Greg Stamer performing reverse sweep roll. Joshua Broer attempting reverse sweep roll. Photo by Pamela Phillips Rolling with the paddle along the spine and behind the neck and behind the back takes attempt after attempt after attempt. It's incredibly easy to become disoriented on these particular moves. You can quickly lose track of where you are in the water in relation to your boat and, just where the heck your paddle should be.
Some folks like to open their eyes.
I found that learning to rely on your other senses, like touch, helps to find the right motion. We tucked our paddles beneath the bungies of our rear deck, and prepared for throwing stick and hand rolling exercises. Mostly, they are the same maneuvers, only that the maneuver is done using the stick or the hand only. In the official competition, each of these rolls done successfully is rewarded with points. The points, you may have guessed, increase as do the difficulty of the rolls.