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NIS

It’s a game of grip, harder you grip smarter you perform. We really appreciate your love and affection for this sport, which indeed is a plus point for health and working environment. Benefits are many and space is short to write, just wanted to summarize all the thoughts in one line “keep yourself moving until and unless something strange won’t pack you in a BOX.

Let’s talk about today’s trick from very beginning. Even if you already have an inverted Slim Chance in the bag, adding the non-inverted variant to your repertoire will be both satisfying and worthwhile. It’s likely that many of you and in particular some of the “old timers”, went on to master the Slim as the next step after the long forgotten dangle pass. With the result you may have a habit of sending the kite a bit and having a somewhat dangly finish to what started as a powered pass.

Getting your teeth into the NIS is a great cure for this. If you don’t suffer this problem, well it’s still another trick to claim and if you’ve never tried any sort of Slim Chance, now is the time. What should you already be confident with to try this? The base for this is a powered unhooked popped front roll, preferably to toe side, as that’s the way you’ll be passing. If you can already Shifty to wrapped, or even better Shifty 3 then you’re almost there, and if you can Front to wrapped then you’re knocking on the door That said your front rotation may not need to be inverted, but you do need to get the knees and board high, so the more aggressively you can pop, the easier this will be.

The Important Bits

  1. Approach and Edge

Pic A

Your first pass would be easier if you get good pop on your take off, it will be more to do with timing than brute force. And to get good pop your approach and subsequent carve onto your edge needs to be dialed in. It’s really important to get speed in starting, if you’ve got enough power great, if not work that kite to get some pull and speed. Secondly park the kite where you want it to be, let’s take it around 11 or 1 o’clock, so that you know it won’t drive you down and therefore give you the confidence to pop hard and not lift the kite as you edge. Finally get your body back over the tail of the board as you bear away, so that once you unhook not only will the kite be in the correct place, but also you can turn back onto a solid edge with your weight low very quickly, which is the crux of good pop. You can see in the Pic A that as the rider carves onto his edge and away from the kite his front leg is extended, his back leg bent but locked and his bum is low – a result of the correct entry position. From this point he is ready to pop hard.

The Take Off

  1. The Take Off

Pic B

If you’ve got the approach right you’ll have so much edge and bite as you turn the board upwind, that as long as you commit you’ll get plenty enough pop to complete the move without lifting the kite. Your board, knees and hips will be thrown up high enough to make the pass. Even though you’re throwing a front roll, you need to be as low as for as for a raley, uber edge your aim is to get yourself as much height as you can, which will give you time, so as you stamp hard against the back of the board, explosively extending your back leg, concentrate on extending from your back leg all the way up into your back shoulder. This way even as your head goes down and around and your front knee lifts to initiate the rotation, you’re still on the way up. In Pic B you can see the spray that the rider has following him, a definite rooster tail. As he goes down into the front roll he’s still rising. Just as importantly by popping hard Christian is able to bend his arms and pull his hands towards him, keeping the bar in close. If you don’t get the bar in now, you’ll have an almighty task ahead of you. Finally with the bar in close it is more achievable to keep the kite parked with the bar angled forward – if the arms extend you’re likely to pull on the back hand.

  1. The Halfway MarkThe Halfway Mark

Pic C

It should be looking like at the 180° mark if all is going well this is what. Please watch carefully, the board and knees high, swinging around with your shoulders, not dropping and pulling you down. You need to be leading with your head, even though you’ll be throwing the pass against the rotation, as you need to see where you’re going so that you can time the movement. The rider is coming around and he still has his hands in close, if he were to rotate another 90° he would find his front hip nearing the bar. You don’t want this, so once you can spot your landing you have two jobs. Pull the bar in towards your hips, and pull your old back knee, in this case the rider’s right, towards the bar. They don’t actually have to get very close but this will slow your rotation and lift that end of the board, giving you more chance to make the pass.

  1. Do It

Pic D

This is the make or break moment requiring full commitment and energy. Timing wise you should be just about to drop, that lovely floaty nanosecond before free fall. Most likely it will feel too late, and if it does that’s perfect! In short you pass as you drop out of your rotation. Whilst your knee and bar move towards each other you have to turn your back on proceedings. Give one last tug on the bar with both hands, a bit front hand heavy to stop the kite flying up when you release it and then throw you head and shoulders back around, down and away from where you’ve been looking. Assuming you’ve already been wrapped or passing the drill is the same, fast and deliberate, twisting the bar as you release your front hand to allow your shoulders to turn further. In the picture the tail of the rider board is high, his knee and hip are close to the bar and he’s leading his pass with his head. He also has his complete kite face on, as this is 100%. With the board high and his knees bent the board won’t drop and pull his away from the bar as he turns.The Pass

  1. The Pass [Pic E]

Now it’s hand to hand, which sounds obvious, however if you twist the bar fully and hold on tight your body will wrap around your arm, follow your head and the bar will present itself to your waiting hand. As long as it’s looking for the other hand and not scratching around in the small of your back. Here in this image the rider free hand finds the other one and grabs the bar. Now it’s just a matter of landing it, claiming it and riding away without looking too surprised.

 

  1. The Landing [Pic F]

The Landing

This is a normal tendency that we don’t always think about the landings too much, but this one does require some anticipation, or else you’ll be passing, getting excited and then diving in. You need to be ready to ride as you land, hopefully downwind and maybe even further around. There are two things that really help. Firstly keep your head turning. It’s common to freeze the head whilst changing hands, and this often leads to a fall, so as you change hands keep turning the head to look towards where you’re going. Secondly untwist the hand, that is to say allow your wrist to turn palm down so that the bar is once again as it should be and the status quo is restored. By doing this your shoulder can turn up and forward and you’ll be better balanced to follow the kite. In the picture the rider’s hand is the right way up and his head is trying to look around, following his eyes.

Top Tips

  1. Your first key of success is “Preparation”, hence make sure you’re in a dynamic stood, as you’ll need to rotate quickly for the pass, and bang out a few popped front rolls
  2. Be focused on bringing the knees and hands closer as you’re coming around. Beware though, as this will kill your front roll rotation so be ready to land toe side and off balance
  3. At time you have done enough fronts that time is slowing down, you’ll get an idea of when you can pass. If you are able to bang out a few Shifty to Wrapped,or Shifty 3s, even better. It’ll get your pass rotation well and truly warmed up.

Common Problems

  1. Pop issues are common with front rolls as by the very nature of the rotation it’s very tempting to throw yourself down before you’ve gone up.
  2. Also there is a tendency to stand more upright whilst edging to pre-empt the take off, but you must edge low and hard, then stretch up to get the necessary height
  3. The problem with all passes this way is that the kite loves to rise, either as you pull or once you release. The beauty in the NIS is that as you’re waiting for the moment to pass, you have time to sneakily steer the kite down before or whilst pulling. Do this and the pass will be noticeably easier as you’ll practically manufacture slack
  4. Getting the knees and board up can be a problem. For the inverted Slim you can throw your shoulder down and head back to get the legs up. Whereas here it’s all about pop. However keeping your hands in close with bent arms will mean that your balance point will be more around your waist and therefore you’re more likely to rotate around this axis
  5. If your arms are stretched out it’ll be much harder. Finally the landing. Passing like this does encourage you to look down at the water as you throw your head, which works wonders for the pass but doesn’t do jack for the landing. So make sure you try and move your head after passing and untwist your hand.

The sequence

Keystones

  1. Good approach and solid pop
  2. Hands in close
  3. Bring hands and knees together
  4. Pass late, as you drop
  5. Keep looking

November 29, 2014 | Categories: Intermediate | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Toe side front Roll To blind with Ole

We hope you are grooming well with the aid of our articles and learning every trick carefully. With ever learning day, you are going to be perfectionist in this sport. We always emphasize on doing every trick with right way and right balance, so that your every step of learning should be placed on right path. The trick which we are going to learn today has a better name, but for the moment we’ll stick to the descriptive version. Fundamentally this is a pop trick, but a subtle drifting up of the kite is more than tolerable to get you easiness to learn this trick. For those of you confident with your toe side edge this is a great trick and an inspiring step on from the toe side pop to blind which is a good prerequisite as you need both a decent pop from your toes and the blind that very same side. If this will be doing it first time, let us advise again that it will be easier to pop from your strong toe side to a new and unvisited blind rather than try and pop from your weaker toe side. Popping well from your pinkies is the key here.

The Approach

We need two things in order to pop from your toes, first speed and then a good solid edge. With the board fizzing over the water it’ll be a doddle to get it up and you’ll have momentum when you get it around. Looking at Pic A. you can see that the rider pre pop. First off the rider has his bar trimmed in close so that he can get an aggressive edge and hold the power with two hands without being pulled up onto the board. This way he can turn his head and shoulders away from the kite and stand up onto his toes, hips forward, driving the board between him and the kite. The rider has shifted his weight back on the board ready to pop, as this will help him add tension to the lines by edging harder. However if you need more speed you must keep the front knee bent and the board trimmed flat before shifting your weight back.The Approach

The PopThe Pop

The assumption behind popping is much the same as from heel side – once you have enough speed, carve The Rotation up hard and stamp off the back foot. Though bearing away and then carving up from toe side is no simple task, so for the same sort of effect shifting your weight back will dig the tail in and turn the board upwind on its rocker. The trick is to be quick, shift your weight back and stamp – wait and you’ll lose your speed and nothing will happen. In Pic B. the rider has leant his weight back and simultaneously drifts the kite up slightly from 11 o’clock to give him a bit more lift whilst stamping down hard by explosively straightening his back leg. As he pops up he turns his head and shoulders down and around, initiating the front roll.

The Rotation

The rotation will be very quick as with every front roll from toe side. This is handy, as you’ll need to spin quickly to allow for the extra twist to blind. Aim to keep two hands on the bar until you are coming around the first 360°, as this will keep you more upright and lead to a smoother landing. Looking at Pic C. as Christian reaches this point you can see that he is leading with the head. This is important; as he will know when to initiate the blind once he spots his landing. The rider here also has his knees bent and board up to help encourage a quick rotation and he keeps the bar in for that little bit of extra float. As he focuses on where he’ll land he releases his back hand, turning his head and shoulders down and around under the bar so that he can get his body around to blind whilst the board is leading. This way the board will be beneath him and ready for touchdown.

Throwing Blind

We can see in Pic D. that the rider has “thrown” the blind with the result of turning his head and shoulders down. As he drops his feet and board are leading the way. Whilst turning, he tweaks the kite down by pulling gently on his front hand. This will guarantee a bit more speed and forward momentum for the Ole, and is necessary if you sneak the kite up for takeoff.Throwing Blind

 LandingLanding

As with all things Ole or pass you’ll need to land blind on a flat board heading at least a tiny bit downwind towards the kite. This way you’ll have no tension on the lines and so the Ole should be a walk in the park. Pic E. the rider lands upright over his flat board, having thrown the blind enough to land slightly off the wind. Try to keep your head up, as this will prevent you from breaking too much at the waist, which can in turn force weight onto your toes and put tension on the lines! If anything you want to be leaning on your heels. Landing this way the lines will be slack and therefore the bar will be close to you, not twisted around leading the way and pulling you over.

OleOle

Landing upright on a flat board heading towards your kite sets you up perfectly for the grand finale, the Ole. Pic F. Standing over his board the rider can now push the bar upwind and around in front of him, so that the blind miraculously transforms back into toe side. Once the bar is across get both hands back on it, sheet in and ride off with a hefty grin on your face.

Common Problems

  • If you’re not getting enough pop from toe side try sailing more across the wind before dropping your weight back and popping.
  • If the kite is falling out of the sky as you land make sure that you are both popping hard into the front roll and that you give the bar a tweak forward to keep the kite from drifting too far up.
  • If you slide under the kite on landing try throwing your blind more aggressively by turning your head and throwing your free hand around.
  • If you’re getting pulled over & catching your heel side edge, you’re not landing enough downwind.
  • If you can’t Ole and the kite pulls you over you’re edging on your toes whilst blind, so make sure your weight is on both your feet, biased towards your heels.

Keystones

  1. Speed on your toe side edge
  2. Change weight to back of board and quick pop into fast rotation
  3. Release back hand after 360’to throw blind
  4. Tweak kite forward
  5. Land flat and downwindSequence

November 28, 2014 | Categories: Advanced | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Nose Grab Front

In today’s world we have made it very easy for everyone to be more skilled in kitesuring. Now information is easily accessible on internet and people paste their experiences in the form of blogs, articles and share the best way to enjoy this sport.

So in continue to that here is our guide to a popped front roll with a Crail or Nose grab thrown into the mix for extra spice. The grab itself is done with the back hand reaching forward and touching, stroking or preferably holding either the nose of the board or as near as possible on the toe side way up near the fin. It goes without saying that you’ll already need a competent popped front to nail this beauty, as the more powered it is performed with, the better the axis of rotation will be and thus all the sweeter the grab will look. Let us remind you of a few vital key moments for a decent popped front whilst also sneaking in the grab.

Coming In

You need to approach in the right way if you want pop, as it will not only help in getting up and off the water, but also the rotation and the landing.

Image A. the rider is perfectly set up for some hefty pop. With her kite parked just below 11 o’clock she pushes the nose of the board off the wind and flexes her back leg to flatten the board, increase speed and move towards the kite, allowing it to drop back a bit in the window. At the sometime she has all her weight, hips, head and shoulders dropped back over and behind the back foot. Her hands are centered and she has her bar trimmed in enough that she can get into this position without pulling too much tension onto the back lines. We always recommend moving your front hand over the middle of the bar, centre line between your first two fingers if you can. This will allow you to keep the power on throughout the move without the kite diving down.

Take Off

Going into a popped front rotation it is all too tempting to drift the kite up and wait for something to happen, which will inevitably lead to a dangly and uncontrolled spin under a very high kite. It’s a mast to keep the kite flying forward and get your height from a very aggressive pop. Breaking the pop and rotation apart, even just by a millisecond will make all the difference. If you concentrate on going up before throwing your head around and shoulders down you will get enough height. If you dive straight into the rotation you’ll not extend up and rather fire yourself down towards the water.

Image B. is showing the rider popping up hard. Having carved rapidly back up onto her edge with her weight still back, she has now stamped down hard, pushing her back leg down against the edge of her board and extending her body upwards for maximum pop. She keeps her front elbow tucked in and bent to prevent the kite from drifting up and the bar is still angled towards the kite as if she were riding. The only give away showing a prospective front rotation is the bending and lifting of the front knee.

Rotate and ReleaseTake Off

When you relies that that you’re on the way up you need to get spinning and think about the grab. You won’t have long in the air so its chop chop. To start the rotation lean the head and shoulders forward, so that you are going with the pop. By lifting the front leg and allowing your body to be kicked up you will start to rotate from the back legs impetus. Turning your head to guarantee spin will help, but if you whip around too quickly it’ll be tricky to get the grab in early enough. As for the grab you need two actions, release the front hand and start to reach forwards, and you must bring the front knee up and across your body to bring the nose of the board within reach.

Image C. the rider is just off the water and she already has her front knee up and across in front of her. She resists the temptation to pull her back leg up and keeps it straight – with it extended the nose of the board will tip even closer to her. She allows her head and shoulders to tip down and forward into the rotation as she fully extends up and keeps the bar pulled in. Her back hand is reaching down towards the already well-positioned board.

The Grab

Early grab will give you two advantages.

  1. The first is purely aesthetic, you’ll be able to hold it for longer and thus it’ll be more noticeable.
  2. The second however is more functional – once you have the grab you can pull the board in, making you small and then concentrate on getting around the rest of your front roll.

Theoretically at least, if you get the take off right the grab should fall into place.

Image D. As a result of all the hard work the rider has got a pleasantly satisfying pop, good height and controllable slow rotation. This allows her to get her hand onto the nose area before she has rotated 90°. Keeping the front knee up and releasing the back hand early were key. Keeping the bar in and power on guarantee that she won’t just drop out of her rotation, but will continue to be pulled forward.The Money Shot

The Money Shot

Once you’ve got the grab, hold it. As stated before, this isn’t just for poseur status, massaging your ego or blatant show boating, but with a solid hold of your board you can pull it in and turn your head and therefore finish your rotation.

 Image E. With her grab held the rider turns her head to spot the landing. To speed up her rotation she has pulled both knees up whilst still holding the bar in, keeping the kite moving forward and pulling.Touch Down

Touch Down

Aim to hold your grab for as long as possible, until you complete the rotation. You’ll find the timing quite natural, as you’ll need to let go to allow your board to drop under you as you start to drop. Assuming you went off the wind in your approach you should come around to a comfortable downwind landing towards the kite, which will kill the power in the kite and make tutu comfortable stomped landing.

Image F. You can see that the rider has released the grab and lets her legs and the board drop down beneath her for a solid reception. She still has pulled in so will land following the kite with her weight squarely over the board.The Money Shot

Top Tips

  1. A good pop and confident front roll are key, so before throwing yourself up into one of these get warmed and ready with a few two handed front rolls. When you’ve knocked out a few high and controlled ones you’ll be more confident to go for the grab.

Common Problems

  1. If you’re struggling to reach the grab there are two solutions. Firstly if you can already nose or nearly nose (troll) grab the board in sent jumps or front rolls try popping with the kite higher, or even drift it up a tad
  2. With a higher kite and a more vertical rotation it will be easier to reach the board. Secondly if you’ve never tried a two grab before and you’re finding it tricky here, revert to getting the body movement right in a sent jump and then a sent front roll. Videos and Sequence for the entire visual path….

 Keystones

  1. Bear away with weight back for god pop
  2. Extend up fully
  3. THEN release back hand and start rotation
  4. Bring front knee up and across
  5. Hold grab and turn head

Sequence


November 27, 2014 | Categories: Intermediate | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

One Foot Front Loop Transition

Our book of kite surfing is full of tricks and with every chapter we disclose something useful and new for you. This move is a bit of a classic from the archives. Please have a deep view on below sequence and picture steps, which will make it easier for you to do successfully.

  1. The Take Off.

Ideally your goal with a pop transition is to land it with a diving kite without the need to add a late kite loop, as the later is really just a way of saving a mistimed attempt. This means that you need to pop up off the water earlier than you think and pretty hard, as this is what’ll give you your height. You need to keep tension on the lines to support you and stop the kite drifting back too far, and you’ll need to keep the kite sat fairly still above you whilst you pendulum out and swing back to land.

Pic A.

For his take off the rider has checked his speed by edging hard upwind, as if he comes in too fast he will swing too much.The Take Off He has moved the kite up to twelve with his back hand centered on the bar and keeps the bar in to get the lift as early as possible before the kite gets to 12. As soon as the kite starts to pull the rider stamps down hard off his back foot and pops up and forward into his rotation, whilst already reaching forward for the grab (got to get the foot out early). Final point to note is that the rider does not yet turn his head for the rotation, as he doesn’t want to spin quickly as this will make the one-foot harder.

  1. Foot Oct

Taking your foot out quickly and effortlessly will help no end, so it may be worth loosening your strap slightly. It will also help if you’re accustomed to this action, so at least run through it numerous times on land, but better still have the one footed jump in the opposite direction nailed, as the movement is exactly the same as a tail grab one foot that way. Here it’s a nose grab, but realistically you should grab the heel side edge of the board somewhere between the strap and the fin. Hold the board up with your toes pointing skywards, and pull your foot out and down to avoid the foot sticking.

Pic B.

The rider is looking at his grab and the foot strap, which makes both taking the foot out and getting it back in quicker, and this is the main reason for not throwing your head around over your back shoulder on takeoff. If you feel confident try and push your foot down towards the water to straighten your leg for extra style points.

  1. The Rotation Pic C.

You can see in the photo that even though the rider isThe Rotation focused on the strap he is still rotating, although slowly, from throwing his shoulder down towards the nose of the board on takeoff. As soon as he feels his back turning towards the water it’s time to get the foot back is Even though the kite gives some hang, as a pop trick you won’t have much time in the air, so as soon as you turn past 90 degrees you’ll need to speed things up if you intend to land facing the right way with two feet in the straps. In this image the rider holds the board away at arms length, which gives hiss enough room to lift his leg and get his foot above the board, whilst looking at the strap and keeping the bar in for support.

  1. Foot In Pic D.

There is no point in attempting to Foot In land until your foot is in, and as you can see here even though the rider is swinging out under the kite as a result of keeping the bar in his concentration is focused on getting the foot is It will be tempting to look around as you feel the kite pulling gently from behind you, but don’t be put off, get the foot jammed in and then you’ll be ready.

  1. Landing Gear Down Pic E.

 As soon as his foot is in the rider releasesLanding Gear Down his grab and turns his head and shoulders to look around towards downwind. At the same time he pulls on his hand to dive the kite, and as the power comes on it will pull his the rest of the way around his rotation and hopefully he’ll drop down into a perfect tail first landing.

As long as you he gets your head around and dive the kite the rest will be surprisingly automated. If the kite has drifted too far back in the window you will need to loop it as you land to stop you sinking!

Top Tips

  • For your first attempts a bigger kite will make life considerably easier as it won’t move so quickly and it’ll give you a lot more float and therefore time to rotate slowly whilst you slide your foot quickly out and in.
  • It will make a lot of sense to master the nose grab front loop transition first as then it is ‘just’ a matter of adding and timing the foot as opposed to learning a whole bunch of new skills at the same time
  • We covered the grab variation in issue 31. Do make sure you give yourself plenty of space and some deep water, as at first it’s likely that you’ll let the kite drift too far, in which case you’ll get ceremoniously dropped into the water, which won’t hurt unless it’s only a few centimeters deep.

Common Problems

  • The real issue on these pop transitions is kite positioning, and coming out with the kite high enough that you can dive it for power The opposite from perfect is the kite swinging back as you pendulum forward, resulting in you dropping in and the kite fluttering down at the edge of the window behind you.
  • To counter this you must keep the bar in whilst you drift the kite up. Start with the kite no higher than 1 or 11, give it to jab up and pop immediately. You can let the bar out slightly at the apex but there is already enough to think about

One Foot Front Loop TransitionKeystones

– Kite not too high

– Pop Early

– 1 Foot immediately

– Foot In then turn head

– Dive and look down wind


November 26, 2014 | Categories: Advanced | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Nose Grab Jump

Today we have this new trick which is Nose Grab Jump. Jump variations and grabs are always welcome as they add something to the most fundamental of moves without, hopefully, the need to hammer yourself too much in the process. It’s always a delight to see someone boosting and banging out numerous different grabs, making each jump different and the whole performance more pleasing to the eye. This time around it’s the nose grab, the most opposite of the most common but deservedly adored tail grab. This one is a great way to show off your board and any promotional stickers adhered to it as with the majority of jumped grabs you’ll be grabbing the nose with your back hand whilst keeping the kite flying and yourself hanging with your front hand. All that you need is a half decent take off and if you’re already comfortable grabbing anywhere else and freeing your back hand then you’re ready.

After Take Off Pic A.

Assuming that you can jump directly after take off check your balance and then casually grab the tail. To grab the nose from your big chill position with both knees up will be very difficult unless you’ve been hard at the yoga. From the Off As a result there are a couple of points worth your consideration.

No-1 is a good positive kite send, with a decent pull and push on the bar to get the kite moving back past 12. Going up with the kite behind you will rock you back and as a result bring the nose of the board up. Secondly bring your front knee up towards you. Thirdly leave your back leg straight. And finally aim to get the grab in on the way up, before you redirect the kite so that the bar is not in your way. In the photo straight away after takeoff, the rider’s kite is behind her and as a result her legs are penduluming up in front of her, much like those early days of trying to jump but forgetting to bring the kite forward. Her shoulders are leaning back and her front knee is lifted.

 Go for it Pic B.

 As mentioned, going for the grab early is key to reaching the nose of your board without being made of elastic Go for it . In this image the rider extends her back arm towards the nose whilst bringing her front knee right up towards her chest and extending her back leg down and away from her. You can see that she is still leaning back and that the kite is still behind her, and therefore even though the bar is sheeted in, it’s not in her way. She reaches for the board by leaning back and twisting her back shoulder around behind the chicken loop, and not by leaning forward towards the nose.

Use Your Hands Pic C.

Once the job is done and you’ve reached your grab your hands will do the rest of the work. The rider has grabbed Use Your Hands her board firmly and holds it, pulling it towards her, which helps her to keep this position for as long as possible. With the board held close she can now also redirect the kite to around 12 to get some support and hang. You can see that she has given the bar a hefty pull, and this is on a 7m, to get the kite back up and parked so that she stays up and floats.

 In Flight Entertainment Pic D.

As with all grabs they’ll look better if you hold them on the way down. This does however mean In Flight Entertainment that you’ll have to get the preparations for landing set with one hand! Having sent the kite hard you have the advantage of being able to lean on your front hand throughout this move, once you’ve got the grab, without the kite diving aggressively. However as you come down if the kite drifts slowly around the edge of the window you will have trouble finding power to land, so you’ll need to get it moving through the window as you descend. In this picture the rider is holding her grab but has started to pull hard on her front hand to get the kite moving and ready to dive.

The Landing Pit E.

Now in final the landing should be as for any other jump. We can see that in anticipation the rider has dropped her grab and let her legs fall underneath her. With two hands on the bar she can dive the kite and keep the power on by keeping the bar in. As the kite pulls she goes with it aiming to land tail first with the board pointing quite downwind. Landing over the board she can then carve back onto her edge and set up for the next one.

Top Tips

  • The best tip is to start off by trying some jumps with a decent push and pull, to find a comfortable equilibrium between leaning back and staying in control, as you don’t want to be swinging way up with your kite stuck down behind you.
  • Now let’s talk about 2nd best tip, once you’re comfortable with this try bringing your front knee up and straightening your back leg. Finally once you’re confident get the back hand off soon after takeoff and twist round for the grab.

Common Problems

  • If you’re penduluming up and crashing down onto your back your take off is catching you out. You can only send the kite hard if you keep your edge until you lift off. If you’re losing your edge or letting the bar out before lift off your kite will fly too far back. If this is the case calm the send down a notch or two.
  • If you can’t reach the grab, you’re either going too late or reaching forward for the nose. Lean back and twist round. That said if your foot-straps are too tight, it can be difficult to lift the front knee and straighten the back leg, as your feet need to roll in the straps slightly.

nose-grab-jump

Keystones

  1. Good edge and positive send back
  2. Lean slightly back and lift front knee
  3. Straighten back leg and twist around for grab
  4. Hold board in and redirect
  5. Release and dive hard for landing

November 25, 2014 | Categories: Beginner | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Raley To Toe Side

This sport of kite boarding moves with different styles and ticks. The benefits of this sport can be measured by its refreshment and popularity worldwide. Today we all like a Raley, and funnily enough most of us learn on our preferred side, favorite foot forward, leading to a solid heel side touchdown. It looks like an embarrassment to overlook the other side and deny yourself the kudos of flicking your board both ways. Therefore the Raley to toe side, and just to prove it is a genuine move it even has its own name, the Krypt. With no trouble you can gladly learn these both hooked or unhooked. In this article, we will be going through the unhooked variant, but be assured that apart from the actual physical act of unhooking the rest remains pretty much the same for both, from approach to landing.

The Approach A.

 As in every trick your approach will always determine how well things will turn out. Please have a look in the picture that the rider has her kite just below 1 o’clock, she has turned the board off the wind onto a very broad reach, whilst keeping her weight both upwind of the board and back towards the tail of the board. You can also see that her front leg is extended and both her elbows are tucked into her sides. Not only is this the perfect position from which to unhook, it is also the perfect set up for a Raley.

Now over here Kite height is very significant, too high and you’ll fly, but too low and you may not have the confidence to pop, so a happy medium is required, at a height just about where your kite is happily flying forward without creating lift, as a reference point this will be just below 1 or 11. Suddenly bearing off the wind allows you to lose tension from the lines and unhook, The Approach and it lets the kite drop back a touch so that it will pull you downwind, easier landing, once you pop. Weight upwind positions the board between you and the kite so you can pop without the kite pulling your shoulders prematurely over the board. Then weight back over the tail so that you can rapidly and professionally carve the board upwind to pop, the extended front leg helps this. Elbows are tucked in to stop the kite from pulling your arms out straight and you over the board. Now you are all set for the Raley part.

The Carve Pic B.

Your action carving up against the kite needs to be accurate and quick; or else the kite will win the tug of war. With your weight back over the tail of the board you only need to turn your shoulders and the board will carve spec the shape that some lovely board designer put there for such a purpose.

Please see picture B wherein the rider has turned her shoulders and the board carves upwind, putting tension on the lines and thus generating some resistance. This resistance is your platform to pop off. Though to make sure that you are in control you need to keep your position. The easier way to do this is not to let the kite drift up, which it will want to do as you pull against it.

The rider keeps both hands in, arms bent, but her focal point is on keeping the front hand close, as it’s natural to pull on the back one as she turns away from the kite. Also as the rider carves she resists the pull from the kite with her back leg, which combined with her arms allows her to keep her weight upwind, on that edge, turning the board towards the wind.

The Pop Pic C.  

Raley is simply an extreme pop. If you’ve somehow managed to oppose on the aforementioned platform you will be in a position to, and have something from which to pop. The Pop As the board turns underneath you it’s the right time to stamp. The rider feels the board turning under her, and more significantly feels herself being pulled forwards by the kite. This is her cue to pop. She pops hard against the board with her back foot by stamping down and extending her back leg as explosively as possible. Her front leg has remained extended throughout. The amount of pop you get will depend on a few variables -speed, power, timing, aggression, but your aim is to extend, really focus on straightening your legs, uncoiling the spring which is you.

The Flick Pic D.

There are two possibilities in a Raley, to end up with the board horizontal and behind you, The Flick or flicked around vertically behind you. The second talked option will make all number of tricks more attainable and the Krypt is no exception. This flicking action is simply a continuation of the carve upwind and by extending and letting the board go you should end up here.

In this position you are airborne you also require to take stock of what is going on lest adjustments need be made. The rider has let her board flick around by carving hard to get the board into the wind and extending fully as she took off. She now wants to make ensure that she is in control, and here that means that the kite is doing what it should. If you’re well versed in Raleys, you know that once you have it nailed the kite doesn’t move, but if this side is new chances are the kite will have gone up. If it has, steer it down, the rider’s bar here is angled forward to keep the kite from rising. You’ll need to utilize both hands. The rider will also be spotting her landing, that is to say she’ll be working out where she’ll most likely land so that she can prepare for it.

Landing Gear Down Pic E.

Gravity always wins and your legs will naturally fall underneath you, Landing Gear Down which is the beauty with a Raley. That said if you start with your kite at 45° or below Newton may not be able to save you. You can see in the picture the advantage of the flick, the rider left foot is forward as her front foot was flicked around behind her. If you have a strong toe side preference, chances are that you’ll automatically keep this position, but just to make sure, try to bring your knees up towards you as the board falls. As your knees come up you can pull your toe side leading knee under the bar, much as you would for a gentle pop to toe side. Here in picture the rider pulls her left knee through underneath her.

The Result Pic F.

By pulling her left knee through and under the bar, the rider will now happily and happily The Result land tail first for a toe side landing and a Krypt claimer. By keeping the bar in close she lands over the board and is not pulled forwards by the kite. Once you have landed, either bear away towards the kite and hook back in, or casually pop back to heel side and ponder what you’ll do next.

Top Tips

  • The very first tip is to start off gently, you don’t need to be hounding along at Mach 10 with the intention of a full blown Raley.
  • A decent extended pop will give you the feel, so concentrate on carving and extending your legs and body before landing.
  • Also have a good look on images.

 

Common Problems

  • If you find that you are landing very downwind and having to carve around onto your heels, the chances are that either your kite has drifted up, or your error have extended which means that the kite will pull you too far downwind. Keep your arms tucked in and don’t be afraid to dive the kite down to keep you going where you should be.
  • If you are catching your toe side edge on landing you don’t have enough height, so either pop harder or try with your kite slightly higher in the window. These are the things to keep In mind.

The Carve

Keystones

  1. Approach with weight upwind, back and front leg extended
  2. Carve hard upwind with arms in
  3. Explode against the edge with your back foot
  4. Extend and feel the flick
  5. Pull arms in and bring back knee through

November 23, 2014 | Categories: Advanced | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Double Back Rool Transition

Adding together some extra rotation is a sure shot fire way of stepping up a move that you already have mastered, and the double back roll transition is definitely up there as one to learn, so here it is. Although some warning words are here, if you’ve been practicing the double back roll kite loop from last issue, you may require  to rewire your brain and press default as these are two clearly different moves wherein you definitely don’t wish to be confusing. A very good base before starting this is a solid and controlled, BLT, or back roll transition if you’re from across the pond. From this point below is what you will be doing.

The Approach Pic A.

Vital 2 things to remember for any transition are; you have to kill some forward momentum and then you still need to send the kite for lift. You certainly require a good edge for both of these elements. From a good edge you can edge harder upwind to slow down, and with a good edge you can send the kite rapidly and sharply from either 11 or 1 to 12 o’clock because you maintain tension in the lines. If you think about this you won’t drift the kite up slowly whilst standing up on the board and your chances of success will be greatly increased. Please note and also see in Pic A that the rider has come in with good speed on a decent edge, kite at 11 o’clock, weight back and tension in his lines.

From this point the rider has sent the kite up whilst edging harder to both resist the pull, and also to slow down. Even though his back leg is bent it is not soft – it is pushing and therefore resisting.

The Approach

The Rotation Pic B.

A certain element of trial and error with good amount of practice is what required for this part, depending on your standard BLT. In case if you are a recognized exponent of slow, casual-looking back roll transitions then speeding up the rotation to accommodate an extra 360° shouldn’t hold much of a problem. If however you’re guilty of the occasional foray into spinney quick low BLTs, then you’ll need to focus more on your approach and the take-off, in search of more height and float, which added to your spin speed should see you nicely round the full double.

We feel it extremely important to mention here that that you do want to help yourself into the second rotation, but you don’t want to force it as later in the move you can use your head, body and kite to help you finish. The rider I Pic B. has dropped his weight way back over the tail of the board. With his weight so far back the board will turn/carve much further into the wind as it is almost pivoting on its tail. This will efficiently speed up the rider’s rotation as he will carve further into wind before take-off than for his standard BLT.

The important tool here is timing, you must drop back as the kite starts to lift, a fraction before you take off. This way you’ll still edge and therefore be rewarded with some air and float. If you drop back too early you’ll be pulled back and the kite will fly further back in the window, offering you less time in the air to make it round the two times.

Take Off Pic C.

Here comes the key moment, though your approach will dictate how this goes. If you have edged and resisted and literally stabbed the kite back hard but face short time you will be able to pop up off your back leg as you pull the bar in whilst the kite is somewhere close to 12 o’clock.

The rider has pulled the bar right in after popping. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly by pulling in hard with 2 hands the rider successfully stops the kite moving and keeps it centered above bias around 12 o’clock. Secondly he gets a cheeky bit of extra lift from the kite. However be cautioned if your sweet spot is trimmed miles away from you, your kite will flare/stall and you will not get the float or control that you’re expecting. As he takes off he keeps his head looking forward between his arms, which will stop him over cooking the rotation. Finally the rider in this image lifts his knees, making himself small, balanced and easier to rotate.

Half Way House Pic D.Take Off Pic

By the time you reach to the peak of your transition, your aim is to complete your first rotation, so one on the way up and then one on the way down. That means unless you’re getting great height there won’t be much time to separate the move into two halves.

You are ready and primed to go into number two as you complete the first 360°, it’s the most important thing here. Check images number D. that the rider has lifted his feet above him and has his knees pulled in close. This a little inverted position will make it much simpler to finish the move, as with your feet high and knees in, your whole body, legs and board will follow your head and shoulders as you turn into the second rotation. It is absolutely possible to finish the move with the board down low, however you are far more likely to finish with your head and shoulders, but find that the board has been left somewhat behind – which will hinder your smooth landing. In picture you can see that the rider has started to pull, gently at first, on his left hand (old back hand, new front hand – whichever way you prefer to think). This gentle movement of bar and kite will encourage you to lean back into the second rotation

Turn and land pic- E

Your second rotation will come from a combination of your head and the kite. With your feet up look around and you’ll continue to turn and the rest will follow. You can see that the rider is attentive on where he will land, and as soon as he feels that he is rotating, he dives the kite down hard. The pull from the kite twists him around and powers him up for a down wind landing.Turn and land

One thing which really important is Timing here in this trick , but if you pull too early the kite will end up low with little power and as such you’ll be forced into a late kite loop once you have landed to keep you dry. If you time the dive well, you’ll get the perfect dry landing without needing to loop the kite.

Top Tips

  • Start with some single BLTs, focused on the edge, send, upward take off and keeping the kite above you at 12 o’clock throughout the move.
  • Once you’re comfortable, confident and consistent bring your feet up and go for the second rotation whilst keeping the kite at 12.
  • Once this is in the bag you can dive hard to add the perfect 10 landing! If you’re struggling with the slow rotation, concentrate on the up rather than the spin and approach with less speed and more edge, whilst sending more aggressively – but just for a short moment.

 

Common Problems

  • The most common problem here is implementation the move but landing with the kite so for at the edge of the window that there is no way to get any power to get moving.

  • There are two probable reasons for this. Firstly you’re drifting the kite up rather than sending, so you feel the lift late and the kite has already travelled too far behind you.
  • Secondly as you take off your leaning back onto your back hand, so you don’t stop or even redirect the kite to 12. Concentrate on performing the move with the kite at 12 o’clock and then add the kite dive on at the end.
  • The other famous problem is not having enough height to land cleanly, so you are completing the double but always landing on an edge across the wind with your burn in the water.
  • This can generally be linked with concentrating too much on the rotation and not launching yourself up into the move. Make an effort to pop up into the rotation, and not just carve around into the wind.

Some Keystones

  1. Good solid edge with legs resisting
  2. Send kite positively with confidence
  3. Pop up into the back roll and center bar
  4. Keep Kite at 12 o’clock and lift legs
  5. Turn head at apex and dive kite to complete number two

November 20, 2014 | Categories: Intermediate | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Toe Side Double Front Loop Downloop Transition

Your box of tricks should be always full with surplus of moves; however you have to ensure that you keep up with the transitions too. Having more ways to change direction is never a bad thing so here is another one which will have you flying out gracefully with plenty of beans. When you start doing this we will definitely recommend a controlled front loop from toe side and solid down loop. Let’s have a quick idea at a few pointers that will hopefully make the learning a tad simpler.

The Approach Pic 1.

 A huge height is not required for this, however some forward momentum and plenty of float is obligatory,The Approach so you’ll need to approach this more as a double front roll with speed and the kite parked at either 1 or 11 o’clock. You’ll be taking off from your toes and therefore trim is important, hence get your sweet spot down towards you. This way you will provide a decent committed edge and still have room to send the kite without stalling it. Your toe side stance needs to be solid in this position. In the image the rider has all of his body upwind of the board; both knees are bent and driving forward with all his weight firmly on both sets of toes, creating a decent rooster tail behind him. Once he gets sweet spot close in, he can get his shoulders and head committed upwind and the kite is not pulling him up onto the board.

Getting Airborne Pic 2.

 Take-off is very important in order to get enough height and time from your toes. Getting AirborGet it wrong and you’ll fly down wind and pendulum under your kite! In order to initiate your front rotation you need to get your weight back so that you can kick off your back leg and in order to go up you need to send the kite with a good push and pull from both hands. The rider has sent the kite with a decent bar action, and also keeping it on the sweet spot. If he pulled it in any further the kite will pull him up onto the board and he’ll lose his edge. The order of play here is to send the kite with both knees bent and then drop your weight back ready to kick off. You will lose speed and the ability to edge hard if you drop back too early.

Roll With It Pic 3.

Starting the front roll and keeping the edge for as long as possible will help an awful lot. When the kite lifts you’ll be stamping hardRoll With It off your back foot, and extending up into your rotation with as much energy as you can muster. In image you can see why it is so vital to obtain the right weight onto the back foot. The rider in image is stamping hard against the edge to initiate the double roll whilst extending up. This keeps the tail of the board in contact with the water for as long as possible giving him added whip and height.  The rider throws his head and shoulders down to add inertia and already centers the bar with both hands to stop the kite flying too far back

Moving Forward Pic 4.

 Over here in this picture you can check that the rider only past the 360 degree mark. He has finished his first rotation whilst still on the way up and now starts his second. Having kept the kite close to 12 o’clock he has both float from the kite and he can feel where the kite is. You must commit to the second rotation so as soon as you come around the first continue to turn your head and go with the energy you created on take-off.

 If the kite is above you or even a little in front of you, you are in right place to well place to start the down loop. We propose two reasons to initiate it now. Initially the pull from the kite will help pull you around the rest of the way. Moving Forward And then secondly the earlier we pull, the less aggressive, relatively speaking, we need to be on the bar. Your sits is for the kite to pull you out of the transition with speed and if the kite down loops too rapidly or from too far behind it will drop you down with no momentum.

You can see in the images that the rider has his knees up tight, bar in close and his head is turned to rotate, all this will rooks hits turn faster. Looking at the bar you can see that he is already initiating the down loop.

Clean Landing Pic 5.

The moment of truth and another insight into the reason you must down loop early, gradually and continually. Looking at the rider in image you can see that he is landing right foot forward downwind on the tail of his board, all set to carve out of the “turn” and back onto his edge.

Realistically he isn’t finishing 2 full rotations; it is more like one and three quarters. So not only does the down loop give you speed but it pulls you out of the rotation. If you initiate the down loop later you will effectively over rotate and land on your heel side edge, stopping all momentum and you in the process. In final stage the rider keeps pulling the kite through the down loop until it is back up at 1 o’clock in the right position to ride away.

Top Tips

  1. To start with aim to get the rotations and a finish down loop, as this will be better than under cooking it with the kite, so when you do pull on the front hand, pull hard. This will however often result in you stopping when you land.
  2. Once you’ve practiced that a bit and having read the previous pointers you can see that the aim of this move is not to perform a double rotation and a down loop in the air, but rather get your rotation and use the down loop to pull you out with speed.
  3. Essentially you will be finishing the down loop as you land, not before. To get your head around this try some air gybe down loops If you go early and hard the kite turns, goes back up to 12 o’clock and you sink.
  4. Your sits is to progressively turn the kite more gently so that it will go through the bottom of the down loop before you land but as it rises it will pull you through the landing and give you a good speedy landing.

Common Problems

  • If you find that you cannot edge enough when sending the kite, and therefore get pulled too much downwind whilst in the air – trim. Even if you have gorilla-length arms you need that sweet spot and the bar in close.
  • If you find that you land with no power, as discussed above, you need to get the kite just in front of 12 just after take-off and then down loop the kite more slowly.
  • If you’re landing on your hip and can’t get the board underneath you, this is a sign that the kite is down looping too low, so make sure you haven’t redirected the kite too much after take-off, and be a bit more aggressive when you pull on the front hand to down loop it.

Keystones 

  1. Fast toe side with both knees driving forward.
  2. Rock weight back and send hard
  3. Kick up off back leg, head and shoulders down
  4. Redirect kite above you and stay small
  5. Start down loop progressively once you go into your 2nd rotation

Kite control is important in this trick and you have to initiate the down loop in the right moment. If you´re start down looping to early you might end up crashing hard like this guy

The correct way to do it is like this


November 19, 2014 | Categories: Advanced | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Back Loop One Foot

Kite surfing is an grand sport and also proven one of the best exercises for your body & your mind. Being a pleasurable, social sport, kitesurfing can increase your levels of health and fitness with no doubts.

 Hopefully you did your boned back loop grab homework! Here is the natural progression, once again based on the humble sent back loop, grabbing the tail but adding a stylish one foot into the equation!

 The Approach Pic A.

To have the time in the air to get a foot out and still land you’ll need to perform a dos, and floaty back rotation. Approach wise you need to be coming in on a good edge with the kite parked at either 11 or 1 o’clock. Get your weight back by extending your front leg and dropping your bum over the back foot, whilst still resisting. You can see that the rider is low to the water and edging hard upwind. From here she can send the kite aggressively with both hands for a decent floaty jump.The Approach Pic

The take off Pic B

This part will really decide how much time you’ll have and how slowly you’ll rotate. Having sent the kite hard against a good edge the lift from the kite should come early, once the kite is around 12 o’clock. As soon as the rider feels the pull she stamps up off her back leg, extending her entire body up in a popping motion and simultaneously pulls the bar in, both for extra lift and to stop the kite moving any further back in the window. By popping up the rider is carving up into her rotation but she isn’t turning further into wind and therefore she won’t spin uncontrollably. All the while the rider keeps her head looking forward through the bar, again making sure that she doesn’t rotate quickly so that the grab and one foot will be simpler.

Go Early Pic C.

Just the same as the grab, you must go early, but only after you have extended up into the rotation.
As soon as she has left the water she is looking for the grab and already bringing her back foot up towards her extended back arm. The earlier she gets hold of the board, the more time she’ll have to grab and concentrate on getting around smoothly and landing softly! Go for the grab just as you have practiced so whether you grab the heel side edge of the board or the actual tail doesn’t matter, whatever feels comfy and natural.

Slip It Out Pic D.

It will be easier to get your foot out if you have the board edge up, as opposed to flat. Slip It Out This way gravity will help and with the smallest of encouragement you should be able to get your pinkies free. You can see that the rider is still looking at the board, she looked for the grab and then focused on the foot strap so that she can see what she is doing and this also has the added benefit of keeping her head from looking over her shoulder, and thus keeps her rotation slow, giving her plenty of time for the one foot. The rider can now hold the board up whilst she pulls her foot out and down, easily releasing it from the strap. If the board is held flat it will be harder as you will have to pull your foot out towards you, which requires more flexibility or longer arms. On your first attempts aim just to get your foot out onto the pad. Once you’re confident you can extend your leg, pushing your foot down towards the water for extra style and look at me points. Final point to ponder here is that even though the rider is flying the kite with one hand, she still has the bar pulled in. This gives her support and float, whilst keeping tension on the lines, meaning that the kite is ready for the eventual landing.

Back In Pic E.

At first keep your back foot close to the strap when you take it out. This way you can literally pull your foot out and leave it resting on the pad, so to get it back in you just need to push it. As you gain confidence start to extend your back leg once you have taken the foot out take the foot so that it is more obvious. You’ll need to keep your eyes on the prize, Back In Pic so watch the strap and aim your foot back in. Once your toes are in, use your grab and push your foot and/or pull the board to make sure that your foot is properly in.

This is not essential but it will make the landing considerably easier. If only your toes are in you’re more likely to trip over your toe side edge when you land.

The Grand Finale Pic F.

Once you have your foot safely back in the strap it’s all about preparing and conquering the landing. Your first job is to make sure that you finish the rotation, so turn your head and look towards your potential landing zone, which should be in front and downwind of you. Don’t be tempted to look too far around as this will encourage you to over mists. Job number two is to get two hands on the bar so that you can comfortably pull the bar in and dive the kite, which will both pull you out of the rotation and pull you downwind for your landing. You can see that the rider is looking downwind whilst reaching up for the bar. From here on in she’ll dive the kite and land with the board facing down wind, claiming the one foot.

 

Top Tips 

  • Assuming that you’re happy with your slow rotation the most important part to concentrate on is getting the grab early.
  • If you do, then you will have more time to get the foot out and then back in.
  • Do concentrate on looking at the foot strap to get your foot out; making sure the board is edge up.
  • Finally do wiggle your back foot out of the strap a little before you take off, or even loosen the strap so that it is easy to slip in and out.
  • Now have a good look at the Sequence and the get the grab early and don’t use your head. Videos for a full step by step guided tour.

 

Common Problems 

  1. Most of the potential problems will be the same as for the grab, so over rotating or flying the kite forward too much when you grab.
  2. If it’s not working make sure that you take off up into your back rotation, If the kite pulls you forward in the air, causing you to lose balance, land nose heavy or crash, send it a bit more for the jump so that you’re flying with the kite just behind 12 o’clock.04

 

 Keystones 

  1. Good solid edge with back leg resisting
  2. Send kite positively
  3. Pop up into the back roll
  4. Grab early and tilt the board edge up
  5. Look at strap to get foot out and in

November 18, 2014 | Categories: Intermediate | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Shifty 5

Everyday small progression in kiting is an important thing and also the most rewarding challenges. In freestyle the possibilities seem endless, moving from a blind landing with surface pass, to an air pass blind judge and then adding that extra bit tars blind judge three and then a five and then a seven – one can but dream or admire those that actually can.

Anyway the point is to those non-freestylers it all can look a tad uncontrolled with a lot of splashing, but if it’s your thing then every extra 90° or so means s00000 much. Taking your Shifty 3 and moving it on to a 5 is a highly rewarding yet achievable challenge – so here’s how.

To make that extra turn to toe side you’ll need more time. There are a few options available to you here. You could put your kite higher, which will help but the higher it is the more strength and effort you’ll need to pass, which may slow down your rotation.

You could go for the pass much earlier and therefore have more apparent time at the end to get around that extra bit although if you don’t kick the back leg it could make the pass trickier. And you could pop as hard as you’ve ever popped, although if you pop too hard you might get extended and pulled out which could also make the pass a tad more difficult. Realistically a subtle combination of all three is needed, with an awareness of how each will affect you. The one exception to all of the above is if you happen to be one of those people who can spin so quickly that you’re not sure what all the fuss is about

Getting Up There Pic 1

From the above you can check that rider is not coming into this with his kite at 45°, but as so often it won’t be above 11 o’clock as you must be able to edge against it, and any higher it’ll be lifting you – 10.30 is perfect.He’s come in with good speed and the kite parked still, with all his weight back over the tail of the board. He’s carved up hard and low and at this point has popped aggressively by stamping against the board, allowing his legs and body to fully extend upwards in an effort to get as much height as he can with this kite angle. His effort is focused ontwo things simultaneously, pop for height ANDGetting Up There keep the bar as close aspossible. You don’t want your arms getting pulled out straight.

The Leg Kick – Shifty Pic 2

As you’ll no doubt know from your Shifty 3s, kicking the back leg out is to help with your rotation and if you happen to have a stylish shifty it’ll look better too. As soon as he is free of the water the rider kicks his back leg out, winding up some energy for his rotation and pass whilst keeping his elbows and hands in. This way he’ll be able to pull harder and swing his leg further.

Swing and Pull Pic 3

This is a crucial step as the closer you get yourself to the bar, the earlier you’ll be able to pass it and more importantly the less it will pull away from you once you have passed it. Remember that your airs is to go a little earlier so as soon as you have kicked your leg back, pull and go. You need to pull yourself up and over the bar whilst swinging your front leg under your elbows to get you rotating. This is a kite face moment as the effort should be extreme maybe even allow yourself a little grunt!

You can see that in comparison with the last picture where the rider head was level with the bar, he now has the bar coming in and down below his chest. And even though he has swung his back leg through and has started to rotate he still has both hands on the bar as he is still pulling himself up to it.

The Pass Pic 4

The passing action will be similar to your 3, that is to say you’ll be leading with your head and shoulders, turning yourself down and around, away from the bar, releasing your front hand, twisting the bar and then immediately hunting for the bar on the other side. If you popped hard enough and pulled hard enough you should get some slack here from the kite, which will help as the bar won’t get pulled out from you.

That said the main difference here to the 3 is if you look at the rider, you’ll see that his back leg is lifted with his knee coming up towards his chest. This is the precursor to getting the toe side landing, you really have to commit to this during the handle shifty 5pass, otherwise your feet and the board will drop away from you and you’ll have no chance to go that little bit further.

Head, Hand and Knee Pic 5

And here is the result of bringing that knee up. With the knee up the rider can then bring it through towards his hand. The action is similar to that of a back roll to toe side, even though your adding the toe side on at the end you have to finish the roll with your back knee high so that you can push it through. It’s also important to keep the bar close, by that we mean don’t let your front arm fully extend as then you’ll used to Shifty 3s the chances are your muscle memory will encourage you to just drop out of the pass. Here you must keep your head turning so that it’s looking forward as this will allow you to turn your shoulders further so that your legs and upper body are moving together.

Just think how you learnt the side by taking the front hand off so that your shoulders could twist around. Here you can’t let that hand go so you’ll need to turn your head.

Get the Back Hand on Pic 6

This is almost THE top tip as well as being the final thought to ponder, Get the Back Hand onas once you get your head around what is going on, aiming for this from the moment you think about passing will help you get the 5.

If you fry your damnedest to land with both hands on the bar it will make you turn your shoulders even if it doesn’t get on until you splash down, as is the case with our rider here in image.

 

 

 

Top Tips

  • You’re going to need power, pop and height, but don’t confuse this with having your kite trimmed too far out, or should we say powered up in old
  • If you do the kite will pull all through the move and it’ll be twice as hard.
  • If you can think of only two elements of this move, they are to lift that back knee as you pass and fry to land with two hands on the bar.
  • Have a gander at the full Sequence and Videos and try to see the early pre-empting of the toe side turn during the passlast

Common Problems

  1. If you’re dropping down out of the pass as per normal for a 3, take time to visualize what you’re aiming for.
  2. Then give it another 30% on your next try and think about bringing that knee up and landing with two hands.
  3. If you’re getting around but then fall on your back once you land. This means the kite is pulling you too much once you’ve passed, so either trim a little more or pull harder into the pass.
  4. If you don’t have time, go earlier and try to get some more height with help from the kite.

Keystones

  • Come in with power and speed and pop super hard
  • Shifty as soon as you’re off the water
  • Then immediately pull up to bar and swing back leg through
  • Lift back knee up and through as you pass
  • Land with 2 hands on the bar

November 17, 2014 | Categories: Advanced | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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