayak, so you need to learn to roll with the wave. The trick is to roll up on the breaking side of the wave. This is where having a good offside roll can be really helpful.

Conclusion

Mastering the kayak roll takes time and patience, but the payoff is confidence and control on the water. With consistent practice, the steps and motions become second nature—even intuitive. The roll isn’t just a recovery technique—it’s a skill that deepens your relationship with the water and helps you have more fun on your adventures.