The Low Angle Blasting Trick for Advanced Kayaking

Series Summary

Kayaks have been used for thousands of years - the oldest kayaks dating back 4,000 years. Inuit Indians, who invented and named the kayak, have always used them as an effective means for hunting sea animals such as sea lions. Today the majority of kayaks are used for recreation. From sea kayaks to white water kayaks, these amazingly versatile boats are employed and enjoyed all around the world. Learning how to use a kayak is not exactly intuitive and getting instruction from a professional instructor is paramount for both beginners and advanced students.

In this free video series, watch as expert kayaker James Sullivan teaches advanced kayaking tricks while playing in the hole. Learn how to do a low angle blast, high angle blast, two stroke spin, four stroke spin, clean spin, fast cartwheel, a loop, space godzilla, pirouette cross bow, phoenix monkey, orbit, felix, and hand surfing. Impress your friends with the help of the experts at Expert Village.

Video Transcript

"Low angle blasting in kayak was first done by squirt boaters as a way to surf the upstream face of a hole. A lot of beginners find this move out as well when they come down the hole with too much momentum and hit the green water on the upstream side resulting in a big deflection downstream. Play boaters now use this move as fun way to just surf in a hole forwards and as a way to escape from a hole if you're in a very sticky situation. With a low angle blast, I'll start on top of the foam pile, I'll accelerate downwards a little bit. Then I'm going to use a reverse sweeping stroke to lift my bow up and onto the green water. When I do this, I'll use strokes on either side to maintain balance and the carve off really quickly if I'm in a sticky hole to get out."