Kit Reviews, Travel and Advice
Some of you may be aware of the ‘2022 whitewater helmet ratings’ that Virginia Tech released a short while ago (https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/whitewater-helmet-ratings.html). Virginia Tech tested 24 whitewater helmets from major brands such as Sweet Protection, WRSI, Shred Ready and NRS, in order to evaluate their ability to “reduce linear and rotational acceleration of the head from […]
Hey guys, given that there’s been a lack of people at Pinkston recently I thought I’d write a little guide to the course, and maybe I can persuade some of you to give it another go (especially for freestyle) before Bren’s Park Jam at the end of the month! I’ll go from the top to […]
It’s recently been called to my attention that my eardrums are perhaps not in best shape possible, certainly not for someone who’s only 19. The first clue was when I went to get my impressions done for my new ear plugs. Admittedly, I was expecting some comment on the diameter of my ear canal from […]
Hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last blog post – and this one is quite niche – but hopefully we’ll be getting back into the swing of it this summer with some more widely applicable posts. I have owned a GoPro Hero (2018) for around two years now, but after fiddling […]
Moving on from my tutorial of how to Lunar Orbit on flatwater, I’m now going to explain how to do it on whitewater – something I recently learned myself. For the purposes of this tutorial I will be explaining the steps to do a lunar orbit on a steep feature (as pictured below) – a […]
In this tutorial I’m going to be going over the steps to both loop when seal launching and get your boat onto the side without getting out (videos below). If you own a playboat (preferably a plastic one) and can confidently loop on either flatwater or whitewater both of these tricks should be achievable. The […]
In this post I’m going to go right back to basics and explain how to surf in a hole/stopper (which is where water pours over a submerged object causing the surface water to flow back upstream towards the object). Whether you’re interested in freestyle or river running this is probably one of the first things […]
Following on from my previous tutorials I’ll be explaining how to flatwater Tricky Woo. This is a trick I’ve been able to do for a while on my right, but learning how to do it on my left reminded me how confusing it can be and how a few little tips here and there can […]
Today I’m going to be explaining how to McNasty on flatwater which is a trick I’ve been focussing on a lot over the past month, even working to get it down on my offside (something I’m normally quite lax about). To be able to do the trick you need to know how to double pump […]
It occurred to me after publishing my previous post that learning how to space godzilla is the natural next step after learning how to loop – the two moves are very similar in their execution, the amount of points that they are worth (90 for a space godzilla, 60 for a loop and 90 for […]
In this post I’m going to be following on from two of my previous tutorials (https://patrickyak.blog/2020/05/08/how-to-double-pump/ and https://patrickyak.blog/2020/07/02/how-to-bow-stall/) and will explain how to loop on flatwater. Once you can confidently double pump and bow stall, learning to flatwater loop isn’t particularly difficult and could be learned within a few hours if you really put your […]
Happy New Year everyone! Today I’m going to be showing you six GoPro accessories which I’ve been using recently. Some of these allow you to achieve interesting angles or effects while others are just generally useful and applicable in most situations; all of them are available for under £20 so if you’ve got a little […]
Today I will be reviewing the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro PS4 controller (a bit of a mouthful I know). Now I don’t claim to be a gamer and up until recently I’d only ever used a controller at friends’ houses, however I realised about a month ago that my laptop is more than good enough […]
In this post I’m going to review and then compare the Rocker and Strutter helmets made by Sweet Protection, both are very popular helmets but it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you, especially right now where it may be impossible to actually try on or examine either. I currently own […]
The lunar orbit is a freestyle trick that you can do both on whitewater and flatwater, but while it is an advanced trick on whitewater, on flatwater it is considerably easier and can be learnt alongside the cartwheel, tailey and bow stall. In this post I will only be focussing on the technique involved in […]
Today I’m just going to go over a little trick that I use with my Jackson Happy Feet. I know that some people like to use a foam foot block not only because they’re cheaper, but also a lot lighter and longer lasting however, I fit better in my Jed and feel more connected when […]
Consistency is an important part of sport in general, not just for kayaking and not just for freestyle. It doesn’t matter if you manage to do something perfectly unless you can do it again (or someone filmed it so that you can pretend you can do it again). In this post I’ll describe how I’ve […]
Everyone is stronger on one side than the other and it’s tempting to forget about your off-side, it’s weaker, it’s slower and it’s more difficult – right? However, you won’t become a balanced paddler thinking like that and it will stunt your freestyle development in the long run. I put off learning tricks on my […]
iMovie is my go-to piece of video editing software – it’s free, easy to use and includes all the tools I need to make a great edit. I used to work with GoPro studio but it had a couple of annoying quirks which I’ll explain as I go through. This is a short guide as […]
Warming up is boring. You want to get on the water and start paddling, stretches only slow you down and get in the way. Wrong! I’ve managed to pull my shoulders and lower back a couple of times while kayaking and normally these things go away in a few hours, but last Tuesday I injured […]
Last Saturday I went to Chertsey and spent the day there. I’m going to go over what I thought of the feature, give a few tips as well as explain the typical things like how to get there, safety and whether I think it’s really worth travelling to in order to train… Chertsey will be […]
I recently made a presentation on this subject for my academic symposium at school, everyone made a slideshow on a topic that interests them and that relates to their intended university course (which for me is physical Geography). I became aware that a lot of people are against hydropower and reservoir creation – mostly because […]
One of the best ways to feel alive is to do some sort of exercise. I know that this blog is mainly kayaking orientated but right now that probably isn’t much use for most people. What’s a form of exercise everyone can do right now..? Running; apparently we’re all allowed out for infinite exercise, I […]
The double pump is pretty much the first thing you should learn if you’re trying to do any sort of flatwater freestyle. Effectively it’s the first end of a cartwheel and it sets you up to learn more complicated tricks like a tricky woo or loop. Some people learn how to tailee beforehand but I […]
Sometimes you see GoPros in the weirdest of places – on dog harnesses, on a unicorn mount or even being held in someone’s mouth. Having tried quite a few weird ideas myself including mounting a GoPro inside of a lobster pot and on the end of a stick for my dog to chase along the […]
I know that some people don’t bother practicing freestyle on flatwater, maybe it never occurred to them or they don’t think there are any benefits so they never tried it. This post is dedicated to persuading such people to try training on flatwater, maybe before a session on whitewater or simply for convenience because it […]
One of the most common mistakes I see people making (not only for freestyle but for kayaking in general) is that they’re not looking where they want to go. I make this mistake all the time and it’s annoying seeing myself in a video later and realising. Sometimes you’re tired and you just forget, or […]
Head-to-toes winter checklist – I’ve tried wearing a couple of different bits of kit and some of it works really well and some of it doesn’t (I just have to wait for it to break so I can justify getting something better); I’ll recommend the equipment I like and I’ll be blunt about things like […]
I was afraid that if I tried the Pyranha Ozone at Lee Valley I’d want one. I tried it. Now I want one. For those of us who don’t know, the Ozone is Pyranha’s latest release and replaces the Inazone in their “freeride” (river-play) category; in layman’s terms, freeride means you can perform modern freestyle […]
In this post I’m going to explain how to loop, going over set-up and finishing as well as body, boat and paddle position throughout the movement with some tips to improve snappiness and height throughout. I will assume that you can comfortably move about on grade 2 or 3 whitewater – by comfortable I mean […]
In this post I’m going to go over how I tie my kayaks to our roof rack, I had some interesting experiences trying to figure out the best way to do this and I’ve seen that there many different ways to do it with either multiple straps, bungees or even just a throw-line. I chose […]
This is one of the hardest tricks to learn but it is also one of the most impressive. A phonics is defined as a “pirouette initiated by a cross-bow stroke in a front surf position, followed by a front loop in one fluid motion,” and it is worth 140 points (190 with air) which makes […]
What do you want for Christmas? If your immediate answer isn’t a neon pink, fluffy dryrobe then read the rest of this post. If your answer was “what else do I want from life,” then I agree with your fashion choices. The first time I noticed dryrobes was at Nottingham during team tryouts. An awful […]
I have spent quite a lot of time outfitting each of my playboats; starting with my original 2016 Rockstar I then progressed to a plastic Jed and now a carbon Jed; I also have an Exo Rexy for river running. Each of these boats has come with slightly different stock outfitting and consequently I’ve had […]
I don’t know about you, but I need some caffeine in the morning. Despite the fact that for the last couple of years I’ve really been a tea person, in the last 8 months or so I’ve started to appreciate coffee and now it’s my preferred choice. It started with a cappuccino (or latte – […]
Alright. What is a blunt? A blunt is a 180 degree horizontal rotation at a vertical angle greater than 45 degrees, clear of the foam pile, where the competitor rotates around the bow of the boat. Ignoring boring definitions, the blunt is probably one of first wave moves that you will attempt to learn and […]
At one point or another, anyone who wants to edit video has sat down at their computer and realised that it’s going to take the next few hours to look through all their footage and categorise it before they then get to spend another few hours playing with it and adding music before they finally […]
I have recently come back from a month on the Ottawa river where I was unfortunate enough to blow my eardrum on the first day. I’m going to explain how I burst my eardrum, ways to avoid doing the same thing and how I coped with the issue while minimising my days off the water; […]
Recently my Peak UK “Combi” short sleeve cag became too irritating to keep. I’ve had it for around a year and never liked it – despite having latex arm seals all the water comes in at the neck immediately, the Velcro stopped working when wet, the colour faded from bright blue to bleached sky blue […]
I got my carbon Pyranha Jed around Christmas after a 9 week wait and I love it; in this post I’m going to go through the pros and cons of owning a carbon boat, my boat’s journey from the day I ordered it to the present day and why I think you should get one […]
In this review I’m going to compare 2 freestyle paddles – the Mitchell “Nemesis” and the Werner “Sidekick.” I have tried both of these paddles on the Legacy course at Lee Valley to get a feel for them and decide each of their strengths and weaknesses (thanks to Above & Below shop). I will base […]
In this review I am going to compare four river-play kayaks – the Pyranha “Ripper”, Dagger “Axiom”, Exo “Rexy” and Jackson “Antix”. I have demoed all four of these boats at the Lee Valley whitewater course on both the Legacy (Grade 2 / 3) and the Olympic course (Grade 3 / 4) to test their […]
Patrick Kyak 