Our boat follows our body and our body follows our eyes. Simply put, if you want to go somewhere, look there! This video explains the basic fundamental skill of proper eye positioning while kayaking. Master this, and everything will get easier.

For those starting out in paddling, turning into an eddy or peeling out of an eddy are often a big challenge which leads to many flips and rolls.  There are three important steps that I like to discuss when learning how to get your eddy turns and peel outs. 1 Speed 2 Angle 3 Egde All three areas are needed…

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays! For the past 3 years during the month of January, Cullman City Parks and Recreation has hosted a roll clinic/ open pool session for paddlers of all skill levels. What started as a group of 4-5 paddlers a week, has grown to a full pool of 30 plus…

The list of priorities: 1) Safety, 2) Fun, 3) Kayaking. That is how we breakdown “Kids Week” here at the Ottawa Kayak School. Twice a summer, we welcome around a dozen or so 7 – 11 year olds to the Ottawa river for an entire week of fun! While indeed we wish and strive to develop…

Cartwheeling is one of the primary building blocks of playboating, and it is super fun to boot. It is a multidimensional move that teaches you a number of key elements to boat control. In order to successfully cartwheel you will need to sit on your boat, keep your eyes on the sweet spot, and you…

I spent 3 glorious weeks in MN, visiting family and instructing kayak courses and clinics. The Midwest kayaking community is something very, very special. Paddlers get amped up during the freezing cold winter months, awaiting the spring run-off to charge hard in their kayaks. With almost 1/2 of their year unable to paddle, due to…

Many kayakers set goals such as, “I will run my first class 4 rapid this year.” It is great to have a big picture goal like that, but specific skill related goals direct our attention towards areas for improvement. Examples of specific goals could be, “I will improve my combat roll” or “I will improve…

Many kayakers have been working on their pool rolls over the winter. It is good to practice pool rolls, but unfortunately, rolling in a combat situation can be much more difficult. Therefore, as we are getting closer to boating season, it is a great idea to start simulating combat rolls in the pool. This video…

    2016 will be a good year for new instructional materials.    I have 2 new books coming out;   “EJ’s Rolling and Bracing” and “Kayaking with Eric Jackson- Strokes and Concepts- second edition”      These are fairly large projects for me that I started in Uganda in February of 2015 and will be completed…

  I never imagined that I would be comfortable staring in, filming, editing, and publishing my own videos until GoPro showed me how at my first GoPro Team Summit 4 years ago.    It sounds like a daunting task to many people, and the whole thing seems out of reach unless somebody brings it down to…