Other articles that may interest you:

Rolling in the Hole

Rolling from the Back Deck

If I'm in shallow or unknown water, moving fast downstream, I try to roll upstream, generally- and here's why- because downstream is where my threats are likely to come from, and I'd rather take my licks on the back of my shoulder than on my face.

Threat analysis:  You were just upright, it's time to do a threat analysis based on what you just saw- where are your hazards?  How much time do you have?  Here are some ideas to ponder:

Rocks: If you're upside-down in shallow water, usually your immediate exposure is to hitting oncoming rocks, either with your body or with your paddle.  Of course, there are any number of other hazards available to you on the river- you could be floating towards a strainer or a sieve or towards the lip of killer death fang falls... but right now, when you're upside-down, there's only one thing you can do about it- and that is to roll, away from any immediate oncoming hazards, and to deal with your other issues once you're upright.  Your first priority is to roll.

If you're moving downstream, rolling upstream, and your paddle then hits a rock, or if your shoulder hits a rock, or whatever, you snap your hips and come up. You're rolling away from 'oncoming' rocks and the rock may actually help you up by lifting your paddle as it goes by and 'upstream' of you.  Had you been rolling 'downstream', you would have risked hitting the rock with your face,  jamming/chocking/breaking your paddle, or at best, tripping over your paddle and re-capsizing.

Holes: If you drift into a hole or onto a pillow while upside down, your threat profile has changed- oncoming rocks are not your enemy any more, because you've stopped moving downstream.  Now, oncoming water is both your problem and your ally- depending upon whether you choose to use it or fight it.  If it's a hole you've drifted into, you'll want to use the downstream-flowing water it provides to roll in the hole.  

Pillows: If you've drifted onto a pillow on the upstream face of a rock, you still need to roll downstream, towards the rock- the pillow current at the surface is pushing upwards, while the oncoming current creating the pillow will resist your efforts to go against it.  Often it's easier to use the rock to hand-roll than it is to try to get purchase against it with your paddle.  Do this with one hand (keep your paddle in the other hand) and remember to finish leaning and edging towards the rock- otherwise the pillow current and oncoming current will submerge your upstream edge and you'll have to do it again.

'Other' hazards: Rocks, holes, and pillows are your most common threats, but others can be mentioned- sieves, strainers, wood, undercuts, other boats, structures, potholes... and all I've got to say about these is that it's probably best to make your roll before you have to deal with these, and even better not to have to deal with them at all.  If at all possible, avoid situations where you're in danger from these.

Tuck forward vs. back deck roll: This is the subject of countless debates, and adherents are passionate about their point of view- some contend that one should always tuck forwards, the better to protect your face, while others contend that one should roll from wherever you are, the better to spend less time upside-down and at risk.  My opinion is that both perspectives are valid to a certain extent- given the choice between ending up on your back deck and tucked forward, tucked forward is in general safer- but if you flip upside-down and end up on your back deck, it makes much more sense to face upstream and perform a steyr roll (which can provide protection to your face if done properly) immediately.  I just line myself up in a way that I'm not facing oncoming rocks. That means if I flip and I'm leaning back, I don't swing my body forward in order to set up my roll... I turn my torso in order to face upstream, away from oncoming rocks, and do a steyr roll upstream. If I drift into a hole or an eddy or a pillow, it's time to switch sides and roll in the hole on the downstream side.  If I'm flipped and I'm tucked forward, I'll do the same thing: I'll face upstream (in a forward tuck, twisting to the side) and do a regular roll from there.

Front-deck vs. back deck finish: This is also the subject of countless debate- advocates of the front-deck finishing roll argue that a finish on your front deck puts you in a safer position should you re-capsize, and also puts you into a better position from which to brace and avoid re-capsizing.  Some back deck finishing advocates argue that their roll is more reliable that way.  My take on this is that the way you finish is up to you, but that it pays to be able to finish your roll in any position you want.  I tend to prefer a forward-leaning finish, but I acknowledge that whatever works for you is probably best for you and no 'rule' of this sort should be considered an absolute.

The roll is not a formula- it's a matter of loading your paddle or hands in order to accomplish a hipsnap and right the boat. You don't need to sweep, you don't need to go to a prescribed set up position, you just need to grab some water, right the boat, and finish upright- so instead of having a 'lean forward, set up, sweep, snap hips, do something with head' approach, simplify things: when you flip, roll- and get away from the notion that there's any one 'right' recipe- there are lots of right ones.  Don't get me wrong, there are many ways for your roll to be 'wrong', chief among them being that it didn't work or you hurt yourself while doing it- my point is that there are as many ways to roll as there are circumstances in which to do it, and the difference between intermediates and experts is that experts have gotten past their formula rolls and roll from wherever they are and finish wherever they want to be.

Fear: If the thought of being upside down in shallow, moving water intimidates you, it's important for you to be ruthless with yourself- you have time for one thing only- and that is rolling.  If you're afraid, it means you're devoting more cycles to being afraid than you are to rolling.  Once you're done with your crisis, THEN you've got the time to indulge your fears.  Until then, all fear is... is a back-seat driver yelling in your ear about all of the things that might go wrong.

If you're scared, give yourself the emotional space and time to simply roll.  There's no need to rush this, just do it.  If you're afraid, simply notice it- now isn't the time for judgment or shame or understanding or analysis, just notice that you're feeling what you're feeling and then get back to the important part, which is rolling up.

If you're prone to feeling afraid when being upside down in shallow water, the time to explore that fear is before and after, but not during the experience- there are objective hazards to avoid, and being afraid cannot help you to avoid them- only your action can.  Some tips for getting over this fear are as follows:

• Connect with what it is that frightens you.  Most fear is based on the imagination filling in the space left by the unknown.  I can't see, I'm upside-down, out of control... I can only imagine what might be coming next.  ...or I could focus on my roll instead.
• Own the fact that most of the terrible stuff we can imagine is a little ridiculous.  This isn't a value judgment- merely an observation that our imaginations can come up with a lot that isn't very useful to us.  To be certain, there are objective dangers and these aren't ridiculous, but the process of morbidly imagining the worst when you're in a crisis situation... well, that's silly. :-)
• Distinguish between what is actual and what is imagined- everything in the potential future, and everything that is in the 'could've happened' past is imagined.  The only thing that is actual is the present.  Remember, what you imagine can lead to an actual outcome- best to imagine a simple roll.
• Don't think too much.  You can't think your way out of being afraid- fear comes from different places than thought and the only way out of it is to go through it and emerge on the far side of it.  You needed to be afraid for a reason, so experience the fear and then let it go.
• Use the experience for the good it can give you.  Use it as a positive motivator to get you to the pool or someplace to practice more often the skills that will help you.  Perhaps the entire purpose of your fear is to let you know that you need to invest some practice time to help you learn how to do a fast back deck roll, or a handroll or to perfect your offside roll.  Take this motivation to learn how to avoid flipping in shallow spots, or to help you avoid trouble situations in the future.

For a more thorough discussion of fear, click here

Taking your lumps: Sooner or later, it's inevitable- you'll bounce off of a rock upside down and maybe it'll hurt.  Most of the time this is not a big deal.  Take the hit and keep on keeping on.  Remember, in front of every rock is a pillow- the water in front of it is not compressible and true high-speed impacts are rare in kayaking.

If you're going to take your lumps, it's best to do so in a way that'll hurt the least- and there are things you can do to make this so:

1. Full-coverage helmets limit direct head exposure
2. A Mouthguard can decrease the extent of impact injury to the brain, believe it or not.
3. A face-shield mounted on your helmet can protect your face
4. Gloves are a boon in cold water and allow you to use your hands
5. Elbow pads make protecting yourself easy without requiring you to let go of your paddle
6. Some drytops feature minimal shoulder and elbow padding
7. Some PFDs feature full coverage and stiff protective armor
8. The fleshy outsides of your hands, feet, shoulders, and legs are pretty good at absorbing energy.

This is a contact sport if you let it become that way- fortunately, there's no rules about what gear you can use.

What about Bottom Bracing? Based on lots of experience, I'll have to say that using the bottom is an iffy strategy when rolling- especially when there's current.  The objective hazards include breaking your paddle, having it ripped out of your hands, having your shoulders injured if you don't let go of it fast enough... really, 99% of the time it's best to simply use the surface of the water to roll against, just as you do in deep water.

This is especially true if you happen to be facing downstream while moving downstream- if your paddle hits the bottom and catches on anything, or if the blade wedges someplace, you've got a lot of potential for things to go wrong.  If your deep-water roll is unreliable, that is something that can be brought to 100% reliability with practice.  The same is not true of a 'using-the-bottom-when-it's-there' roll- when those work, we call that serendipity... a fortunate accident.

In summary, when you flip in a shallow spot, face away from your hazards and roll. If you drift into a hole or a feature like a pillow, roll the way the feature wants you to.  If you have more serious issues, make your roll immediately and deal with them then.

This, of course, means that you want to be able to reliably roll both on and offside from both forward-tucked and a steyr/rodeo roll setup, and preferably with your hands too, from all 4 quarters on flatwater without hesitation. Once you can do that, it's just a matter of knowing where your threats are coming from and then getting in the habit of rolling away from them.  Being able to do this opens up whole new classes of water, and is a reward unto itself... because nobody likes bashing rocks while upside down.