Falling is one of the most common causes of injury as we age. That´s why learning how to roll safely can significantly reduce impact, protect your head and neck, and even save your life. In this post, I´ll show you how Carl Paoli teaches people the shoulder roll. The shoulder roll is a diagonal rolling pattern that teaches your body how to redirect force away from the spine and head. And why does this matter?:

• Falls are a leading cause of injury in adults over 40.
• Learning to roll helps reduce impact forces and fall-related injuries.
• Martial artists, gymnasts, and parkour athletes train this to stay safe.

Backed by research:

• Teaching safe falling strategies can minimize fall-related injuries in older adults (PMC, 2023).
• Rolling techniques are widely used in gymnastics and martial arts to protect against hard impacts.

A shoulder roll is when instead of going over our head with our hips, we go off to the side. There’s a million ways of doing this, but what Carl Paoli wants you to focus on is going in a diagonal when it comes to where you’re placing your back in relationship to the ground. So, you´re going from your right shoulder to your left lower back. Or if you do it the opposite way, you´re going from your left shoulder or trap, the soft area, to your right lower back. It goes in a diagonal. Here are some things to think about:

• #1 – Start in a lunge position.
• #2 – Just like when you’re doing a Turkish get up, you´re going to do a side bend, but you’re going to have that side bend going forward a little bit. You’re going to be reaching forward with your hand.
• #3 – Look at your fingers. Your fingers are pointing forward. You´re going to have that as your direction. It’s kind of like your arrow. You´re going to place your hand down and you´re going to be rolling forward.
• #4 – Now, you´re going to place your opposite hand close by the other hand, but in an “L” shape. This is the shape you´re looking for, an “L” shape.
• #5 – And then from there, all you´re going to do is you´re going to push off of your back leg, bend your front elbow, tuck your head in, and roll over.
• #6 – Super important is that you maintain this lunge position as you’re rolling through. Why is that? As you come over, you’re going to want to maintain that position, that figure four, so when you stand up, you’re back where you started.

Now, you’re going to practice this for 10 minutes just for quality and for fun. You’re going to practice going over your right shoulder. You’re going to practice going over your left shoulder. You will have one side that feels better than the other, but that’s no big deal. This is just for exploration.

Key Technique Points:

1. Start in a lunge position.
2. Side bend and reach forward like a Turkish get-up.
3. Use your fingers as your “arrow” for direction.
4. Opposite hand in an “L” shape for support.
5. Push, tuck your head, and roll diagonally across the back.
6. Land in the same lunge position you started from

Bibliographic references:

• Carl Paoli. (2025). Shoulder Roll for Strength, Safety & Flow [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/tIcpdpGA4xk?si=5drterWORbaSiFdv