How to Loop a Kayak- Ben Atherton

How to Loop a Kayak
By: Ben Atherton
Looping a kayak is one of the coolest and most impressive tricks that you can perform in whitewater. Although it is fairly difficult to learn, it only takes a little bit of practice and some good instruction. First, you'll need a boat that is short enough to throw, but also large enough to bounce out of the water. Next, you'll need to find a suitable feature to perform your loop. The best, and most simple place to perform a loop is a small, steep hole, that is deep enough to plug. To start, you must first surf out into the chosen feature and set up for the loop. In most places, you can slowly work your way to the top of the foam pile. Once you are on to of the hole/wave, you need to slam all of your weight into your feet and let the water push the bow of your boat deep into the water. As your boat plugs into the hole, you must look towards the sky, and stand up tall in your boat. This will shoot your boat into the air as the volume of the bow wants to reach the surface of the water. As you launch out of the hole, you need to throw your body and arms forward, and as you land, you pull your paddle back from the bow of your boat over your head. If you follow these steps carefully, you will be now know how to throw a loop in a kayak.