Ok so you’ve been paddling a couple years and having a great time. Still every so often you hear some crazy kayak term that may have not heard before. If you’re not rolling or thinking of rolling yet “hip snap” is probably one of those words.

Well in general a hip snap or “hip flick” is something very similar to what you’re going to see if you turn on MTV regularly. For you older folks, I think they called it “the bump”. In the case of kayaking, the general idea is to use that “closing the car door with two bags of groceries” hip thang, to get your boat in to the comfy upright position.

At this point I can’t help but talk a little about boat fit. The idea being that when you sit in your cockpit that your body makes various physical connections to the kayak. Good boat fit means your kayak will react quickly and easily to the movements of your body. This should not be confused with “becoming one with your boat” which is more of a metaphysical thing. In general when you sit in your kayak your body should touch or lightly press against various parts of the hull. Your lower back to the back band, your butt to the seat, your thighs to the sides of your seat, Knees to the hull, Feet to the peddles, and depending on the boat your inner thighs may connect to bracing around your coaming as well. This is one of those things I’d rather be standing there with you than trying to describe in text.

So let’s say you have that great connection to your boat all worked out. If so, one cool thing you can do is take your boat out on the water and do the kayak hula. If you’d like to take your Ipod out filled with Don Ho music, this is your excuse. With good boat connections you can wiggle your hips and cause quite a ruckus on the surface of the water. And maybe with those people standing on the beach as well.

One thing that often gets overlooked in early kayaking instruction is how the hip-snap is involved in bracing. It’s sort of a pat your head and rub your tummy thing early on. So you can get the idea that if your going over, you push yourself up with the paddle or slap the water to stay up. But that’s not really it. There is a bit more to the story. In fact if you “push” down on the water, it is likely that your paddle will sink and then pull you the rest of the way over. Bracing has another bit going on. The hip-snap. The easiest way to think about it is this; If you are tipping over on your right side, you brace with your paddle on the right side, and then lift your right knee, thus turning your boat back up against the “brace”. In time we don’t really think of it as a “knee” thing. It’s more of a twist of your whole lower body righting the boat. Lifting a knee is an easy intro to the cool hip trip.

When we think of rolling a kayak that’s when we start really getting into the hip-snap concept. Remember, the paddle does not roll you up. So you’re upside down and you sweep that paddle out to a right angle to your kayak and then hip snap or twist your body up. And that’s the thing about a “hipsnap”, it’s really defined by what your doing and not just one static move. Thus hip snap, hip flick, or twist depending how you look at it or what kind of roll you are trying to perform.

Some rolls require that big powerful “snap”. Just flip yer hip. For reference, review your favorite Gwen Stephanie video. While others have that sexy slow twist then ends with a little “bang” at the end. You see a lot of those in mid-tempo hip hop videos. This one is just perfect for dealing with hard-chined boats. Just a smooth slide with a little “bump” at the end. Many of the Greenland rolls require that slow bluesy hip grove that are best demonstrated by the background singers at a Pink Floyd concert. Kayaks swayin’ to the beat of “Dogs of War”. Interesting. In the end it all depends on the reaction your trying to inspire.

So there’s a quick intro to the “hip snap”. Hmmmm, now is today a Gwen or Pink sort of day?